ROCK ISLAND — As far back as Chris Mandle can remember, there have been Stations of the Cross on the Fridays of Lent at Sacred Heart Church in Rock Island and even as a child he loved everything about them.

Now 27 years old and the owner of his own design company, he remains active at Sacred Heart and is one of the planners of “Stations, Scripture and Soup.” Scheduled for 7 p.m. on the Fridays of Lent, Mandle will lead the Stations of the Cross with Tim Smith, his friend and the son of his mentor, and then present a Scripture study based on the passion and resurrection narratives found in all four Gospels.

The third part of the equation is having people share a simple soup supper because part of the goal is to build community.

“That happens best over a meal, it seems like,” Mandle told The Catholic Post. “So that will wrap up the evening.”

While the group that attends Stations of the Cross generally has been small, he said about 20 people his own age have expressed interest who have never attended before and that makes him hopeful.

“We’re trying to invigorate Sacred Heart,” Mandle said. “There’s a hunger among people my age. We’re hoping that if we can get them in the door, we’ll be booming.”

The work that Mandle is doing for Sacred Heart grows out of his history, his education, his love for the church and his desire to help others.

The son of Karen and Mark Mandle, he first got involved at the parish as an altar server. Not enthused about the idea at first, he did it with the encouragement of his Lutheran father, who went to Sacred Heart and felt comfortable there, Mandle said.

“If you don’t like it, you can quit,” his father told him. Little did Mandle know that this would lead to doing liturgical planning in junior high school and helping with art and environment for the church at the side of Mike Smith, who became his mentor.

Now Mandle directs the altar servers at Sacred Heart with the assistance of Mike Smith and continues to work on the art and environment in the church with Tim Smith.