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Bishop Nigel's first Run the Race pilgrimage visit of 2007 was to St Andrew's, Droylsden in the deanery of Ashton on January 21st. And Bishop Nigel shows no signs of slowing down as he enters the second year of his programme to visit every parish in the diocese.
St Andrew's were celebrating their 90th anniversary and the pilgrimage visit was customised to make the most of that celebration. Bishop Nigel arrived for the Sunday morning service, which was also a Back to Church Sunday and invitations were sent out to local people. The suggested prayers for the pilgrimage service were incorporated into the morning and were read by several members of St Andrew's church.
During the service Bishop Nigel invited those present to come forward for a blessing and anointing. Rev Derek Palmer said: "There was a very good response to Bishop Nigel's invitation to come forward. Everyone took part. It went on for longer than expected and the choir had to find some extra hymns. It was quite moving and emotional for some. At another point in the service Bishop Nigel was also very happy to present one of our OLMs with a Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award which was a very special and memorable moment for that family."
Following the Sunday morning service church members and guests enjoyed an informal Parish Lunch in St Andrew's church hall. Bishop Nigel was able to chat and mingle with guests over lunch. Because the pilgrimage took part on an exceptionally busy Sunday and took up quite a lot of the day it was impractical to include a Parish visit as well.
On reflection Rev Palmer said: "I'm glad we arranged it the way we did.
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