Way of the Cross for Immigration Justice
Good Friday Migration – Drew Theological School
Theme: Migration as the Way of the Cross

Words of Welcome

Dr. Althea Spencer-Miller

Opening Gathering

Leader: Today, we travel the Way of the Cross in bodied solidarity with migrant, immigrant, refugee, and detained families, siblings, and selves separated by borders. Jesus himself knew displacement. As a child, he fled violence with his parents and crossed borders under the order of the Empire seeking safety.
People: Lord Jesus, you journey today with migrants and refugees within and across borders.
Leader: As we travel this campus, we remember that Christ continues to suffer wherever people are excluded, detained, or denied dignity.
People: Open our eyes to see you in those who suffer.

Song

“Stand in Awe” – Brett Hesla – OneLicense #A-729109

Stand in awe of the one who hears the cry of the poor.
Stand in awe of the one who will provide.
Stand in awe of the one who hears the cry of the poor.
For they shall eat and be satisfied.

Station I

Jesus Is Condemned
Location: Campus Safety Building
Theme: Criminalization of Immigrants

Scripture Reader: Prof. Kathie Brown
Matthew 27:22

Pilate said to them, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”
They all said, “Let him be crucified.”

Reflection Reader: Prof. Kathie Brown
Jesus was condemned by a political system that prioritized control over justice.
Today, many immigrants are cast as threats through both rhetoric and policy, shaping how they—and we—are perceived and treated, rather than calling us into a shared recognition of one another as neighbors.

Student Testimony: Youngeun Kim

Student Quote: Youngeun Kim
“How can a person be illegal? Every human being bears the image of God and possesses human dignity.”

Unison Prayer
God of justice, when systems condemn people without hearing their stories and ours,
give us courage to stand with those who are judged and excluded.
Help our institutions—including this university—
to defend the dignity of every person.
Amen.

Song

“What Does the lord Require of You” -by Jim & Jean Strathdee, OneLicense #A-729109

Part 1: What does the Lord require of you? 2x
Part 2: Justice, kindness, walk humbly with our God. 2x
Part 3: To seek justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.

Station II

Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross
Location: Bust of Henry Appenzeller
Theme: Mission, Migration, and Global Christianity

Scripture Reader: Dr. Art Pressley
Mark 15:21

They compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, to carry his cross.

Reflection Reader: Dr. Art Pressley
Simon was a stranger who helped carry the burden of the cross.
In the same way, Christians across cultures carry one another’s burdens in the struggle for justice.
The history of Christian mission reminds us that the church is global and interconnected.

Student Testimony: Youngeun Kim

Student Quote: Youngeun Kim
“Mission is no longer abstract learning or distant charity, but embodied participation in struggles for justice.”

Unison Prayer
God of all nations,
teach us to carry one another’s burdens.
Help the church become a place of solidarity with migrant, immigrant, and refugee siblings and selves.
Amen.

Song

“Jesus, Remember Me” – Taize- Jacques Berthier

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Station III

Jesus Takes Up the Cross
Location: Mead Hall
Theme: Slavery, Labor, and Migration

Scripture Reader: Prof. Kathie Brown

John 19:17
“They took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull.”

Reflection Reader: Prof. Kathie Brown
This building once functioned as a private residence where enslaved people lived and labored.
Its history reminds us that migration, forced labor, and racial injustice have long been intertwined.
Today, migrant workers continue to carry heavy burdens while remaining invisible in society.

Student Testimony: Cassie Montelongo

Student Quote: Cassie Montelongo
“It was about people and about caring for people in the ways they needed to be cared for.”

Unison Prayer
God of liberation,
help us remember the hidden histories of labor and suffering within and around us.
May we build communities where the dignity of every worker is honored.
Amen.

Station IV

Jesus Falls Under the Cross
Location: Inaccessible Entrance of Seminary Hall
Theme: Accessibility and Belonging

Scripture Reader: Dr. Art Pressley

Isaiah 53:4
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Reflection Reader: Dr. Art Pressley
Jesus collapsed beneath the weight of the cross.
Many today fall beneath systems that appear welcoming but remain inaccessible.
Immigrants encounter legal, economic, and social barriers that prevent full participation in society.

Student Testimony: Bethany Davey, read by Rae Guthrie

Student Quote: Bethany Davey, read by Rae Guthrie
And yet, together we remain, in shared pain, shared resistance: a holy and collaborative, insistent presence. Therein lies—in the face of cruel inaccess—transformative possibility.

Unison Prayer
God of presence in our pain, God of generous welcome, remove–and guide us in removing– barrier gates.
Help us create communities where every person can experience and live into belovedness and belonging.
Amen.

Closing Reflection

Drs. Francisco Pelaez-Diaz & Althea Spencer-Miller

Leader: Today we have traveled the Way of the Cross in bodied solidarity with migrant, immigrant and refugee siblings and selves.
People: Christ journeys with us, suffers with us, in an unbreakable, lived accompaniment.
Leader: The cross reveals both the cruelty of human systems and the power of love that refuses to abandon us in our suffering.
People: May we embrace the way of Christ in our collective and sacred struggle for justice.

Unison Prayer
God of resurrection hope,
even when the cross seems heavy,
teach us to faithfully accompany those who suffer, and to generously receive others’ accompaniment in our own suffering.
Amen.

Song

“Stand In Awe” (by Brett Hesla)

Communion

Invitation to the Table
Leader: We have walked the Way of the Cross—
from condemnation to burden,
from falling to exclusion,
from suffering to shared resistance.
We have seen how Christ is crucified again
in systems that criminalize, exclude, and divide.

At each station, we named the weight of the cross—
carried by migrant workers,
borne by detained families,
felt by those denied belonging.

And now, we arrive at this final station—
not at the end of suffering,
but in the midst of it.
Francisco:
Here, at a table set upon a fence—
a symbol of division—
God prepares a place of encounter.
People:
Open our eyes to see you in the breaking of the bread.

Prayer of Thanksgiving (Great Prayer)

God of the journey,
you have been present at every station—
in condemnation and in courage,
in falling and in rising.

You have walked with those who wait outside detention centers,
with those whose voices are silenced,
with those whose dignity is denied.

You have been present in the hidden histories of labor,
in the burden carried by strangers,
in the bodies that fall beneath unjust systems.

And still, you draw near.

In Jesus, you entered the way of suffering—
condemned by power,
burdened by injustice,
crucified by the logic of exclusion.

And yet, even on the night before the cross,
he gathered at a table—
not to escape suffering,
but to transform it.

Calling of the Spirit
Holy Spirit, be present with us—
as you were present at every station along the way.

Be present in this bread and in this cup,
and in all who gather at this table on the border.

Make this bread the body of Christ—
broken in solidarity with the suffering.
Make this cup the blood of Christ—
poured out in love that crosses every barrier.
And make us, your people,
a living body—
committed to dismantling every barrier to belonging.

People: Amen.

Words of Institution

At that table, Jesus took bread,
blessed it, broke it, and said:
“This is my body—
broken under the weight of the world.”

He took the cup and said:
“This is my blood—
poured out where violence seeks to have the final word.”

And so we remember:
the cross does not end at Golgotha—
it stretches into every place where dignity is denied.
And this table does not erase the cross—
it reveals that love refuses to abandon us within it.

Invitation to Communion

This table stands where fences were meant to divide.

This table gathers those the world would separate.

This is God’s table—
set in the presence of suffering,
set in the midst of struggle,
set for all.
Come—
you who have carried burdens,
you who have fallen,
you who have stood in solidarity,
you who are searching for hope.
People: Christ meets us here.

Distribution

Prayer After Communion

God of the cross and the journey,
you have met us at this table
set in the midst of division.

You have fed us not apart from suffering,
but within it—
reminding us that love abides even there.

Send us now as people of the Way—
to accompany those who are condemned,
to help carry one another’s burdens,
to stand where others fall,
and to resist every system that denies belonging.
People: Amen.

Sending

We have walked the Way of the Cross.
Althea:
We have met Christ along the way.

Now go—
to continue this journey in the world.

People: May we embrace the way of Christ in our collective and sacred struggle for justice.

Benediction

Go now as people of the Way—
who have journeyed with Christ
through condemnation, burden, and falling,
and have met him
in the lives of migrant, immigrant, and refugee siblings and selves.
Go with eyes open
to see Christ where dignity is denied,
and with hearts made tender
to accompany those who suffer.
Go as those who have been fed at a table set upon a border—
to become a people who dismantle barriers,
who carry one another’s burdens,
and who refuse every lie that divides neighbor from neighbor.
And as you go,
may the God who journeys with the displaced,
the Christ who is present in the crucified of our world,
and the Spirit who gathers us into one body
go with you—
now and always.
Amen.

Benediction

Dr. Francisco Javier Pelaez Diaz

Go now as people of the Way—
who have walked with Jesus
through condemnation, burden, and falling,
and have met him
in the lives of migrant, immigrant, and refugee siblings and selves.
Go with eyes opened
to see Jesus where dignity is denied,
and with hearts made tender
to accompany those who suffer.
Go as those who have been fed at a table set upon a border—
to become a people who dismantle barriers,
who carry one another’s burdens,
and who refuse every lie that divides neighbor from neighbor.
And as you go,
may the God who journeys with the displaced,
the Christ who is present in the crucified of our world,
and the Spirit who gathers us into one body
go with you—
now and always.
Amen.