Online Staff Report

Rockford Urban Ministries’ (RUM) annual Good Friday Walk for Justice will begin at 9 a.m. on Good Friday, April 6, from the parking lot of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 412 N. Church St. The walk is free and open to those who wish to walk and pray for the city.

“We will walk to 14 stations, where we will stop and pray,” said Stanley Campbell, executive director of RUM. This will be the 27th year of the walk.

The 14 stations, or stops, go through downtown, “most representing the community’s attempt to help those less fortunate, such as Luther Center and Allen Chapel,” Campbell said. “The stops have also included places that need improvement in the city’s compassion — such as the jail and a bank. We also pray for our leaders at the state and federal buildings, for better communication through the newspaper, and a special prayer at the bridge for east-/west- side relations.”

The walk takes about an hour and 15 minutes.

“At the first station, we honor Emmanuel Episcopal’s Shelter Care Ministries, which serves the mentally ill homeless,” Campbell said. “I’m sure Jesus would want us to help these, the least of His brethren. From there, we carry our 10-foot, 75-pound cross to the Rockford Mass Transit terminal and pray for a better transportation system.”

RUM took the Way of the Cross to the streets of Rockford in 1985.

Karen Johnston, then Rockford Pax Christi leader, said at the first walk: “We take this walk out of the church and move it into the community as a symbol of our commitment to put our faith into action.”

The initial walk started at the Seton Center, 921 W. State, and proceeded across the river, ending at SwedishAmerican Hospital. More than 50 people participated.

Campbell said: “At the end of the walk, we realized we would have to trudge back the 5 miles, so next year we made it a circular route and shortened it, ending where we had started.”

The walk now starts and finishes at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, a block up from Beattie Park.

The “Way of the Cross” began during the Middle Ages, when people would make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. “The trips were fraught with danger,” Campbell said, “so the Catholic Church decided those who wished to show their devotion to the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows) could do so in their own churches.”

Originally, there were a variety of “stations,” or stops, along the way, but the number was finally set at 14. Some of the Stations of the Cross, i.e., Veronica’s veil, and the three falls of Christ, are not scriptural but are part of legend and tradition. Most of the other stations have roots in the Bible.

Following is a complete list of stops included in RUM’s Good Friday Day Walk for Justice:

1. Start at Shelter Care Ministries (Emmanuel Episcopal), 412 N. Church St. and walk to

2. RMTD downtown bus station

3. Former Janet Wattles Mental Health Center, 526 W. State St.

4. The new jail

5. Federal Building, 211 S. Court St.

6. Public Safety Building, 420 W. State St.

7. Illinois State Office Building, 200 S. Wyman St.

8. Rock River, behind the Bank building

9. Register Star newspaper office, 99 E. State St.

10. Bridge — we will stop in the middle just to say a short prayer

11. Luther Center, 111 W. State St., but down along the river

12. Veterans Statue, Mulberry and North Main Street

13. Rockford Public Library, 215 N. Wyman St.

14. Beattie Park Mounds — Beattie Park, North Main Street to honor Native Americans.

Last year, it took participants an hour and 15 minutes. About 50 to 100 people are expected to participate this year.

For more information, contact RUM at (815) 964-7111.

Posted March 19, 2012