Church marks Good Friday with solemn poetry

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Apr. 16—The pairing of poetry and Bible verses led to a poignant Good Friday service at the First United Methodist Church in Oneonta on April 15.

Reverend Cynthia Walton-Leavitt, pastor at the First United Presbyterian "Red Door" Church, said this is the 22nd year the churches have joined together to host an Ecumenical service, and this year's theme was "Places."

Walton-Leavitt said she met with Robert Bensen, a member of the First United Methodist Church and the Rev. Mark Montfort, pastor of the Frist Presbyterian Church, at the Latte Lounge to read through the poems and choose some poems.

"Mark then married the scriptures to the poems and John Jurgensen picked the music," she said. Jurgensen is the director of music ministries at the First United Methodist Church.

One of the seven poems recited during the service, "A Lesson in Drawing" by Nizar Qabbani, brought to mind the struggles Ukraine is facing. In the poem, a son asks his father to draw him a picture of a bird, the sea, a sheaf of wheat and other tranquil objects, but the father draws the sea as a black circle, the wheat as a gun and is dismayed he can only think of objects of war. The poem was recited by the Rev. John Buddle, pastor at Elm Park and Otego United Methodist churches.

"It made me cry," Walton-Leavitt said. "Even though it was written years ago, it's still relevant today."

The Rev. LaDana Clark, minister at ChurchNtheHood, agreed. "We're still dealing with it and praying God will help us." Clark said this is her third year participating in the joint service.

Buddle, who is still in seminary school, said this was his first year participating in the Good Friday service. "The very first sermon I ever gave was in this church," he said. "It's nice to be back."

Walton-Leavitt said the service is held in the First United Methodist Church because it is centrally located in the city, and it is held at 12:10 p.m. to allow people to come during their lunch break. In addition to the in-person service, the service was broadcast virtually over Zoom. About 30 people attended the in-person service.

The service told the traditional tale of Jesus in several places during holy week leading up to his crucifixion and death on Good Friday.

The service started in Bethany, where a woman anointed him with expensive perfume, foretelling his death. This was also the place where Judas Iscariot agreed to betray Jesus. It continued at a temple when he was questioned by the chief priests, then to the upper room where he shared his last supper with his disciples and he revealed Judas was going to betray him. The scripture readings included Jesus's trial in front of Pilate's court and his crucifixion at Golgotha. The scripture readings also included Peter's denial of knowing Jesus.

In addition to the scripture and poetry readings, the Rev. Randy Palada, interim pastor of Northfield Community Church, performed a harmonica medley of hymns. Palada was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Oneonta before it closed.

Walton-Leavitt said the church tried to make this year's service more contemporary.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.