St Matthew and St Mary
Crumpsall

The Bishop of Manchester, the Right Revd. Nigel McCulloch spent Shrove Tuesday (February 5th, 2008) visiting the Parish of St Matthew with St Mary in Crumpsall.
After prayers in church, priest-in-charge, the Revd. Robbie Dennis took the bishop to North Manchester General Hospital; a large NHS hospital located in the parish.
Escorted by Dr Richard Polley - Consultant Psychiatrist and church member, the bishop was permitted to visit areas of the mental health wing not usually accessible except to medical staff, this included the wing's dedicated chapel where the bishop was met by the hospital's chaplain.
The bishop also visited the hospital's Casualty Unit and gave a substantial interview to the hospital's radio station. Special permission had to be obtained from the chief-executive of the NHS for the bishop to enter the Infectious Disease Control Unit, where he met staff caring for those living with HIVAIDS.
The bishop's visit and the Unit's welcome to him was welcomed by the Revd. Robbie Dennis, originally from Capetown, South Africa, and who has had a significant ministry alongside affected by the virus. He said: 'Much of the UK is still in denial when it comes to responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis. The bishop's visit acknowledged the valuable work being done and also how much more there is to be done.'
At 6pm the parish church hosted a community reception for over 90 people. The principal of Abraham Moss College, and representatives of Greater Manchester Police attended, together with a number of local  councillors, including Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council. Sir Richard was pleased to see the Commonwealth Games

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

baton again (which the bishop has carried with him throughout his pilgrimage) recalling the city's hosting of the Games in 2002. Church members baked a huge cake in the bishop's honour which he cut with appropriate ceremony.
At 7pm, a pilgrimage service was held in church. Telling the church's story, Director of Music, Alan Roberts mentioned, to some amusement, a former vicar, Revd. Fred Chealde who was known to enquire of his former curate, asking 'how's young Nigel doing nowadays?' Bishop Nigel  himself was able to provide the answer in person.


There had been some anxiety about how the congregation would respond to being invited to come forward to be anointed and blessed, but in fact, priest-in-charge, Robbie Dennis reports, 'The service was an incredibly uplifting experience for the parish and brought another and much-needed dimension to the parish's life.
'It was quite a challenge to get people out in numbers for the bishop's pilgrimage and to do justice to the beginning of Lent the following evening but we managed over 100 on Tuesday and still nearly fifty came to church for Ash Wednesday!'