Community scripture and prayer walk draws crowd of over 150 after last year’s cancellation
LANSING, Ill. (April 2, 2021) – After COVID-19 cancelled last year’s Good Friday “Way of the Cross” walk, the Lansing community gathered at noon on Good Friday to walk, reflect, and listen to scripture readings after a challenging year.
Since the Lansing Good Friday tradition started in 2017, some Lansing churches have collaborated to create a physical and scriptural representation of Jesus Christ’s walk before he was crucified. The walk starts in the parking lot of St. Ann Catholic Church and moves roughly three-quarters of a mile west to Trinity Lutheran Church, with fourteen stops along the way — each assigned to a Bible passage. After each reading, the crowd responds, “Lord Jesus, help us walk in your steps.”
Five men carried a 200-pound cross throughout the walk, and were ushered west on Ridge Road by Lansing police officers. Lansing Public Works also helped set up cones and direct traffic during the event.
Pastors John Holyer of Trinity Lutheran Church, Jonathan Vitale of Lansing Assembly of God, Fr. Mark Kalema and Sandra Bustamante of St. Ann Catholic Parish, and David Price of First United Methodist Church all read scripture and led the crowd of over 150 people during Friday’s walk.
The crowd moving from one station to the next:
In past years, a service has been held at Trinity Lutheran Church. In the interest of keeping the large crowd in the open air due to COVID concerns, Pastor Holyer prayed for the assembly before the event ended.
St. Ann Catholic Church is located at 3010 Ridge Road, Lansing, IL. Trinity Lutheran Church is located at 2505 Indiana Avenue, Lansing IL.
Related
- Annual Good Friday Prayer Walk goes online (April 10, 2020)
- Good Friday prayer walk participants brave the cold (April 19, 2019)
