A Lenten labor of love

By: HEATHER BOGARD
Associate Editor

For the fourth year in a row, residents of the Mill Creek subdivision off of Chicot Park Road have banded together to create a walking Stations of the Cross throughout their neighborhood. Residents Mike and Cathy Fontenot recall the special Lenten project first began four years ago after several men in the community attended an ACTS retreat at church. Dr. Ryan and Emily Buller and Dr. Jake LaFleur and his wife, Ashley, got the ball rolling and spoke to other members of their neighborhood, who were very much in support of the project and donated to help get it done. The stations and 4x4 posts were then purchased. Mike then volunteered to help build and install the posts. Several other volunteers in the neighborhood also pitched in to help install the stations.
The first year was very successful, with 20-40 residents participating in a live Way of the Cross on Friday afternoons during Lent. Participants can walk, drive or ride their bikes or golf carts along the path throughout the neighborhood.
For the second year, Emily suggested crosses be used in place of the posts. Mike once again volunteered to build the crosses to hold the stations of the cross. Ryan contacted his uncle Steve who works with Doug Ashy and the wood was donated for the project. Cathy purchased the purple shrouds placed on the crosses, as well as the white shrouds for Easter Sunday. “That was my contribution,” she said.
Emily declares, “Jake LaFleur has been a big help by using his organizational skills to plan the walks each year.” LaFleur shared the Way of the Cross will be held on Fridays during Lent to offer an outdoor option for those wanting to participate with their young children who might get antsy participating in church. They plan on starting next Friday at 5:30. Jake said volunteers are asked to read the stations and lead the service. As many as 40-50 people have participated pre-Covid and he hopes the community can come back and participate again. Ashley noted even during the height of the pandemic, it was nice to see families still drive around the stations in their golf carts to pray without the crowd.
Mike recalls that once Covid hit, there weren’t as many participants and it became a family thing to do together. He said families and individuals, as well as groups such as Come Lord Jesus have come through to walk in Jesus’s steps during the Way of the Cross. He proclaims, “We are proud of what we have built and invite everyone to come visit.” He added, “I hope now that Covid is less prevalent, we will have a better turn out.”
Cathy says, “It is nice to see the families working together and sons helping their dads work on this project.” She admits the goal is to have it up by Ash Wednesday each year. After Easter, the crosses and stations are taken down and stored at Charles Buller’s home for safe keeping until the following year.
“It makes me so filled with joy that the vision finally came together to provide and outdoor walk for families to participate in. When you have littles (children) that like to sing and dance, sometimes it is hard to contain them for a stations walk in church. This way, we felt that families could have another option to relax and pray the stations, in addition to participating at the church stations, which are also available.” Emily shares.
She concludes, “We were so blessed that Father (Tom Voorhies) led us in our walks and gave his time to promote it so we had a large crowd for the Lord! I hope many more people enjoy the stations walk this year and in the future.”