Helping people
KNOW Jesus,
GROW more like Jesus,
and GO serve Jesus.


Sunday Worship:
Contemporary 9:30am
Traditional 8am, 11am
Online: 9:30am, 11am

(941) 625-4356


StationsoftheCross_NBParkThe Stations of the Cross are located in New Beginnings Park behind our church campus.
Walking guides are available in the mailbox near the first station.
You may also take a “Virtual Walk” by viewing the close-ups of each Station below:

Why Do We Walk the Stations of the Cross?

Walking the Stations is a powerful way to contemplate, and enter into, the mystery of Jesus’ gift of himself to us.  The word station comes from the Latin word that means “to stand.”  It takes the reflection on the passion out of my head, and makes it an imaginative exercise.  It involves my senses, my experience and my emotions.  To the extent I come to experience the love of Jesus for me, to that extent the gratitude I feel will be deep.  Deep gratitude leads to real generosity and a desire to love as I have been loved.  First, just a note about the history of the stations:

The History:

From the earliest of days, followers of Jesus told the story of his passion, death and resurrection.  When pilgrims came to see Jerusalem, they were anxious to see the sites where Jesus was.  These sites become important holy connections with Jesus.  Eventually, following in the footsteps of the Lord, along the way of the cross, became a part of the pilgrimage visit.  The stations, as we know them today, came about when it was no longer easy or even possible to visit the holy sites.  In the 1500’s, villages all over Europe started creating “replicas” of the way of the cross, with small shrines commemorating the places along the route in Jerusalem.  Eventually, these shrines became the set of 14 stations we now know and were placed in almost every Catholic Church in the world.

The Journey:

1.  Walking the stations is a journey of prayer.  It isn’t an intellectual exercise.  It is in the context of your relationship with God.  Each station is an invitation to examine who Jesus is for you.  We open our hearts to be touched, and we express our response in prayer.

2.  This is an imaginative journey.  It is an opportunity for Christ’s sacrifice to touch our hearts deeply as we see the depth of His love for us.  The journey points to the historical fact that He was made to carry the instrument of His death, from the place where He was condemned to die, to Calvary where He died, and that He was taken down and laid in a tomb.  The religious context is that today Jesus wants to use any means available to move our hearts to know His love for us.  These stations can allow us to imaginatively visualize the “meaning” of His passion and death.

3.  This journey should lead us to gratitude.  It will also lead us into a sense of solidarity with all our brothers and sisters.  In our busy, high tech lives we can easily get out of touch with the terrible suffering of real people in our world.