Good Friday in DTLA

This year, we held our Good Friday service outdoors in Pershing Square park. We used a liturgy that included scripture readings from the Gospel passion narratives, responsive litanies, and contemplative moments set to Taizé music. If you’d like to use any of what we used, you’re welcome to. (PDF)

I also gave a homily based on The Cross and the Lynching Tree by Dr. James Cone. I read his book during Lent and it was incredibly moving. I wrote the sermon on three insights I’d gleaned from his book. If you’d like, you can read the sermon on my theology blog. Here’s an excerpt from the book:

“As Jesus was an innocent victim of mob hysteria and Roman imperial violence, many African Americans were innocent victims of white mobs, thirsty for blood in the name of God and in defense of segregation, white supremacy, and the purity of the Anglo-Saxon race. Both the cross and the lynching tree were symbols of terror, instruments of torture and execution, reserved primarily for slaves, criminals, and insurrectionists—the lowest of the low in society.” (p.31)

Additionally, we also featured a presentation of the Stations of the Cross. This year, we featured the work of artist Scott Erickson, who has generously made his stations available for free on his website. I also created a Station Guide for worshippers including scripture passages and prayers to correspond to each station. (PDF)