This year, 27 ministers from 14 denominations will participate in the Good Friday Stations of the Cross Pilgrimage on Main Street in downtown Sarasota on Friday, April 18.
With four denominational leaders participating, including The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas F. Scharf, VI Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida, more than 100 congregations will be represented.
The worldwide Stations of the Cross tradition began in 15th-century Jerusalem and is now celebrated in more than 200 countries on Good Friday of Holy Week.
This is the 24th year Sarasota will observe the worldwide Stations of the Cross tradition.
During the pilgrimage, the 14 Biblically recorded events that happened to Jesus on his way to crucifixion are remembered at a series of stations. A service booklet sharing the acts of worship corresponding to the historic 14 stations will be distributed to all participants.
Church of the Redeemer, in collaboration with the Sarasota Ministerial Association, coordinates the walk each year. The event is open to the public.
Redeemer’s Friday Men’s Breakfast Prayer Group founded the event in 1996. At that time, about 15 people participated. In 2024, nearly 1,000 pilgrims participated, and even more are expected this year.
People begin to gather at 7 a.m., and the pilgrimage starts at 7:20 a.m. at 1993 Main St., just west of U.S. 301.
Sarasota City Commissioner Kyle Battie and Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight will preside over the first station.
Participants in the 2023 Stations of the Cross pilgrimage, led by Father David Svihel carrying a wooden cross, walk down Main St. as the sun rises on Good Friday in downtown Sarasota.
Sarasota Police officers will escort the procession so people can safely walk down the center of Main Street.
The walk ends at Church of the Redeemer at about 8:30 a.m. with everyone invited to attend a brief prayer service inside.
How to park for Stations of the Cross
Parking is available at the final station, Church of the Redeemer, 222 S. Palm Ave.
Starting at 6 a.m., a free trolley will take people to the starting point. Free street parking is available in front of the church on Gulfstream Avenue.
People can also park at Redeemer’s Strawberry Hill parking lot on the southeast corner of Palm Avenue and Ringling Boulevard.
There is public parking in the garage across the street from the front of the United Methodist Church at 104 S. Pineapple Ave.
Parking is available at First Sarasota, The Downtown Baptist Church’s parking lot behind the sanctuary at 1661 Main Street. First Sarasota is the sixth station on the pilgrimage.
For more information, call Church of the Redeemer at 941-955-4263. For more information about the Sarasota Ministerial Association, email the Rev. Tom Pfaff at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Stations of the Cross set for Good Friday on Main Street in Sarasota
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