‘Call attention to Christ’
The Rev. Debra Mason addressed the gathered crowd in the gray morning of Good Friday.
“Sometimes a picture is better than a thousand words,” said Mason, pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church.
Rather than speak their message, a group made the pilgrimage from Friendship Baptist Church on Walnut Street and across the Highland-Ridge area of Washington, carrying a cross on Good Friday, the Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. City resident Guy Williams carried a large wooden cross while walkers sang hymns, prayed and recited scripture from the Bible.
“We’re doing this to call attention to Christ and the sacrifice he made for us,” Mason said.
It’s the first year congregants of Highland-Ridge churches came together for such an event.
“We’re just trying to keep the community uplifted and let them know there is a beacon of Christ up here on the hill,” said Deacon Kenneth Wilkins of Friendship Baptist. “We’ll pray for unity and pray for forgiveness.”
David Gatling, vice president of the local chapter of the NAACP, said he was a little disappointed with the turnout, considering there are eight churches in a one-mile radius. But, he said, the group will meet again next year for another walk.
“We need to get other churches involved,” he said. “We all share the same God.”
The walk concluded at John Wesley on Central Avenue, where a worship service was held.
“Each one of us has a cross to bear, whether the size of a toothpick or a big cross,” said the Rev. Louis Ridgley, pastor of Wright Memorial AME church. “Thanks be to God.”