Good Friday Stations of the Cross

Agape’s commitment to witnessing against the Death Penalty began in the early 80’s with vigils in front of Boston’s State House on days of execution in the United States and expanded to a national effort to save the life of Billy Neal Moore, to whom Agape began writing when he was a few weeks away from execution in 1984.

Members of the community visited Billy on Death Row in Jackson, Georgia several times and were there when Billy’s execution was stayed by Georgia’s Board of Parole and Pardon and Billy’s death sentence was commuted, an historic event in the State of Georgia, which made the front page of the New York Times. 

Billy is now a minister and a completely free man, who spends his life telling his story of forgiveness by the family of the man he murdered, who worked tirelessly for his release and forgave him publicly before the Board of Pardon and Parole.  God’s redemptive hand interceded, along with the work of hundreds of people, including members of Agape, who petitioned, witnessed and advocated for his release, saved Billy Neal Moore.

The annual death penalty vigil carries Billy’s spirit as we stand for three hours every Good Friday, asking God’s forgiveness for the sin of violence in all its forms, expanding our vigil from Stations of the Cross against the death penalty, written by the larger community, to include war, abortion, and institutional violence wherever it is found, including tax dollars for the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq and our endless wars.
 
Billy is pictured at Agape with Teresa Shanley, who visited Billy on Death Row, when she was 7 months old, and is four years old in this picture, when Billy visited Agape for the first time in 1990 for a Resurrection Celebration with the extended community.