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Via Crucis :: The Way of the Cross :: The Experience
Immersion
Alternative, Experiential, EPIC, Multi-sensory, Multi-media, Postmodern... the list could go on and on. Recently, worship has been described in all these (and a plethora of other) ways. It has become hip-n-cool to describe a church's worship with these adjectives, but too often this has simply meant a praise band, powerpoint, and a few candles. We just change the window dressing, but the we keep selling the same consignment store apparel.
This is NOT what we are attempting with the Stations of the Cross. The word/image that keeps coming to mind is "Immersion". Hopefully this will not become a cheesy catch-word, rather the immersion metaphor will guide our thinking, dreaming, planning, playing, praying, and worship.
As persons enter the 14 Stations of the Cross on Good Friday they will cross a threshold into another realm. As they walk through the "water" and into the sanctuary they will be transported into a space and time where the sufferings of Christ and their own pain co-exist. They will become immersed in Christ, in each step he took, each fall, each encounter with a person on the via crucis - the way of the cross. That they... that WE... would be flooded by the Spirit as sacred space and time are created. And that as we leave we would be drenched in an overwhelming sense of both who Christ is and our cross that we are to bear.
To create an environment where this can happen we must first and always be people of prayer - centered in our love of God. This is not an event to "put on", there is no show, we will not be noticed. We must approach each act and task as the art of creation. In a very real way we are co-creaters with God. There is a dialectical process that we enter into as we discern the Spirit, act on the insight, share with the community, and submit our work/art/lives as worship.
As we commonly enter this conversation, we will find threads, themes, and learnings that emerge. These are already happening. In fact, the idea of immersion is one that has already emerged and will hopefully be a helpful guiding metaphor for the entire process. This kind of worship experience will be de-centered, multi-sensory, and dynamic.
1. De-centered
A favored word around these parts it seems. The Stations experience will not have a stage or unidirectional piece. The design of the event is more like a pilgrimage or journey than a classroom or living room. As such there is direction and by nature of the stations there is a (unforced) linear flow. However, every effort should be made to allow the worshipper to move at their own pace. If someone gets "stuck" at Station 5, that is OK and is entirely acceptable. They may need to stay there a long time before moving on, and perhaps will need to stop there and leave if the Spirit is working with that person in a specific way. We should try to make this apparent in the atmosphere, layout, text, and design of the Stations experience.
Our role (once the event is underway) is more likened to a museum curator's than a train engineer (or whoever that is that where's that funny hat and says "ALL ABOARD!"). We allow the art and the experience speak for itself - or rather we allow God to speak through it - to the persons engaged. We will be background, present if needed, but ignored if not. We should likewise remove any barrier between us as "presenter" and them as "participant". Our stations should be self-sustaining so as to allow ourselves to enter into the overall experience of the Stations.
2. Multi-sensory
All 6.
3. Dynamic
Meaning that the event works on multiple levels. It is an intensely personal experience, allowing for deep, long, and meaningful contemplation on the part of an individual. But it also should engage the community as well. One way for doing so will be advertising and making the event accessible in both Spanish and English. We have many Hispanic brothers and sisters and hopefully there will be honoring connections made in this way. We will also have have elements which allow those who go through the stations to post their thoughts, reflections, and prayers. This way, even as it is very personal, we can as a community of faith embrace and support and share with one another. Station 15 - Easter Sunday's morning worship is another expression of this idea. We will intentionally bridge between the two and (hopefully, in the process) provide an opportunity for house churches and fellow siblings in the faith to connect with one another.
Furthermore, dynamic means that there will be tension. The stations are not meant to present answers, but questions. Conclusions are not necessary. Jesus is our reality that we will swim in (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it "feels" right) and as such we don't have to offer any more (nor any less) than him. Or, another way of looking at it, we have nothing to offer besides ourselves, our very lives, and in as much as we are transformed into his likeness and he lives within us and shows himself through us. This means that we are in an inherently relational dynamic. Only as we are relation to Christ can we relate with our fellow human being.
More thoughts on Immersion
Below is a diagram of the four realms of experience, taken from an unlikely source (I'm not telling or you may be biased!). Though I am not fond of the term "escapist" this is the quadrant that I perceive our Stations engaging. We (all who go through the stations) should be active participants - not mere observers. There should be some kind of engagement, both physically, emotionally and spiritually. As opposed to Entertainment or Education, we are not attempting to get the worshipper to necessarily "ingest" some bit of information. Rather than reducing the "meaning" of a station or the stations to a few bite-sized 
morsels the meanings of the experience will be intentionally like taking a drink from a fire hydrant. There will be layers upon layers of meanings and messages, not all of them (or any of them) tied up neatly for "taking home". Certainly, we hope that persons come away from this experienced changed and that that will like mean that they "got something out of it", but this will be a by-product of the experience. In fact, in many ways this experience - the Stations - stand alone as a sacramental event. They have the potential of being an outward sign of an inward and spiritual grace (with shouts out to the Wesley bros.). The Stations exist not so that we can get something out of them, but so that we can put ourselves into them.
Hopefully, we won't escape from something (our lives, our families, our communities) as much as we will escape into the sufferings of Christ. We will actively engage our own suffering and (even more?) actively engage in the world's suffering. We will be embraced into Christ's reality - a kingdom realm - and in this way we will be transformed. Perhaps we will even be converted. Converted - changed - both to Christ and to the world. We will find life through the death. Resurrection is not merely a future reality, it is a present expectation of the kingdom breaking in. As much of Christ calls us away and unto himself, he likewise calls us into the world - to a solidarity with those on the margins. But these things are not up to us (we who would be so bold as to attempt these Stations), it is the Spirit who moves and who does the changing. We can only be faithful to his work within us - not passively, but with active anticipation of the change that he is doing in us. As we do this we will be privileged to witness his work within one another as well. This is what the Stations are - an opportunity to observe the Spirit's working.
This may also be why the Stations make such a good setting for this kind of work. The muck and the mire of our lives is laid bare as we identify with Jesus' suffering. It is in the compost of our souls, the pain, the hurt, the wounds that we see the Spirit active. It is in our brokenness that we can become whole.