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Mission holds Community Prayer Stations

More opportunities available to participate

STOPS FOR PRAYER, REFLECTION  — The Rev. Ashley Steele, left, executive director of Urban Mission Ministries, shares thoughts with participants in the mission’s first Community Prayer Stations pilgrimage for Lent held March 2. The guided tour included numerous downtown Steubenville stops, including outside the Steubenville Municipal Building. Another official guided tour on buses is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 11, but other opportunities are available also by calling the mission at (740) 282-8010. -- Janice Kiaski

STEUBENVILLE — Thirty people participated in Urban Mission Ministries’ first Community Prayer Stations, which was held March 2, a unique Lenten season “pilgrimage” offering a “tangible way to see the Gospel message.”

The Rev. Ashley Steele, the mission’s executive director, extended the welcome to the group that gathered first in Unity Kitchen at the mission at 301 N. Fifth St., for a light meal and introduction to mission staff members assisting in the evening and board members on hand.

“The Community Prayer Stations are a special edition of The Table,” Steele explained. “We do gather here about every other month, and it has to do with the table, being together and sharing a meal, talking about some mission-minded things that are going on in our community and how we can be a part of it as people of faith, but tonight, because we just entered into Lent, we wanted to do something a little bit different,” she said of the experimental program.

The evening involved the participants journeying on two buses, taking guided tours to various stops in downtown Steubenville. They included St. Peter’s Catholic Church, the Steubenville Police Department, the Jefferson County Courthouse, the Samaritan House, the United Way of Jefferson County, AIM Women’s Center, the YWCA of Steubenville, Hutton House emergency shelters for families, the Friendship Room and the Beacon House, the latter of which among other things includes a community drop-in center for homeless people to find a warm meal, a hot shower and laundry facilities.

Steele advised participants, “It’s really not just a tour of different agencies and churches and different things like that in downtown Steubenville, but it’s an interactive tour where not only will we kind of see some parallels between the story of the Passion of Jesus going to the cross, but also kind questioning in our own spirit how Jesus is still being crucified in one way or another,” Steele said.

With the exception of a look inside the Friendship Room at 419 Logan St., the stops weren’t places to be toured but were opportunities instead for prayer and reflection.

The Community Prayer Stations were designed to follow a path similar to the final steps Jesus took to the cross, according to Steele. “From the Last Supper to the tomb, participants visiting the various prayer stations also will be invited to reflect on what the stations mean for us today — especially for the poor, hungry and un-housed,” she had said in a story promoting the initial tour.

Participants were encouraged to read through a short devotional provided by the mission.

The downloaded version of the guide is available on the mission’s website at www.urbanmission.org. through April 15, Easter weekend.

Another guided tour is scheduled for 6 p.m. April 11. Those interested to participate in it should call the mission at (740) 282-8010 or send an e-mail to asteele@urbanmission.org.

Steele also pointed out individuals may visit the stations anytime and go at their own pace. Private tours are available as well.

“We especially invite agency leaders, government officials, churches and youth groups to participate in a guided tour together,” she said, noting each station will include a scripture passage and reflection to go along with the passage.

“Each prayer station location has been selected not only to remember the path that Jesus took on Good Friday but also to remember a specific group or population in our community,” Steele said. “The reflection at each location will draw light to the service of that organization and call for prayers for the service it provides.”

In explaining what participants could anticipate, Steele said, “We’re going to challenge some things but probably more or less challenge our hearts, and then we’re not going to just leave it there, but also offer prayers because we know the only way for things to change is through prayers, and so that’s something that we as people of faith can do,” she said. “That first step to seeing God move in a powerful way is through prayer.”

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