The cross he bears

Photo by Anthony J. Machcinski Stephen Marette with his cross outside West Hudson Christian Center

By Anthony J. Machcinski

KEARNY –
Even before Harold Camping started talking about May 21 as Judgment Day, the term “evangelist” had received a negative connotation. However, Stephen Marette hopes to change that.
While his name  may not be familiar to those outside the West Hudson Christian Center here, Marette is the man who every Saturday walks up and down Kearny Ave. carrying an eight-foot cross over his shoulder.
“I go out there in any weather,” said Marette, a construction worker who has carried the cross for the past year and a half.
Marette, 38, got the idea from another evangelist, Arthur Blessitt, who carried his cross to many countries around the world. Once receiving his calling, Marette built his own cross out of pressure-treated four-by-fours, with a strap  to secure it on his shoulder and a wheel avoid damaging the pavement, which could happen were the cross dragged along.

 

To read the full story, see this week’s issue of The Observer.

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