On Good Friday, members of the Christian community take up their crosses and walk the streets of South Augusta to commemorate the last hours before Christ’s crucifixion.
“This is my favorite event of the year,” said Gary Garner, one of the event organizers.
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The Good Friday Way of the Cross is a 1.5 mile-trek starting at 10 a.m. on April 2 at Burns Memorial United Methodist Church on Lumpkin Road. It winds through side streets passing Ascension Lutheran Church, Hillcrest Baptist Church and ending at St. Joseph Catholic Church. All four churches are members of the South Augusta Pastors’ Alliance. The alliance and the Alleluia Community are the event sponsors.
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There are pauses along the route. At each church, there is music and scripture readings related to Good Friday.
Nancy Garner, who helps her husband with the event planning, said the walk has been taking place for at least 20 years although no one is sure of the exact year. It was inspired by a woman who lived in the Alleluia Community.
“There was a Hispanic woman who would carry a cross from noon to 3 p.m. on Good Friday,” she said. “It really resonated that more of us needed to do something like that.”
The walk goes on rain or shine. Two years ago, severe storms were forecast for the area, but they went ahead with the walk, Gary Garner said. The rain stayed away until they were finished.
The walk has drawn upwards of 600 people.
“Everybody is welcome,” he said. “It’s a multiracial group. You get quite a feeling of Christian unity.”
The group brings the old and young. Mothers push babies in their strollers, and older people join too. Nancy Garner drives a van and stays at the back of the crowd to pick up any people who can’t make the 1.5-mile journey on foot.
Some people carry large crosses while others carry smaller ones.
To cross busy Deans Bridge Road, the group hires a deputy to stop traffic.
It’s a sight to behold, she said, as all the people pass through.
For additional information, call (706) 798-1882.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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