About 200 people took to the streets in downtown Edmonton on Good Friday for the annual Way of the Cross.
The procession commemorates the time Jesus was condemned to death to the moment he was crucified and buried.
“The Way of the Cross started to say to people, ‘If we’re followers of God, we can’t just worship inside churches behind the walls. We need to, in a practical way, show that our faith is relevant in the everyday world where we live. We need to be out speaking to issues affecting the lives of people,'” organizer Jim Gurnett said.
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The two-kilometre walk made stops at places where the faithful were reminded to think about the relevance and importance of the gospel message in the world today.
“What does it mean that there’s people who are suffering locally and globally? The walk is to get us thinking about those things, connecting our faith and the tough issues of the real world,” Gurnett explained.
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Participant Thomas McKercher spoke about how the event turned his life around. He’s now going to school and is a youth outreach worker.
“Twenty months ago I was homeless,” McKercher said.
“I was living in an immigration hall last year in a recovery program and I walked outside and I had to do it. This is my second year doing this, and I will continue to do this.”
This was the 38th year the event was held in Edmonton, and the coldest Good Friday those participating could remember in the event’s history.
“We’ve kept track of the temperature,” Gurnett said. “Before today, the coldest ever was a -10 C day. I think that was in the early 2000s. With the wind and -12 C, this is a chilly day for the walk.”
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