COVID-19 changes way neighborhood church observes Holy Week
Religious institutions around the world are changing the way they connect with people during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to offering virtual services, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is engaging its parishioners during Holy Week by using a different “outside-the-church” idea. Beginning Holy Monday through Good Friday, parishioners are invited to walk, drive or bike the Stations of the Cross displayed outside throughout the Ortega neighborhood.
Stations of the Cross refer to a series of artistic representations depicting Christ carrying the cross to His crucifixion. Each “station” focuses on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation. Many churches contain Stations of the Cross, typically placed at intervals along the side walls inside the nave. The devotion known as the “Way of the Cross” is an adaptation to local usage of a custom widely observed by pilgrims to Jerusalem – the offering of prayer at a series of places on the pathway that led to the place where Jesus was crucified.
“We wanted to provide a safe alternative for people to participate in this devotion with their families,” said the Rev. Tom Murray, rector, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. According to Murray, several parishioners came up with the intergenerational Holy Week activity after seeing families participate in neighborhood scavenger hunts during the recent stay-at-home order issued by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.
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