St Agnes' North Reddish

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

On Tuesday March 13 2007 it was the turn of St Agnes church in North Reddish to be visited by Bishop Nigel as part of his Run The Race Pilgrimage.

Special prayers were said in the church upon Bishop Nigel's arrival with a small team. Rev Clive Larson explained: "Bishop Nigel saw at a glance the work that had been done here recently and the attributes of the church. The people who were there were all very moved."

Following the prayers Bishop Nigel visited a sheltered housing unit with about 80 residents. The warden gathered together about 30 of the residents for a cup of tea and a biscuit and to meet the Bishop. Rev Larson said: "Once a week the residents are invited to do some gentle exercises. Bishop Nigel ended up with two huge pom-poms, and following the lead of the people, exercised to the tune of Hey Big Spender!"

The community reception took place in the parish hall which is part of the church. Light refreshments were served. Rev Larson said: "We extended an open invitation to anybody who wanted to come."

St Agnes church was full for the pilgrimage service. Members of the local community and the girl guides were there. Rev Larson said: "Bishop Nigel's whole message about passing on the baton to the next generation was particularly appropriate. At the end of the service we gathered four generations from one family. The baton was passed from myself to grandmother, to daughter, to granddaughter to great grandson who then passed it back to the Bishop. We were able to enact the theme of passing on the baton to the

next generation as part of the service." The Bishop extended an invitation to come forward for a blessing and anointing and everyone went forward. Also present in church that evening was one of the original runners who carried the baton for the Commonwealth Games.



On reflection Rev Larson concluded: "In the middle ages people came to church to experience the extra spectacular - all the pomp and the ceremony and the drama enabled them to transcend. These days church is not considered to be the extra spectacular it once was, but the visit of the Bishop was extra spectacular and enabled people to transcend."