The chapter in Saturday’s storyline revolved around the saints, after whom our churches are named. Accounts of rich histories were chronicled in archive material, newspapers, booklets, timelines, maps, memoirs and articles, as churches opened their doors and welcomed visitors old and new.
Children had opportunities to partake in a Pilgrim Trail or make a crown, worthy of an Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria! Adults were invited to read a few ‘thrillers’ about protagonists such as St. James, St. Oswald and Mary, mother of Jesus, all of whom engaged in heroic acts of love.
Floral tributes adorning prayer stations, ledges, nooks and crannies told their own story – of adoration and worship. Photographs of beaming faces were testament to the thousands of people who have walked through and been part of the narrative of each church.
The afternoon concluded with a special service in the historic old church of St. John the Baptist, Pilling, led by Rev. Naomi, Bishop Matthew and LLM Ray Hart. Constructed in 1717, and restored in 1987, under the care of The Churches Conservation Trust, this simple, pared-back building is guardian to the stories of countless followers of Christ. It was only fitting that the service was equally simple and traditional, moving through a sequence of Preparation, Praise, The Word of God, including an address by the Bishop of Bolton (who ascended to the dizzy heights of the three-tier pulpit) and a New Zealand version of the Lord’s Prayer. From one side of the globe to the other, from pilgrims of faith, past and present, to this Celebration Weekend Over Wyre, layer upon layer of stories collected together.
More cake and drinks were enjoyed in the comparatively modern Parish Hall of the ‘new’ St. John the Baptist church, before an invitation to be prayed for, or with by the Bishop and Rev. Naomi. A similar invite had been taken up earlier in Hambleton.
As the afternoon closed, so too did this chapter of the story…ready for the page to be turned again on Sunday.