During Holy Week Vineyard Central hosted an "experiential Stations of the Cross." I've put an article I wrote up about it under the "More" tag below. Thanks to
Bill Christman, who made his own set of stations a few years back and who drove the 11th Station (Jesus is nailed to the cross) from St. Louis to Louisville for me to pick up and drive to Cincinnati with;
Aaron Klinefelter, who suggested I show the 11th Station in a small space with Anuna's "Jerusalem" playing softly in the background;
Charlie, who lent me his CD player for the purpose; and
Julianna Boehm, who lent me black cloth to cover the space,
"I" participated in Via Crucis. (All art is communal).
Pics are here and here . Bill's station is the one with the nails and the lightbulbs. My fave was made by a puppeteer--Jesus is taken down from the cross.
It's the day before Via Crucis opens to the public. The Gothic expanse of St. Elizabeth's in Norwood echoes with hammers and the whine of drills. Somebody's iPod shuffles over the sound system: U2, Peter Gabriel, the Eagles, Elvis Presley Christmas songs. Tents of black plastic spring up in corners; a puppeteer forms a Pieta out of cherry wood and cardboard.
Welcome to the Stations of the Cross.
The tradition of praying at the Stations of the Cross began centuries ago as a stand-in to a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Local churches placed markers--often bas-relief sculptures--along their walls depicting events traditionally associated with Jesus' journey to his crucifixion. This way, would-be pilgrims could meditate on the journey without the danger or expense of travel to the actual sites.
Vineyard Central, the community of house churches that owns what was once St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church, calls their do-it-yourself take on this old custom an "immersion." The word refers to the interactive nature of the exhibit. Visitors will be encouraged to take action as they visit the fourteen stations. At the last Via Crucis two years ago, one station designer researched the length of Jesus' journey and the weight of the cross. He then measured out a distance one-fifth of the length and invited participants to carry a fifty-pound sack of flour on their back. At another station--Simon of Cyrene Helps Carry the Cross--the designers posted contact information for organizations fighting AIDS in Africa. There were two connections for this--one, Christians believe alleviating suffering in the world today is a way to help Jesus "carry the cross," and the other, Cyrene was in North Africa.
This year's stations incorporate blacklight, rocks and branches, music and projectors. A room is set aside for storytelling, the balcony is available for prayer, and a back room has become a meditation area filled with green plants, symbols of resurrected life.
Vineyard Central hosts Via Crucis (Latin for "way of the cross"), but the station designers are Episcopal, Catholic, Methodist and from other house churches. Donations collected will benefit Restore International, an organization fighting child prostitution in India.