Rockford congregations walk for justice across the city on Good Friday

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford Urban Ministries led multiple congregations on an interfaith prayer walk for justice across the city for Good Friday.

The walk began outside Emmanuel Episcopal Church on North Church Street this morning.

People across several different Christian faiths stopped 14 times throughout downtown, each stop to represent a station of the cross.

The goal of the walk was to spread the gospel by applying Jesus’ teachings and traditions to modern issues that divide and impact the community.

“So, we’ll travel to 14 different locations in downtown Rockford and pray outside of civic buildings, outside of churches, outside of social service agencies, and pray for those who work there, people who are impacted by different issues,” said Rockford Urban Ministries Reverand Violet Johnicker.

“We remember how Jesus himself was incarcerated. And so we pray particularly for an end to mass incarceration,” Johnicker continued. “The 14 stations have changed year to year, but we continue to always do 14 in the tradition of the stations of the cross and the Catholic Church.”

The gathering marked the 37th year that congregations across the city have participated in the Good Friday Walk for Justice.