On the cloudy and icy morning of Friday the 3rd of April, a congregation of over seven churches located within the Charlton, Blackheath, Lewisham, Lee, and Kidbrooke areas, came together on the Heath in Blackheath, to reflect on the suffering of Christ and the meaning behind the feast of Easter with the view dotted with individuals carrying crosses in different sizes and colours.

Churches participating in the event included All Saints Church Blackheath, Our Lady of Grace (RC) Church Charlton, Church of the Ascension Dartmouth Row, St James Church Kidbrooke, St John the Evangelist Church Blackheath, St Margaret Church Lee, St Mary’s (RC) Church Creswell Park, St Michael and All Angels Church Blackheath Park, The Society of Friends (Quakers), St Stephen with St Mark Church Lewisham to mention but a few.

The congregation from Charlton consisting of members from Our Lady of Grace (RC) Church and St Luke with Holy Trinity met at Bartley Park Blackheath where they started their walk at 9.30 am, walking to St John the Evangelist Church Blackheath to meet with their congregation and then carried on with their trek to meet other churches on the Heath.  This was done with a member of each church carrying a cross, to symbolise and remind members of the congregation and participants about the way Jesus was killed which was through crucifixion.

The congregations of the different churches met opposite Greenwich Park at 10.30am, having taken different routes for their treks and having come from different locations with a mounted massive purple Cross as the centre-point of the occasion. The colour of the Cross was symbolic as it is a colour associated with mourning in the Christian tradition. Following this, the celebration led by Rev. Canon Kim Hitch from St James Church Kidbrooke begun with hymns of praise and prayers. Passages from the Bible were read, and readings, reflected on the final moments of Jesus before his crucifixion with a short homily following each reading. After the readings more hymns were sung, the Lord’s Prayer was said by all and a blessing was given before the event was drawn to a close.

Speaking to the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Grace (RC), He stated that “Events such as this one are vital to the community as a whole because it promotes community cohesion and brings together people from different ethnic backgrounds and age groups”