By Barry Wise Smith
For the past 30 years, starting in 1994, a group of Homewood churches, from different denominations, have gathered
on Good Friday to honor the walk of Christ to the Cross.
This year, to mark the 30th Homewood Way of the Cross, the churches—All Saints Episcopal Church, Bethel A.M.E. Church, Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Edgewood Presbyterian Church, Friendship Baptist Church, Homewood Community Church, Homewood Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Shades Valley Lutheran Church, and Trinity United Methodist Church—will make the walk from Homewood Central Park to Edgewood Presbyterian Church to remember Christ’s walk through Jerusalem carrying his cross to the crucifixion.
The Way of the Cross begins with a crowd (generally 200+ people) gathering at 2 p.m. on Good Friday at Homewood Central Park and starts at 3 p.m.—the hour of Jesus’ death—with an opening prayer and meditation. The walk then continues, with people carrying the cross leading the crowd, to the nine other locations in the neighborhood, where the crowd pauses for prayer, scripture and a meditation. All of the participating ministers wear black robes with no stoles to mark the somber nature of the walk. Each year, the walk concludes in the sanctuary at Edgewood Presbyterian with the crossed placed at the front of the sanctuary, a final meditation and singing of the hymn “Were You There?” A bagpiper accompanies the walk, playing hymns throughout, and the crowd is escorted by Homewood police officers.
“It is not a happy day, but it is a holy day,” says Reverend Joe Grenau, the pastor of Edgewood Presbyterian Church where the walk concludes. “It’s a bold act of worship, with prayer and scripture.” The cross used in the Way of the Cross walk was built by Kenny Smith, a longtime member of Grenau’s congregation who passed away in 2016. The cross remains at Edgewood Presbyterian throughout the year and is brought out each year for Way of the Cross.
Reverend Ian Connerly, Associate Pastor at Trinity United Methodist Church, appreciates the churches coming together on this important day during Holy Week. “It’s the only event where churches in our area participate together,” he says. “It’s an ecumenical gathering, and it brings us all together.”
“What I love about Way of the Cross, is that one of the things that churches offer is talking about suffering and death,” Grenau says. “It makes people uncomfortable, but in a world full of suffering and death, we have something to say about it and offer hope. Despite our differences, there’s a lot that connects us.”
