St George, Oakenrod
and St Michael, Bamford

The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Reverend Nigel McCulloch visited the parishes of St George, Oakenrod & St Michael, Bamford on Friday 5th October as part of his Bishop's Pilgrimage around the 350 churches of Manchester Diocese.

During his visit he prayed with local church leaders at St Michael's church in Bamford, and then met year six children and their parents at St Michael's Church of England Primary School.

Over a number of years St Michael's has consistently reached the highest standards in national tests at key stage 2 and the school is one of the top performing primary schools in the country. The bishop also met the staff of the school.

In addition, the bishop made several pastoral visits around Bamford and Oakenrod and met local community leaders at a community reception hosted in the church hall at Saint George's. Guests included several  local councillors and Members of Parliament.

At 7.30 the bishop led a service of celebration and commissioning at Saint George's during which the most recently arrived member of staff, the Revd. Marcia Wall and Mrs Gladys Kelly, widow of a former vicar of St George's received and later passed on the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games baton which the bishop is using during his pilgrimage as a symbol of the Christian calling to 'Run the Race' and persevere. The service united six different worshipping congregations from St Michael's and St George's, which were joined together in a united benefice 2 ½ years ago.

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

The Vicar of the United Benefice of St George, Oakenrod & St Michael, Bamford, the Revd Paul Gully, said: 'This was a celebration of God's faithfulness shown to us in the past as well as a challenge to look forward to what God has in store for us in the future. We hope that the bishop will have been encouraged by his visit here as he, in turn, has challenged and encouraged us to "run the race with faith and perseverence".'