Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross Pilgrimages

Many people of faith are asking, How can I respond to the government’s cruel treatment of immigrants, refugees, and others who are viewed as not American enough?

This Holy Week, we invite you to take concrete action by organizing or joining a Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross. This event clearly and peacefully demonstrates spiritual solidarity with vulnerable neighbors and embodies Jesus’ message of love and welcome for all.

The Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross is a public demonstration that links Jesus’ last earthly path of suffering to the experiences of today’s marginalized, inviting individuals or groups to join. Staging a Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross pilgrimage in your town or city is a meaningful and effective way to express your concern for neighbors who have become human prey of the government they once believed would protect them and enable them to live the American dream. It’s also a creative way to protest such cruelty and demand that it stop.

Along Jesus’ final journey, Roman legionaries menaced and beat him. Simon of Cyrene, a North African passerby, was compelled to carry the cross for Jesus. At the journey’s end, Jesus was crucified and suffered further humiliation before his death. These actions against Jesus resonate with the suffering of marginalized people today.

The Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross connects Jesus’ and Simon’s suffering with that of immigrants, refugees, and others facing exclusion. Organizers pick an outdoor path and select 14 or 15 stops that highlight concern for how others are treated—some for lament, others for hope. At each, scripture, prayers, and names are shared to remind all to treat others with love, and to show the consequences when we do not.

Organizing the pilgrimage is flexible—simple or elaborate — by one person or 100. We provide a free How-To guide and a survey of this Christian practice, both available to help organizers set up their event quickly and easily.

Please consider organizing a Love Thy Neighbor Stations of the Cross in your location. You can do this yourself, or enlist your congregation, friends, and others of like concern to join with you. The most effective time to do this is during Holy Week, March 29-April 4, when Christians everywhere will recall Christ’s suffering for the “least of these.” For a more uniform witness, we are asking organizers to try to schedule their observance during the day on either April 2 (Maundy Thursday, the day Jesus washed his disciples’ feet) or April 4 (Holy Saturday), because it generally doesn’t interfere with most Easter programs and allows those unavailable on a weekday to participate.

To get started, download the two booklets from the links below. (We also provide. a promotional document you use in full, or extract from, or modify as you wish.) Invite your desired planning team or others to help, then announce it is open to anyone who wishes to participate. No other consultation is needed—this is a self-directed project that requires no outside approval. Once your event is planned, use the booklets as guides for leading participants through the pilgrimage.

As you consider this meaningful way to express your support for those in need, we send our encouragement and best wishes for your success.

Wishing you a blessed Holy Week and Easter. Together, let’s demonstrate Jesus’ message of love for the frightened, the lost, and the forgotten.

Rob Schenck, The Methodist Evangelical Church in the USA

Doug Pagitt, Vote Common Good

Shane Claiborne, Red Letter Christians

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