THEY may not be as heavy to carry as the original Cross, but
they will still have been burdensome if the Revd Martin Hartley, in
Newton Flotman, and the Team Rector, the Revd Sally Gaze, have been
able to stick to their plan of carrying these crosses with them
wherever they have gone during this Holy Week.
The original idea was Mr Hartley's. He is a Curate in the Tas
Valley Team Ministry, in Norwich diocese, and it
was when he was asked to transport a sizeable wooden cross to be
used in a subsequent service that he realised how awkward,
uncomfortable, and inconvenient it was. This led him to wonder what
it would be like to have to carry a cross around for a week.
"The thought stayed with me; so I decided to do this just for
Holy Week. I then talked to the Rector, Sally Glaze, about this,
and she said she would like to do it as well. I spoke to a member
of St Mary's, Tasburgh, and asked if he could make two wooden
crosses for us.
"When thinking about the cross, I felt it needed to be made out
of soft wood so it might show some of the knocks and bumps it will
no doubt incur during the week. I also felt it would be good if
people were able to either write on it, or pin prayers to it, and
these would be carried round during the week."
He hoped that the experience would enable him to "connect with
the cross" during the week, and help him to grow as a disciple of
Christ.