Way of the Cross offers ‘powerful’ experience

The Way of the Cross, a Homewood tradition held on Good Friday, will take place April 19 at 2 p.m.

Trinity United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Brian Erickson said 2019 marks the event’s 25th iteration. 

“It’s a really powerful expression of Christian community on the holiest weekend of the Christian year,” Erickson said. 

Members of local churches will meet at Homewood Central Park and walk an approximately mile-long route to Edgewood Presbyterian Church. Along the way, they will pause to read Scripture and pray. 

“As we’re walking, we’re remembering the stations of the cross, the primary moments of Jesus’ final hours on earth,” Erickson said.  

Representatives from different churches will take turns carrying an 8-foot cross from station to station. Erickson said Dawson Memorial Baptist, All Saints Episcopal, Bethel A.M.E, Homewood Cumberland Presbyterian, Raleigh Avenue Baptist, Second Presbyterian and Trinity West Homewood are among the local churches set to participate. 

Membership at a participating church is not required to partake in the Way of the Cross, which draws people of all ages. 

“It’s a very welcoming, very open event,” Erickson said. 

The procession usually takes about an hour, Erickson said, and concludes with worship at Edgewood Presbyterian around 3 p.m. Christian scholars believe that is the time Jesus died on the cross.

“It’s a way for Christians to not only tell the story but be a part of the story,” Erickson said of the event.