In the spirit of communities that pray together, stay together, the Oxford-Orion Ministers Association (OOMA) is inviting the public to attend a special Good Friday (April 3) service at St. Mary’s in the Hills Episcopal Church located at 2512 Joslyn Ct. in Orion Township.
‘We’re all sisters and brothers in Christ,? said St. Mary’s Pastor Laurel Dahill. ‘It’s pretty special when we can all come together.?
The community service will begin at noon and should last about 45 minutes. It will consist of four local pastors reading different portions of the story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, an event Christians believe washed away the world’s sins and relieved mankind of the guilt and pain caused by them.
‘Good Friday is the celebration of Christ and his sacrifice for us, for all of humanity,? Dahill said. ‘That’s what’s so good about it. Nailing somebody to a cross is not such a good thing, but the reason that he did it was to take (away) all of our sins.?
After each pastor reads their part of the story, he or she will spend four minutes offering their ‘reflections? on it.
‘We all have different perspectives on the gospel and I think it will be quite a treat for people to hear these different perspectives in one place,? Dahill said. ‘We don’t often come together all at once. I wanted to take advantage of having all these different voices here.?
Participating pastors include Bob and Jesse Holt from Christ the King in Oxford, Rochelle Beckemeyer from Echo Christian Fellowship in Orion and Dahill.
‘I think it’s important that we stay connected with one another,” Dahill said. “It’s too easy to get isolated in your own little church and miss out on the richness of other takes and perspectives on Christianity.?
Dahill noted there’s plenty of space at St. Mary’s in the Hills for this community service and the church is handicap-accessible.
‘We can fit almost 200,? she said.
Established in the 1990s, OOMA is a loose-knit group of pastors from Oxford and Orion that meet for lunch on a monthly basis for the purpose of fellowship and coordinating three annual community services.
‘It keeps us connected with a larger group of our sisters and brothers,? Dahill said.