Members of the Church of the Redeemer observed Good Friday by processing through Morristown behind a large wooden cross and stopping to remember and hear about people who are often forgotten.
Among other locations, the modern Stations of the Cross included stops at the site of the January 31 Elm Street fire, a location where day laborers await employment, and the Morristown Public Library – a warm, safe place, where those without permanent homes, computers or smartphones can check email, Facebook accounts, and even read. The walk began and ended at Redeemer, home of the Community Soup Kitchen and Eric Johnson House.
“We are bearing witness to the Passion of Christ in our world today,” said Rebecca Walker, who was moved by the experience of carrying the cross and hearing the readings. “The Elm Street fire site got to a lot of us, I think – to have your life completely up-ended without any notice – my heart broke for all of those affected.”
The walk has its roots in a Good Friday walk begun in the 1990’s that focused on AIDS. “It was a tradition that we began expanding on last year, when we visited the Zufall Clinic, Homeless Solutions, and other places,” said the Rev. Cynthia Black, rector of Redeemer.
The Good Friday service begins in the church with a reading of the traditional Passion story, interspersed with news stories of the “Passion of People All Over the World” as told by the media.
“It’s very moving,” said Rev. Black, “to make the connection between what Jesus went through, what people in, say, the college attacked in Kenya went through, and what folks in Morristown are going through.”
“It makes it very real,” she said.
