Province II Stations of the Cross
Many of us know that the basic organizational unit of the Episcopal Church is a diocese - a designated geographical region under the leadership of the Bishop and the Diocesan Convention. Our church is a part of the Diocese of Long Island which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties - or as the Bishop likes to say "from the Brooklyn Bridge to Montauk Point."
But the next unit of organization larger than the diocese is a province - a group of dioceses with a shared geography or history. Our province of the Episcopal Church is Province II - "the Atlantic Province" - and it includes the Dioceses of Albany, Central New York, Cuba, Convocation of Churches in Europe, Haiti, Long Island, New Jersey, New York, Newark, Puerto Rico, Rochester, Virgin Islands, Western New York. Province II is one of the most culturally rich and diverse dioceses of the Episcopal Church and it is led by our provincial president, The Rt. Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe, the Bishop of Central New York.
That province has created a liturgy of repent and lament for the trans-Atlantic slave trade which follows the traditional form of the Stations of The Cross liturgy but includes prayers, reflections, and leadership from across our province. As a member of the Reparations Committee of the Diocese of Long Island, our rector was honored to be invited to be one of this liturgy's authors. Our church also gets a very nice mention for its work of caring for our Burying Ground.
The whole service is quite moving, especially when you consider the technical challenges several dioceses had to overcome to get the videos out. If you want to take a couple of hours and pray the stations with our brothers and sisters from across the province, the link for the video is here and below. The video also contains a link to the text of the liturgy as well so you can pray along.
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