The Episcopal Church’s Province II will host an online service of lament and repentance for the evils of the transatlantic slave trade at 10 a.m. (EST) on Ash Wednesday. The service will follow the structure of the Stations of the Cross as found in the Book of Occasional Services.
Province II includes churches in New Jersey, New York, the Caribbean, and Europe.
“The Slave Trade Lament and Repentance is an acknowledgment of the sin of slavery from Province II, which was the nexus for the slave trade,” said Bishop DeDe Duncan-Probe of Central New York, president of the province.
The service will feature participants from each of the 13 dioceses in Province II. Each participant will read an appointed station of the Cross and a collect written for the event by a diocesan delegate, and share a brief reflection from the diocese’s perspective. The service will begin with a recorded address by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.
“The Stations of the Cross are a very palpable journey towards Christ’s death and resurrection,” said the Rev. Yamily Bass-Choate, the Diocese of New York’s missioner for Latino ministries. “In Christ’s suffering, we also see the world’s suffering.”
Bass-Choate hopes the event will lead participants into a deeper time of repentance and renewal during Lent. “After all, we are a people of the resurrection. The more we work on our own prejudices and sinfulness throughout the season of Lent, the easier it will be for us to sing our Alleluias come Easter.”
The service will be broadcast live, and will remain accessible on Province II’s website throughout the season. “The service is an ideal Lenten resource, whether as a program for groups or individuals,” Bishop Duncan-Probe said.
The Stations of the Cross “come to the Anglican expression of the faith via the Roman Catholic Church, not as an official liturgy of the church, but as a private devotion to the cross that, over time, became communal,” said the Rev. Dr. Nathan Jennings, professor of liturgics and Anglican studies at Seminary of the Southwest.
The grassroots origin of the stations is reflected in the expansiveness of the Book of Occasional Services’ iteration of the service. “Such flexibility allows for the creation of devotions that address issues unique to our times,” Jennings said. “Isn’t it a good thing that liturgical renewal and borrowing from other traditions has given us space to do this important work?”
“Jesus has given us the opportunity to heal hearts, minds, and to move on to new and better ways,” Bass-Choate said. “May this service of repentance lead to deeper, more loving community, shrouded in the joy of Easter.”
