Lent 2026 Stations of the Cross: Art & Devotional Journey Community Baptist Church

Open Introduction

Welcome to Lent 2026 & the Stations of the Cross

An Art & Devotional Journey brought to you by Community Baptist Church

The journey through Holy Week invites believers into the profound mystery of Christ's passion, death, and ultimate victory over sin and death. This sacred time—from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday—offers a unique opportunity to pause, reflect, and walk alongside Jesus in his suffering and sacrifice. In many Christian traditions, the Stations of the Cross serve as a structured devotional practice, guiding participants through fourteen key moments drawn from Scripture and tradition, depicting Jesus' final hours starting from his condemnation by Pilate to his burial in the tomb.

This book emerges from a living expression of that ancient devotion at our church community. During Holy Week, we open the sanctuary each day from 4-7 PM as a welcoming space for people across the community—longtime members, newcomers, seekers, and neighbors alike. The invitation is simple yet deeply in

Open About the Authors & Artists

About the Authors and Artists

Abraham Fields

Abraham Fields is an Alaskan artist interested in the surreal mysteries of life and the complexities of being human. Through the use of photography, painting, collage, and other materials, Abraham seeks to find truth wherever his intuitive art process leads him. This often involves becoming hyper-fixated on a material or idea and spending countless hours working with it till, like scratching off a scab, he is satisfied. His works often involve barely clothed bodies, vibrant colors, and the natural world. He was born and raised in Kodiak Alaska and counts his experiences growing up in the bush as most formative to his artistic practice. He now spends part of the year in Alaska, and the other in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Abraham hopes that by looking at the world differently, he can inspire curiosity and excitement in others.

Annie Darst

Annie, a native of the gulf coastal region of Texas, has made a home here in Kodiak. Annie has dabbled in a multitud

Open I. Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane

Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane

Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46; John 18:1

by Cindy Jones

Mrs. Bartram’s arched her eyebrows as she spied my knee, clearly visible through the large hole in my jeans. It was the 80s and the ripped jeans look was reaching its peak. It had not, however, reached my classmates in my college prep English class. I hung out with the “Hoods” and dressed like them…. ripped jeans, heavy metal T-shirts, stone washed jean jacket and Nike high tops. The arched eyebrows appeared again when Mrs. Bartram saw the poem I chose about to write about and read to the class. It was about the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’s walk to Golgotha. I had just accepted Christ as my Savior and everything in the Church and Christianity was new to me. The change in me had not yet made it to my choice of clothes. As I read, I stumbled over the words Gethsemane and Golgotha in both pronunciation and understanding. I thought a garden was a place of peace and beauty. It made sense t

Open II. Jesus is Judged before Pilate

Jesus is Judged before Pilate

Matthew 27:11-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 22:66-23:25; John 18:28-40

Where Do I See Myself in This Picture? A Meditation on the Scene of Jesus before Pilate

 By Marilyn Davidson (with help from Mitchell Davidson)

Sometimes it takes a long time looking at something in order to actually see it. Sometimes it takes even longer to know it and understand it. And sometimes we have to accept the fact that there are things we might never truly know or understand.

Several years ago, I found myself pondering how the people of Jerusalem had turned so violent against Jesus after they’d followed Him into that city. He entered in, riding on a donkey colt, and the people were all about Him—shouting adorations, waving palm branches, laying their cloaks on the ground for Him to ride over. They were excited for the coming Kingdom of God, but they were more excited, I think, about the prospect of their own deliverance from the tyranny of Rome, from poverty and hard work, from the dr

Open III. Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

Jesus is Scourged and Crowned with Thorns

Matthew 27:27-31; Mark:15:16-20; John 19:1-5

by Darin Hargraves

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. (Matthew 27:27–29)

It was what humanity should consider the most consequential time since creation. . .Jesus standing in the Praetorium, alone before the hostile crowd.  Facing them quietly, having been beaten and bloodied.  Still, the scourge would continue.  The whip the Roman soldiers used was embedded with sharp fragments to inflict maximum pain and with each strike the flesh was torn, muscle and bone exposed.

And still, He stands.  The Son of God, subjugated to insults, pain and humiliation.  Yet he gives no resistance, no retaliation, h

Open IV. Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene to Carry His Cross

Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene to Carry His Cross

Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26-31

by Damon Hargraves

32 As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. (Matthew 27:32 ESV) 

21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. (Mark 15:21 ESV) 

26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. 27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. (Luke 23:26-27)

This man who carried the cross for Jesus was significant, but it’s more than what he did in this moment. 

There is a lot going on at this point in the crucifixion, right before the trek up to the top of Golgotha.  We hear about the actions of the centurion and soldiers.  We hear about the priests, scribes, and elder

Open V. Jesus Promises his Kingdom to the Repentant Thief

Jesus Promises his Kingdom to the Repentant Thief

Luke 23:36-43

by Steven Darst

36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar

37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?

41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

(Luke 23:36-43)

A moment of clarity is all that is needed- A time when we can just see clearly what is right before us, as a flicker of light from a dying ember however so briefly. 

“We are g

Open VI. Jesus Dies on the Cross

Jesus Dies on the Cross

Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-37

Taking the Middle Seat

by Leslie Fields

Not long ago, on a flight home, I was once again stuck in a middle seat. My seatmates for the next five hours: two large men, one with meaty arms already spilling into my space. I shrank into the seat, avoiding eye contact and deciding whether to take an Ambien.

I didn’t. Nor did I keep my vow to hold silence, as I usually do on long flights. Somehow, I began a conversation with the man on my right. His name was Jerry. We talked about our families, our kids, our work, where we were going that day and why. It was not long into the conversation when he discerned I was a person of faith.

As soon as he heard me say “Christian” he charged in. “I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in any of that hocus-pocus,” he said firmly, shaking his head.

“Really? Wow, that’s interesting. How did you decide that?” I looked at him with curiosity.

He told me he was raised in c

Open VII. Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42

by Steven Darst

57 Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. 59 When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  60 and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  61 And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb. (Matthew 27:57-61)

Pilate gives permission to bury the man he had killed. Just earlier he had other words to say. “Behold the man!” remarked Pontius Pilate as he presented the condemned King of the Jews to his people. The crowds knew what this meant as he looked with his fixated gaze towards Golgotha: torture and death would be put on display for the world t