St Thomas's, Friarmere

On July 9 2006 Bishop Nigel visited St Thomas's, Friarmere as part of his Run the Race Pilgrimage. Team Vicar, Rev John Brocklehurst explained: "We already had the Bishop booked for our 40^th anniversary of the consecration of our present building. He came and used the Run The Race material as part of a communion service that we'd already had planned. We had a service followed by a reception."

During the special service the Commonwealth Games baton was handed to Rev Brocklehurst by Bishop Nigel. A song written by musician, Bradley Barnett who was present was sung as a solo by Michael Harvey. Part of the chorus was 'Run the Race, lay off every weight looking to Jesus'.

Rev Brocklehurst explained: "There was a presentation which covered the past 40 years history. It touched on the pain of closing the church then and the difficulty of that decision and talked about the ups and downs. We did it against the background of what was happening in each decade. We talked about how each different vicar had brought a new emphasis to the life of the church."

At one point in the service Bishop Nigel invited those present to come forward for a blessing and anointing with oil and the majority of people took up that opportunity. Rev Brocklehurst said: "The church was packed but a handful of people couldn't be there for the service and I was sent by the Bishop to take badges and anointing to them."

A reception took place in Delph Club which is very local to the church. Rev Brocklehurst said: "There was a slap up meal organised by two of our ladies. They worked extremely

Photos from this Run the race Bishop's pilgrimage

hard behind the scenes. It was a very memorable meal! The Bishop circulated and got around to most people and was warmly received." The Mayor of Oldham was present, the chair of the Parish Council, members of the local community, the Delph Band Club and the Whit Friday Band Competition Committee.

Rev Brocklehurst added: "The Bishop talked to us as partners with the Methodist Church in being the body of Christ in the village which was very encouraging because we've done quite a lot of work together in terms of building links and doing things together. People found the service welcoming and encouraging. A very happily and joyfully remembered event and the badges are still on people's lapels."