March 19, 2008
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

Christians have for centuries meditated on the last words Christ uttered from the cross. Now a group of Sunday School students in New York City have created contemporary illustrations of them.

Looking for a way meditate on God's word during Lent, to make their Bible study come alive and perhaps inspire others, middle and high school students from the Church of St. Matthew's and St. Timothy's Sunday school took their cameras into nearby Central Park to find Jesus' last seven words in their world.

The project began early in Lent with the students contemplating Christ's seven last words, reviewing their context and considering what the words said to them, according to Oliver Brewer, director of the Sunday school.

The Seven Last Words of Christ actually refer to seven phrases, compiled from the four gospel accounts of Christ's hours on the cross. They are:

• Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34);

• I tell you this; today you shall be with me in Paradise. (Luke 23:43);

• Mother, there is your son. Son, there is your mother. (John 19:26);

• My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34) ;

• I thirst. (John 19:28);

• It is finished. (John 19:30);

• Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. (Luke 23:46)

The Seven Last Words formed the basis of a famous composition by Franz Joseph Haydn. The first version of Haydn's composition was performed on Good Friday 1787 in Cadiz, Spain. Other composers before and since have used the words as the basis of orchestral and choral works. Deciding to "put our Bible study into action," the seven students, each "armed with a camera and an adult tag-along," went into Central Park with the mission of capturing in their viewfinders images "that would reflect some of the thoughts we had," Brewer said.

Central Park gave the students a setting in which they could "roam about with some sort of independence" and was "a good place to find some solitude and peace and quiet, if that's what they wanted," he said.

The field trip began with each student expecting to look for scene that illustrated their assigned words. The competition for assignments was strong, Brewer said, with students haggling over who would get each phrase. However, when the students got into the park, each saw and captured scenes illustrating more than one of the phrases.

The pictures were developed onto compact disks and most, but not all, of the students reviewed the results. Brewer said the students sometimes saw more than one phrase illustrated in a single photograph.

In the end, their seven most compelling photographs were printed gallery size and now hang opposite the wall of the church's Stations of the Cross. The meditation exhibit was hung on Holy Tuesday and will remain up through Easter Week, Brewer said.

The project was a "new thing" for the students, he added. While they participate actively in worship at the church and have done skits and plays for the congregation in the past, this was the first time they have done an art project.

"They were able to take something and really make it their own," Brewer said.

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.