The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture provided seed funding for an ecumenical group of faith leaders serving San Diego’s Ocean Beach neighborhood through its Compelling Preaching Initiative.
It seemed odd to say it about a somber holiday that marks Jesus’ death, a parishioner told her priest, but she had found Good Friday this year to be “invigorating.” Along with nearly 200 members of the Ocean Beach community in San Diego, the woman had walked a mile path, visiting eight Stations of the Cross, each hosted by a different church.
The community-wide Stations of the Cross was the first public event hosted by the newly formed Peninsula Faith Leaders, a group of local clergy that seeks to collaborate across denominational bounds.
The Ocean Beach community is often described as “funky.” Suburban homes surround a historic downtown lined with restaurants, bars and surf shops. A homeless population camps out near the beach, while further south, single family homes overlook cliffs that rise above the sea.
The local historical society notes that churches played a critical role in the community’s development. Several congregations established sanctuaries along Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, known as “Church Row” since the 1920s.
For the first time in decades, a new generation of pastors has come together to connect with each other and renew the collaborative ministry of congregations along and near Church Row.
“We want to find ways to proclaim and embody the good news outside the walls of our individual church buildings and ministries,” said Michael Christensen, a member of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s Compelling Preaching cohort and one of the organizers of the collaborative effort. “What can we do together in the OB neighborhood in a socially conscious and public way?”
Inspired by events in decades past and ecumenical efforts elsewhere, the Good Friday walk reflected the “pilgrims of hope” theme of the Catholic Church’s jubilee year, as well as a shared desire among the pastors to show unity.
“In light of so much division and polarization in our country/world, we are constantly looking for ways to share love, not hate,” the Rev. Karla Shaw, senior pastor at Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church told sdnews.com.
The Good Friday Pilgrim Prayer Walk Along Ocean Beach's Historic Church Row ran about 1 mile down Sunset Cliff Boulevard, starting at St. Peter's By the Sea Lutheran Church. Each stop represented one of the Stations of the Cross and involved a unique activity, organized by a church.
At St. Peter’s by the Sea Lutheran Church, Rev. Bekki Lohrmann pointed the pilgrims to a poster telling the stories of people who had been wrongly convicted, just as Jesus had been.
Participants walked a block to the top of a cliff overlooking the sea, where Westminster Presbyterian Church (located about a mile inland) had set up a table for the second station – Jesus meeting his mother. There participants were asked what they had to let go of, just as Jesus let go of his mother and disciples on his final day. As the ocean waves rolled in and out below them, they could write something on a piece of paper, drop it into a bowl of water and watch the paper dissolve. Michael Christiansen, a member of CRCC's Compelling Preaching cohort and one of the organizers, places a piece of paper in the bowl.
Despite a light drizzle, pilgrims started the walk jovial, with friends chatting and laughing as they walked between stops. Some knew each other from their respective faith communities, while others greeted neighbors who went to different churches.
Pilgrims covered half the mile walk next, heading to the parking lot of a Masonic temple where Submerge Church rents space. The growing church, planted in 2022, offered a reflection on Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry his cross. Participants could push a seed into a large pot of soil, contemplating death and life as they touched the soil. The church offered participants “pocket Jesuses” – a small figurine that members can carry with them and share.
All Souls Episcopal Church, another church located inland, set up a station in front of a funeral home that commemorated Veronica wiping the face of Jesus. After reciting traditional prayers, people could write or draw those in need of compassion onto small pieces of cloth that represented Veronica’s cloth.
A block away, OB One Church describes itself as “church for imperfect people.” Brandon Follin, student and discipleship pastor, gave a short sermon on the church’s patio, reflecting on how, like Jesus, we all fall under the weight of our burdens. Participants held on to small rocks as he spoke, then placed them in a bucket, before heading to the next stop.
Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church set up on the lawn of the recently closed Water’s Edge Faith Community, on a property owned by the United Methodist Church. The tone of the walk grew somber as participants wrote down their sins on red paper, folded them and then nailed them to a board, before entering a darkened tent where a TV streamed images of the cross.
Across the street, Sacred Heart Catholic Church led participants through a reading and a prayer about Jesus’ death before offering them time to reflect in a memorial space and write down the names of loved ones who had died.
Passing by Bethany Lutheran Church, the walk ended in the darkened sanctuary of Resurrection Ocean Beach, representing the tomb of Jesus. The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, whose offices are on the church property, opened Resurrection in 2024 as a mission church. The previous congregation broke from the Episcopal Church, became Holy Trinity Anglican Church and moved next door to share a sanctuary with Bethany Lutheran Church. Neither Bethany nor Holy Trinity participated in the walk.
Valerie, who was baptized last year at St. Peter’s by the Sea, did not expect to feel such strong emotions from the walk. She lifted her sunglasses to wipe her eyes in Sacred Heart’s memorial space. It was not the first time she had shed tears on the walk. Each station, she shared, helped her better understand the path of Jesus, Mary and the disciples and what it means today. “It’s captivating and overwhelming,” she reflected.
While most of the faith leaders stayed at their stations, Sacred Heart’s pastor, Father Billy Zondler, decided to walk the route with his members, wearing a San Diego Padres windbreaker pulled over a flannel shirt.
He appreciated “seeing the beautiful articulation and style and creativity of each church and community, and how it fits together is a wonderful tapestry,” he said.
“Each church is essentially preaching in harmony,” he said. “And I think the powerful takeaway that we are seeing today is that the unity is already here.”
Megan Sweas is the editor and director of communications with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture.
