PRAYER WALK
Area churches gather for Good Friday procession
Area residents observed Good Friday by doing good in their own communities.
Nearly 70 people showed up Friday morning to participate in the annual Good Friday Prayer Processional throughout Pottstown. The walk, now in its 20th year, is a way for Christians to come together to pray on what is viewed as one of the most solemn days of the liturgical year.
“The churches in the community are gathering to remember Jesus’ walk through Jerusalem on his way to the cross,” said the Rev. Kerry Pidcock-Lester of First Presbyterian Church. “It’s our way of remembering Good Friday and remembering how he loved the whole world. We want to bear witness to his love and to pray for our community. Hopefully it will be a means of grace to our community.”
The procession began with a gathering on North Hanover Street between Zion’s United Church of Christ and Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Those in attendance said a prayer together before heading to the first stop on Beech Street outside the Pottstown School District building.
“Today is about all different congregations of all different faiths coming together in the name of Jesus Christ and to celebrate the sacrifice he made,” said Valerie Jackson with Harris Family Ministries.
In celebration of that sacrifice, parishioners said prayers for several different groups including children and educators, churches, neighborhoods struggling with drugs and violence and those who govern, among others. Each prayer was punctuated with a hymn before moving on to the next location and participants helped clean the community by picking up trash along the way. The locations included Corner Park, First Baptist Church and the YWCA, the Cluster Outreach Center, Borough Hall and the Salvation Army.
“I encourage more people to come out and find out what’s going on here and to become a part of something special,” said Jackson. “If you really want to make a difference in Pottstown it’s going to start with prayer.”