Ilkeston - Voices From The Crowd
w/e 05 April 2015
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
We have been blessed with good if sometimes cold weather in recent
years on Good Friday for the annual Christian Walk of Witness
through the streets on Ilkeston. We shouldn't grumble then about
the wet drizzly conditions that accompanied this year's event
although the rain did probably curtail the number of people attending.
There was still a goodly number present, representing all the
local churches.
The route of the walk varies slightly from year to year depending
on the start and finishing locations and this year it commenced
with a service in the Queen Street Baptist Church.
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The congregation then reassembled on the Market Place at the
foot of the steps to the Garden of Remembrance.
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The title of this year's event was "Voices From The Crowd"
and the first of a number of dramatic readings that were conducted
at various points along the route was delivered by this gentleman
who, seemingly oblivious to the rain, delivered the first reading
in the guise of Barabbas. This was followed by the singing of
"There is a green hill far away".
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The walk then began in earnest as the assembly followed a simple
wooden cross two by two to the beat of a solitary drum.
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The group stopped at the top of Bath Street outside Lloyds Bank
not as it appears to queue for an ice cream but for another dramatic
reading and to sing "The Old Rugged Cross".
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The procession then continued in silence save for the beat of
the drum to the next stop further down Bath Street.
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That stop was outside the Nationwide Building Society which,
being Good Friday, was closed for the day. The drama continued
with another reading which had been taken from "Stages on
the Way: Worship Resources for Lent, Holy Week and Easter"
© copyright 1998 WGRG (www.wgrg.co.uk), Iona Community,
Glasgow and was used with permission.
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After singing "When I survey the wondrous cross" the
procession continued down Bath Street to turn into Wilmot Street
and St Andrew's Methodist Church.
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Final hymns were sung and prayers offered in the church followed
by refreshments to bring the event to a close but the story continued
on Easter Sunday with a Dawn Service at the Dale Abbey Arch.
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I was struck for this final image from my position at the back
off St Andrew's how three crosses lined up. On the left was the
one that had led the procession, in the middle one that had been
erected in the church for Easter and on the right the cross that
is permanently in the church. The arrangement reminded me of
the three crosses on Calvary over 2000 years ago.
And this extract from a crumpled rain soaked back page of one
of the song sheets used during the walk explains the reason why
the Silent Walk of Witness takes place each year.
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