Pause for Thought
The Walk of Witness returns to Barry
By Rev’d Robert Parrish
On Good Friday (15th April) the Churches of Barry will again be putting on an annual Walk of Witness.
The first walk was in 2012, and this year should have been our 10th; but Covid made walks impossible in 2020 and 2021. It begins at 12 noon with a short service in Parade Gardens, proceeds along Broad Street and Holton Road, stopping twice for brief acts of worship along the way, and concludes at 1.45pm with a service in King Square.
The stops along the way commemorate incidents in the story of the death of Jesus, such as his arrest, and his sentencing to crucifixion. Politicians and councillors join us on the walk, and we are indebted to local funeral directors for their assistance, and to ‘lollipop ladies’ and St John Ambulance for keeping us safe.
How did the Walk of Witness begin? Back in 2012, the Archbishop of Wales was taking services in All Saints’ Church, Barry, in the week leading up to Easter. A church member at St Paul’s Church suggested to me that the Archbishop should be invited to lead a walk of witness in Barry, as he had led such a walk in Porthcawl the year before. The Archbishop readily agreed, but we didn’t want the walk to be a purely Anglican affair. I approached one of Barry’s Methodist ministers, who it turned out had already been speaking to the Catholics with a view to their doing a joint Catholic/Methodist walk of witness. We then contacted all the ministers of Barry, most of whom were enthusiastic about the walk.
In 2013, we decided not to have another ‘celebrity’ leader, but rather a minister from each denomination would be responsible for the prayers and address at each stopping place (or ‘station’). So, one station might have a Catholic flavour, and the next a Pentecostalist flavour, and so on.
The various denominations involved are not agreed on everything. Catholics and Protestants wouldn’t agree on the role of the Pope in the Church, for example. And Protestants differ among themselves over whether infants should be baptised or not. More recently some Churches have introduced same sex marriage or blessing services, and others have not. But on Good Friday we put our differences aside and walk together, bearing witness together to the sufferings and death of Jesus.
Who is the walk for, church goers or non-church goers? We would say both. It is a joy to unite with Christians from other churches and worship and walk together once a year. At the same time, we want to draw people’s attention to the fact that Good Friday is a very important day; it isn’t just another bank holiday. People who are not members of churches are very welcome to join us and can ask us questions if they wish. But there will be no ‘hard selling’ of religion. So, if you are in Barry on 15th April, why not come and join us? But if you live elsewhere in the Vale, why not join one of the walks of witness being organised by Churches in your area?
- The views expressed by columnists of this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Glamorgan Star, its employees, or proprietors.
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