600-plus ‘pilgrims’ expected to join city leaders and clergy for Good Friday pilgrimage down Main Street

April 7, 2014 / Sarasota, Fla. — The Church of the Redeemer, an Episcopal church in downtown Sarasota, and the Sarasota Ministerial Association, invite the Sarasota community to observe the Passion of Jesus Christ by participating in walking the Stations of the Cross down Main Street Sarasota on Good Friday, April 18, beginning at 7:30 a.m.

The Christian pilgrimage gathers at 7:15 a.m., in front of the Hollywood 20 Theater on Main Street, and the walking of the Stations will begin promptly at 7:30 a.m., led by Redeemer Rector The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson and members of Redeemer's Men's Ministry and the Sarasota Ministerial Association. Along the way, pilgrims stop for worship and prayer at each of the 14 stations — an opportunity for reflection upon the different moments of Christ's passion journey. A service booklet sharing the acts of worship for each station is provided to all participating pilgrims.

The Cross will be carried the entire route by Redeemer Youth Minister, Fr. David Bumsted. Members from all the church choirs will follow, singing the Trisagion in refrain following each station reading.

The procession will include stations in front of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune building, the steps of the First Baptist Church, the First United Methodist Church and many other sites on and near Main Street, and will conclude at approximately 8:30 a.m., at The Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave., with a closing devotion. All pilgrims are invited to stay at Redeemer for the 9 a.m. Morning Prayer, led by Fr. Robinson, Sarasota City Vice-Mayor Willie Shaw and Deacon Leonardo Pastore of St. Jude Catholic Church, a founding congregation of the Sarasota Ministerial Association.

Walking the Stations of the Cross is a centuries-old Christian tradition of remembering and experiencing 14 events along the way of Christ's journey to the cross. The Church of the Redeemer Friday Men’s Breakfast Prayer Group founded this tradition of walking down Main Street in 1996; the event began with fewer than 15 participants and has since grown into a multi-church and community-wide event with more than 500 "pilgrims" participating last year.

Since 2002, the Sarasota Ministerial Association, comprising 60 local area churches and faith-based organizations, has joined Redeemer in being a witness to Sarasota of Christ's redemptive sufferings. Many of the Association's churches will be participating in the walking of the Stations of the Cross, with pastors, priests, church leaders and youth groups taking part throughout and at specific stations. This year Sarasota City Mayor Shannon Snyder and County Commissioner Carolyn Mason will be reading The First Station and City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo will be reading The Second Station.

For those who wish to park at the final station at The Church of the Redeemer, small buses will be transporting pilgrims from Redeemer to the Hollywood 20 location, beginning at 6:45 a.m. After the 9 a.m. Morning Prayer service, bus transportation will again be offered from Redeemer to Hollywood 20 for pilgrims who parked at the beginning of the route.

For more information about walking the Stations of the Cross, call the Redeemer parish office at 941-955-4263 or visit redeemersarasotra.org. For information about the Sarasota Ministerial Association call its Chair, the Rev. Dr. Tom Pfaff (941-724-5018) or visit sarasotaministerialassociation.org.