Good Friday Cross Walk returns
DARIEN — The town’s Good Friday Cross Walk will return this year after last year’s cancellation for the first time in three decades.
Darien’s Cross Walk is a multi-church and faith partnership that begins with the carrying of a large wooden cross from First Congregational Church the nearly 2 miles to St. Luke’s Parish on the Post Road.
The walk began in 1988, when the Rev. Ron Evans was pastor of First Congregational. The walk symbolizes the walk of Jesus to Calvary, where he was crucified, as is remembered on the Christian holiday of Good Friday.
The 14 prayer stops composed for the walk were meant to address various aspects of community life. The walkers, seniors at the former Old Town Hall Homes, men and women of commerce in the business area of the Post Road, art and artists at the stop in front of the Darien Playhouse, the library staff, police and firefighters were all blessed during the event.
Evans, who served as pastor from 1985 to 2007 and now lives on the West Coast with his wife, Janet, shared his reflections last year.
“The large cross itself, generously donated by St. Luke’s, was walked up the Post Road by clergy, church members and hangers-on, to arrive in time for the annual Good Friday service, always hosted by ever fair St. Luke’s,” said Evans.
Janet Evans would always have light refreshments waiting for walkers at the church before the service on behalf of St. Luke’s, he said.
Last year, the cross was placed outside First Congregational Church in the morning for residents to leave prayer intentions. Then, the former head of FCC, the Rev. Dale Rosenberger, drove the cross in his truck to St. Luke’s.
Brandi Drake, assistant pastor for St. Luke’s, said the Cross Walk will return this year after the pandemic halted the traditional event.
“We have a saying in the Christian tradition: It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Friday, of course, is the day the Christian Church around the world acknowledges the culpability we share in the unjust crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ,” Drake said.
She said over the past year, “it seems like every day has been Friday, and we long for Sunday . ... We have lost more than we can identify: Family members, friends, jobs. Rites of passage, experiences, homes.”
To replace last year’s canceled Cross Walk, the town’s churches held a summer walk to “grieve the deep roots of racial injustice in our country and community,” Drake said. “... This year on Good Friday, we will intentionally carry the cross to lament the many who have lost so much in this past year.”
Residents are invited to join the Cross Walk at 10 a.m. on April 2 at First Congregational Church on Brookside Road. Masks and 6-foot distancing will be in effect for those attending.
A community-wide Good Friday service will be held at noon, which will also be live-streamed online at saintlukesdarien.org/live/.