In 2016, St. Paul’s began its multiyear History and Reconciliation Initiative (HRI) with a stated mission:
In light of our Christian faith, we will trace and acknowledge the racial history of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in order to repair, restore, and seek reconciliation with God, each other and the broader community.
The community of St. Paul’s continues to explore and realize this mission. Even though the formal work of HRI is drawing to a close, they have one last, extraordinary project to bring to us: The Stations of St. Paul’s. These beautiful and inspired stations, modeled after the Stations of the Cross, are original to St. Paul’s and created by area artist, Janelle Washington. From the Introduction of the worship booklet for our Stations:
Each station depicts a specific moment in St. Paul’s history with a focus on race relations. These 14 moments were chosen to represent the whole sweep of the congregation’s 175-year history. For each station, there is a reading and a prayer set into a liturgical form. The reading describes an incident or situation. It is then followed by a prayer that acknowledges the effect of the congregation’s action or position, laments or gives thanks, and asks for forgiveness and renewal.
The Stations will be hung in the church on Ash Wednesday and will accompany us on our Lenten journey, and beyond. Michelle Walker and Adrian Luxmoore describe the Stations, their origin and purpose in the below video. Please watch.
What to expect:
- The Stations will be installed in the Church on Ash Wednesday.
- They are available for viewing and self-guided prayers during office hours throughout the season of Lent.
- A guided Stations of St. Paul’s service will be offered each Friday at Noon.
- Learn more about each station from the artist by watching a series of videos found on our website (available soon).
- The artist, Janelle Washington, will be the speaker at the Lenten Speaker Series on April 6.
- The Stations are not designed to be a permanent fixture. They will rotate seasonally.
- You may attend the Stations of St. Paul’s at our Good Friday Service at 7:00 p.m.
I am thankful for the vision, ministry, and leadership of the History and Reconciliation Initiative and look forward to moving their hard work forward and into each aspect of our life together. Thanks to those who have helped to bring this creative and amazing series of prayers to us, and thanks to the community of St. Paul’s for your willingness to explore those spaces in which, with God’s help, we draw closer to each other, closer to our neighbor, and closer to God.
See you in church,
Charlie+
p.s. Don’t forget to scroll down and watch my interview with Michelle Walker and Adrian Luxmoore about the Stations of St. Paul’s.
Rev. Charlie interviews Adrian Luxmoore and Michelle Walker about the St. Paul’s History and Reconciliation Initiative’s process of developing The Stations of St. Paul’s. A liturgical art rendering of St. Paul’s history highlighting the research of the History and Reconciliation Initiative and partnering with papercut artist Janelle Washington to bring this history to life in a prayerful way.