If you see a group of people on early Friday evening carrying a large cross – the kind of cross that Jesus Christ died on – you are being reminded that the Evangelical Ministerial Alliance is planning a half-hour Good Friday program at Veterans Park in Lehigh.

Ministers of the Alliance say they plan to depart the Lee Blvd. side of the WalMart parking lot at around 5 p.m. on Good Friday and carry the cross down the sidewalk to Homestead Rd. and then take it to the park, a distance of about five miles.

It’s being called a “Cross Walk” and it will take several clergyman to carry the heavy cross that is being used from the Christ United Methodist Church.

Pastor Carlos Otero said he didn’t know how much it weighed, but it said it was built of solid wood.

Pastor Michael Porizio, who heads the Alliance, said it is hoped that at least two ministers carry the cross at a time and that at regular intervals, others join in and switch.

“Just how long that will be, we don’t know yet, but if it’s hot and the cross is heavy, it will definitely take more than two men to carry it all the way to the park,” he said.

Porizo said some had suggested that a roller or wheel be put on the bottom of the cross and last week they were still talking about it and had not made a decision.

There will also be ministers and church members walking along with the cross with “sandwich signs” telling motorists and onlookers to “Follow Him” to Veterans Park where a service will be held to honor Christ who Christians believe died on the cross on that Friday night and was risen on Sunday morning, which we call Easter today.

While all the clergymen in the EAL are working on the Cross Walk, the first of its kind in Lehigh, the project is under the direction of Pastor Steve Cecil of the Church of the Nazarene.

An official stop will be held on Homestead Rd. at New Image Ministries Church, still about a quarter of a mile or more from Veterans Park. The public can walk with them from there if they choose, Porzio said. Once the ministers arrive in the park, Cecil said they will take it to the back of the park where there is a pavilion on a small pond. There is plenty of parking space at the park. There should be picnic tables and maybe benches there but you may want to bring lawn chairs.

Pastor David Soden, of Richmond Avenue Baptist Church will begin the ceremony with a prayer at 6:30 p.m.

That means that it should take about an hour to walk the cross to the park where it will be erected. There will be music during the program. Different ministers will offer short presentations about the meaning of the crucifixion and Cecil will end the program with another prayer.

The whole community is invited to the program, said Porzio.

“It doesn’t make any difference if you attend a church where the minister is not a member of the EAL. We are inviting everyone to join in the observance of the most holy days of the season. Everyone, including those who are not church members, are invited to attend, he said.

“People can follow the cross by walking with us or they can meet us at the church on Homestead Rd. and follow us or they can go to the park and be there when arrive,” he said.

This is the first time in Lehigh that there has been a Cross Walk. The EAL is a new group formed last summer by several pastors in Lehigh. They meet on a monthly basis at Lehigh Regional Medical Center. There are no official community wide EAL-sponsored Easter services on Sunday, Porizio said.

“Each church will handle its separate Easter programs,” he said.

“We are really hoping for a big turn out. It is our mission to bring the people of Lehigh together spiritually during this most holy time of the year,” Porzio said.

The length of the walk from WalMart to the park is longer than the route of the Lehigh Spring Festival Parade held on March 28.