The streets surrounding Most Holy Redeemer Parish in Evergreen Park were bustling the afternoon of April 2 with more than 100 families walking the sidewalks and kids on bikes and scooters. It wasn’t an early trick-or-treat event, but rather a neighborhood Stations of the Cross on Good Friday.

This was the second year the parish installed simple wooden crosses in the yards of parish families on Good Friday symbolizing each of the stations — the 14th station was located in front of the church — where families and individuals could take part in the socially distanced devotion.

Each cross had an image of the station it depicted and a meditation people could read. There was also a QR code people could scan that provided the route and the meditations for each station. Organizers provided purple bunting for use on Good Friday and Holy Saturday and yellow bunting for Easter.

The self-directed stations were held from noon until 3 p.m.

“It was born out of the inability to gather in churches last year,” said Jennifer Busk, the event organizer. “Really, how I thought of it was that the church is not the four walls. The church is the parish community. So this was a safe way for us to gather safely to respectfully honor Good Friday.”

The event was so well-received that parishioners asked for it again this year, despite there being in-person Stations of the Cross inside the church on Good Friday, Busk said. They changed the route from last year to involve more parishioners.

“I think the pandemic just put us out of touch with so many things and this was one simple way for us to still feel connected and still feel part of a faith community,” she said. “Even though things are opening up again, we still need to be safe. People may not be comfortable going to large gatherings and people can do this safely on their own and still see people and feel connected.”

The neighborhood Stations of the Cross were also a good opportunity for families with young children.

“Sometimes parents of young children are hesitant to bring their little ones to church, but the self-directed outdoor stations allow them the opportunity to have their children walk or ride bikes, or the parents can push them in a stroller or pull them in a wagon as they visit each station,” said Busk, who prayed the stations with her two daughters.

Colleen Klimczak displayed a cross on her lawn last year and walked the neighborhood devotion this year.

“It’s so great. We all know there were downsides of the last year or so, but this was one of the silver linings. To make sure we brought it back no matter what was important,” Klimczak said.

St. Catherine of Alexandria in nearby Oak Lawn put together its own version of neighborhood Stations of the Cross after learning about Most Holy Redeemer’s last year. Theirs was a drive-up version but was set up similarly with simple wooden crosses in front lawns, meditations at each station and a QR code people could use to follow along.

Instead of being limited to three hours on Good Friday, people could participate in St. Catherine’s stations from dusk on Holy Thursday through Good Friday.

Parishioner Donna Marie Ivers’ home was the 11th station, in which Jesus is nailed to the cross.

“It’s just a simple way to contribute to this, because honestly there really wasn’t much work on our part other than having our home available,” said Ivers.

Jamie Guardi’s family hosted the 13th station, in which Jesus is taken down from the cross. Her neighbor across the street was also a station stop.

“I think it is a great way to really get the purpose for the season and to do it in a socially responsible way,” she said. “We did it last night and it was beautiful. We stayed in the car and the reflections that Phil typed up were beautiful.”

Her daughter Nora, 12, said she also enjoyed participating.

“Some people did different things with their crosses to decorate them. It was really interesting. And also the prayers for the stations were really nice and I can really relate to some of the family prayers they had on there,” Nora Guardi said. “It was really great for our family.”