Good Friday tradition continues in Gordon
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The annual Trek of the Cross begins in Gordon on April 7, 2023.
GORDON – For almost half a century now, Good Friday in Gordon has been marked by the barefoot trek of Jeffrey Nemeth, adorned in a robe and a crown of thorns and carrying a cross, just as Jesus Christ did.
Nemeth, joined by two Roman soldiers and a group of followers, looped the small town in the annual Trek of the Cross. Beginning at the Simpson United Methodist Church on Biddle Street, the group walked down Hobart Street and returned via McKnight Street.
“I get to portray the greatest man who has ever lived,” Nemeth said, adding that the trek reminds homebound residents and others that Jesus had died for their sins.
“They look forward to it,” Nemeth said of residents and onlookers. “We enjoy doing it.”
Nemeth and family have been part of the procession for about 45 years now.
The barefoot walk was aided by pleasant weather for an eastern Pennsylvania Good Friday.
The tradition began in the 1970’s when a prior member of the Simpson UMC church planned to do a trek each year for 12 years, one for each apostle. He passed away after ten, and the tradition was picked up and carried on.
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