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The Bishop of Manchester's visit to St Thomas' Moorside on September 25th 2008 gave encouragement to a church still adjusting to having said goodbye to their vicar of 34 years only a few weeks beforehand.
Churchwarden, Lynn Weston, said: 'We had been quite nervous about doing this without our vicar, but our local community entered into things and it turned out to be a really lovely day. It was good to go about the parish and introduce our bishop.'
After prayers with a small group in St Thomas', the bishop crossed the road to St George's Nursing Home where he met residents, a number of whom suffer from dementia, and the staff who care for them. Lynn recalls: 'the bishop was very kind and gentle with those he met.'
The bishop visited St Thomas' CE school where he talked with the children of the school council as well as the head-teacher and teaching staff. He also toured the newly-finished St James' Children's Centre named after the wider electoral ward to reflect its role in the community.
The bishop called in to Ackram's Newsagents - run by a member of a local Mosque, well-known in the community for encouraging greater links between church and mosque.
The bishop's last port of call was the Northgate Inn where the he pulled a pint for locals with the landlord.
A church reception attracted nearly 70 figures from the local community, many of whom stayed for the Pilgrimage Service in church.
During the service Sunday School leader, Geoff Arrowsmith told the story of St Thomas', highlighting the church's historic links with the local cotton mills. The Commonwealth
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