St Peter, Ashton

Unfortunately, the date of the Bishop of Manchester's pilgrimage to St Peter's Ashton had to be changed at short notice, so, according to priest-in-charge, The Revd. Harvie Nicol, the new arrangements for November 21st required 'a certain amount of thinking on our feet', but resulted in a selection of very imaginative pastoral visits for the bishop.

After a short time of prayer in church with a small congregation, the pace of the pilgrimage changed with a tour of the Cineworld Cinema complex, including a fascinating visit to the projection room, where the bishop chatted with the manager and staff.

In a 'Run the Race' first, the bishop (in his purple cassock) then donned  bowling shoes for a quick game of ten-pin bowling at Hollywood Bowl, part of the same multi-million pound Ashton Moss regeneration scheme.  The bishop also met management and staff, discussing with them issues of security and community life.

Having seen something of the significant redevelopment of one part of the parish, the bishop was taken on a tour of the parish; statistically one of the top-ten most deprived wards in the country, to see for himself the issues that remain, even after ten years of regeneration, especially among the housing stock in the parish.

Returning to St Peter's for the community reception in the Narthex, the bishop met with between 30 and 40 representatives of the church and  community, including staff of local schools, and members of Ashton's historical society. The bishop also met members of Ashton Regeneration Partnership and heard about proposals for the redevelopment of church grounds and West-End Park.

Up to seventy people gathered in the church for the Pilgrimage Service. St Peter's Church School choir sang part of a specially-composed musical work recalling a devastating explosion at a nearby munitions factory on June 13 1917 - and event which had lasting

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

effects on the local community.
The church told its own story through hymns with special meaning for members of the congregation. The baton from the 2002 Commonwealth Games was symbolically passed through the generations from church members aged 6 to 90+. (unfortunately centenarian and long-standing church member, Randall Cockshoot was unable to attend that evening.)

Reflecting on the day's events, the priest-in-charge, the Revd. Harvey Nicol (who had announced, only a few weeks earlier, that he was due to move parishes early in 2008) said, 'The Bishop preached an inspiring, future-looking sermon which was just what the church needed to hear at the moment. There was a good buzz afterwards - and on the following weekend, too.





'Church members have said how encouraged they were to know that the bishop cared, that he is here for us and appreciates us. One person described the evening as a "pivotal moment" for her; leading her to a decision to make a greater commitment to the life of the church.

'Sometimes there seems a sense of disillusionment and cynicism in, and apathy about the church. For myself, it was great to see our bishop listening to people's own experiences and making such an effort to get to know his diocese.

'The bishop's visit here was certainly "very different". Despite the change of date, which meant a number of people were committed to another event on the same night, it was just great; wonderful - you had to be there!'