For Trish Thielemier, a parishioner of St. Paul Church in Pocahontas, there’s always been something spiritually moving about being able to participate in the Stations of the Cross in an outdoor space.
“My husband and I, as we’ve traveled around, have always liked to go to outdoor Stations of the Cross, and we actually try to Google them when we’re on a trip, where we can find them. We’ve just always enjoyed doing that.”
Thielemier grew up in the same neighborhood as St. Paul Church and often played in the front yard where the Benedictine Maria Stein Convent once stood.
“Since I grew up in that neighborhood, we probably played in that area all the time. We called it the Sister’s Yard. I would just go and stand there and think, ‘This would just be the perfect place for an outdoor Stations of the Cross. Probably for the last 15 years, we’ve been looking at that area and thinking that.”
It was then that Thielemier realized that she had one of the best tools available to make this parish dream a reality — a big Catholic family.
“I’m one of seven kids, and six of us still live right here in town,” she said. “And so I just pitched it to them — ‘Can we do this as a kind of family service project get-together?’ And they said yes. So I got with Father Steven (Elser, pastor) and the diocese, and we did it.”
Thielemier’s brother, Ben DeClerk, is a civil engineer. He jumped into the project, and soon, siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews and several generations of the DeClerk family and their in-laws were involved in the project.
“I’m a hobby woodworker, so making the crosses was a natural fit for me,” DeClerk said. “We ended up sourcing some materials and had another parishioner — Trish’s brother-in-law — who is a machinist and does metalworking, cut out an image for each station. We attached those to the crosses and made a path through a little wood lot there on the church grounds.”
Thielemier said the planning stages took around two years, from the spring of 2022 to March 2024.
“Once we got the supplies, we were searching for the right kind of wood to make the crosses out of. My brother, Ben … was able to plot it all out. … We wanted to make it as disability accessible as possible,” Thielemier said. “We didn’t want it to be completely all up and down the hill, so as many people as possible could do it. That took some time. He was able to plot it out in a way that made it easier for people to get around. … Once we broke ground, it took no time at all,” Thielemier said.
DeClerk said one of the big factors in timing was being meticulous about which materials to use for the project.
“We wanted it to be somewhat natural and low maintenance. So we used some weathering steel that you don’t have to paint — it just forms a rust layer and it kind of protects itself,” he said. “And then we ended up using treated timbers for the smaller crosses. And then we found a source for utility poles that were used. We got a saw miller to mill them out and make square timbers out of them.
“The tallest cross is 14 feet tall — the station where Jesus dies on the cross. It’s actually 18 feet tall, but about four feet of it’s in the ground, so it sticks out of the ground about 14 feet. It’s treated materials that last a long time with no maintenance. That’s our goal.”
DeClerk believes the outdoor stations help Catholics understand the path that Jesus walked.
“It’s probably more realistic, since the crucifixion took place outdoors,” he said.
Thielemier echoed his thoughts.
“It helps bring you to where Jesus was at the time — he was outdoors. He wasn’t inside a church looking at stone figures or big windows. He was outdoors,” she said. “And the part I love about it is that anybody can go at any time. It’s open to the public at all times, and it’s not like you have to wait for the church door open to do it. I just love the fact that it’s always accessible and that you’re walking a path the way Jesus would’ve walked it in the outdoors.”
Thielemier said she was thankful. Not only did her parish finally get beautiful outdoor Stations of the Cross, but she and her family had the opportunity to grow closer together.
“I’m one of those people — I can dream it, but I can’t make it happen. And I dream things that I have to have other people make happen …,” she said with a laugh. “The most rewarding thing was several family members worked on it. I was one of seven kids, and among all of us we have 22 kids, and then there’s great-grandkids now, and everybody pitched in. Not everybody in the family got to help, but a lot of the grandkids helped and they’re little.
“And my hope is that they’ll remember — they’ll be able to look at that someday and say, ‘I remember that when I was a kid. I remember carrying the rocks for that. And I remember helping put that together.’”
Thielemier and the DeClerk family hope that in participating in the new outdoor Stations of the Cross, visitors can remember Jesus’s path on Calvary.
“We all have our crosses that we carry and if you walk the path and you see how it played out for Jesus, it can help play it out for you,” Thielemier said. “You’ve got people who … help you along the way, and there’s family there… It is all part of the crosses that we all carry every day. And to be able to take your cross there and walk it with Jesus and leave it there at the foot of the cross — it’s just awesome to be able to do that.”
