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From the 23rd floor, at the top of Stretford House, the Bishop of Manchester was able to see not only the whole of the Parish of St Matthew's Stretford, but also the whole of his diocese.
On 13th October 2008, Bishop Nigel visited Stretford where he was greeted by Rev David Thomas. After prayers at St Matthew's, the bishop, together with a group from church visited Stretford House, a large residential tower block at the centre of Stretford. From here they enjoyed the spectacular views across Manchester and even as far as Chester and saw plans for future development as they met with the Housing Trust. The bishop visited several residents to find out what life was like living in the block.
After this Bishop Nigel visited Stretford Mall to meet local business people. He visited the independent Greengrocers and then the local branch of Tesco where he served people from the Kiosk. Together with some of the business people, he returned to St Matthew's Church Hall for the reception.
St Matthew's Church Hall is run independently from the church and is at the hub of life in Stretford hosting toddler groups, lunch clubs, dance classes and private social events. Bishop Nigel's visit coincided with the centenary anniversary of a church hall on that site, and to celebrate this, the Bishop unveiled a new piece of work from local artist Stephen Raw. The painting presents the words of 1 Corinthians 13 'Faith, hope and love abide and the greatest of these is love.' The reception was attended by local business people, Police community officers, ministers from other local churches and the council gardeners who care for the churchyard.
At the evening celebration Bishop Nigel passed on the baton of faith,
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