Walk of faith (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Walk of faith

12:00pm Tuesday 26th April 2011 in News By Chris Gregory

A SOLEMN procession of Christians through Basingstoke town centre reinforced the message of Easter.

More than 250 people took part in Good Friday’s Walk of Witness – a largely silent walk through the town to mark the death of Christ on the cross.

The procession started with a gathering of worshippers from churches of different denominations in Basingstoke, outside the United Reformed Church in London Street.

Andy Taylor, chairman of the Alliance of Basingstoke Churches, told the crowd: “This is Good Friday and it is a good Friday. We do not call it Black Friday or Bad Friday, because something good happened.

“While it was the death of Jesus Christ, and we are solemn because of the passion of Jesus Christ, what happened on that day has been good for us for the past 2,000 years.”

After a short service with two hymns, the crowd set off in pairs for the procession. Some of them carried large or small wooden crosses.

The procession wound its way down Wote Street to Festival Square, through Festival Place, and finished at St Michael’s Church in Church Street.

Mr Taylor led another service in the grounds of the church and encouraged people to place flowers on a cross covered in a wire mesh.

Afterwards, he told The Gazette: “It was a lovely occasion. The denominations in the town used to be divided so this is also about respect for each other and coming together.”

Sophie Harvie, 20, of Coronation Road, South View, was at the event for the fourth time. She said: “It was very peaceful, and that’s in keeping with what I think of Good Friday. I think it’s a really nice event because we get all the churches from Basingstoke coming along and there’s people that you see every year.”