Each year on Good Friday, all Christian faiths mourn the
death of Christ, but at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in
Vienna, members of four distinct Christian denominations –
Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and Lutheran – meet to meditate
on the crucifixion of Christ together.
“We’re gathered from our own faiths, but (once there) we see
how our faiths are interlaced and how little the differences
are,” said Patrice Roe, communications director at Our Lady
of Good Counsel.
For the past seven years, Protestants from nearby churches
have joined the Our Lady of Good Counsel community to pray
the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Reflections on the
stations by St. Francis de Sales were read to honor the
Salesian oblates who staff the parish.
On the afternoon of March 25, the church was filled. “I love
it; every year it grows,” said Sister Sharon Cahill, director
of liturgy. “I always remind myself, ‘Ah, I have to purchase
more Stations of the Cross booklets,'” she said.
Father William J. Metzger, pastor of Our Lady of Good
Counsel, Pastor Beth Neubauer of Emmanuel Lutheran Church,
Pastor Ray Brill of Wesley United Methodist Church and Pastor
Austin Almaguer of Vienna Baptist Church took turns leading
the prayers.
Their procession around the church to the14 stations began
and ended at the altar. Above the altar hung a life-size
wooden crucifix while a red cloth, nails and a crown of
thorns lay below.
Each year the churches take turns hosting an ecumenical
Thanksgiving for the Shepherd Center, a community center for
the elderly. The pastors and church members alike enjoy the
chance for fellowship and to worship as a united body of
Christ.
“This is only my second time (at stations) because I started
as pastor about a year and a half ago,” said Almaguer. “So
for me coming into the community, it was a really nice
welcome that my first Holy Week was shared together,” he
said.
“The Scriptures are what we have in common,” said Neubauer.
“Listening to the meditations feeds me.”
Di Mauro can be reached at [email protected] or on
Twitter @zoeydimauro.
