St John, Flixton

The Bishop of Manchester's Run the Race to St John Flixton on May 13, 2008 was part of an Open Community Day at the church which included rock bands, belly dancing, barbecues as well as plenty of prayer and praise.

The bishop's visit began with a meeting with staff from Wellacre Technical College and Acre Hall Primary School before three pastoral visits to parishioners in their homes. The bishop spoke and prayed with each before returning to St John's.

Vicar, Keith Massey said: 'It was an amazing sight for us to come back to; the church was a hive of activity; there were bodies strewn around the  grounds: people of all ages relaxing and taking in the glorious summer's day; enjoying the cream teas (and barbecue, provided by the scouts), while musicians sang and played and all kinds of other events went on inside and outside the church.

'About twenty-five of us got together  in the chapel to pray with (and for) the bishop - while all these amazing things were going on around us.'

The event ran through the afternoon and into the evening with a number of groups putting on exhibitions and demonstrating their particular skills. A steady flow of events throughout the day, changing every half hour ensured that people's interest was maintained. A band from Wellacre Technical College played, Urmston senior youth choir sang, the local dog training group put on a display -  even a local belly-dancing group demonstrated their skills (managing to enlist the bishop's participation!).

Local people had been invited to celebrate their community's life and also to 'come and meet the bishop' and more than 200 people did just that, including members of other local

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

churches and a large delegation of Indian Christians from Kerala many of whom have come to live in the area, having been recruited abroad by the NHS.

The day seamlessly turned into an informal 'Songs of Praise'-style service in the church for which a great many people stayed. A packed church heard the bishop speak about 'running the race of faith hope and love' and responded to his invitation to be anointed with oil and blessed as a sign of being re-commissioned for service.

'The response has been amazing', said Vicar, the Revd. Keith Massey. 'We wanted it to be different; we wanted to  say "let's celebrate all the good things that happen in the community" and people were drawn in from the edge - just, I like to think, how Jesus did things.'


'Pretty much everybody came forward', he went on, 'even one lady who came to the event solely to represent her organisation and told us repeatedly: "I don't have any truck with religion; I don't believe any of this…" . When the service started, she decided to stay - and even came forward at the end! It was exactly the kind of thing we had hoped would happen and it all came together under God's hand.

'We learned some very valuable lessons in planning the event, but we have also made some really important links with the community - links we plan to follow up personally over the summer months.'