Jerusalem
On Saturday, 4th September, seventy people from Churches in
Fulwood and Broughton set out in two coaches to Ripon. There was a slight
drizzle but soon the sun shone as we travelled through the beautiful countryside
of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
In Ripon we had free time to enjoy the market town and its main attraction, the Cathedral. Its beginnings were due to St. Wilfrid when he became Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery. He built a new Church whose crypt forms part of today's Cathedral. It is a very simple crypt, shaped like the tomb in which Jesus was buried. It is completely empty because St Wilfrid wanted to remind people of the Risen Lord and the empty tomb.
St Wilfrid is special to Preston too because he brought Christianity here. His badge forms the Preston coat-of-arms to this day.
It was a special bell-ringing day at the Cathedral, but there were other unexpected delights too. There were Morris dancers to watch, performing in various places around the town, and after lunch some of us enjoyed listening to the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsing for an evening performance in the Cathedral.
It is a special year for Ripon, being 400 years since the granting of its charter.
At 2.30pm we travelled to Harrogate, where we again had free time to admire this beautiful Spa town with well-tended gardens and flowers everywhere.
At 4.30pm we met at Wesley Methodist Church to be greeted
by Jack Harris. We took part in a short service ably led by Rev. Michael Wearing
who took as his theme Walls that Divide
— the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's
Wall, the Berlin Wall and the wall being built to separate Israel from the
Palestinians. Michael said it is up to us to break down the walls and barriers
in the Church so that there can be true unity. It will take time but we must
keep working towards this goal.
At the close of the service there was a free-will collection and £140 was raised for the Sudan Appeal.
We then had an excellent tea in the Church Hall, prepared by Mary Harris and her team of ladies.
For me it was a pleasure to meet up again with Michael and Elizabeth Wearing as well as Jack and Mary Harris who send their greetings to us all at Fulwood.
As in-coming Chairman of Churches Together in Fulwood and Broughton, could I make a special plea? It would be wonderful to see more of our congregation supporting our ecumenical activities and showing interest in ecumenism.
Consider joining next year's pilgrimage, attending the October talks and the services during the week of Christian Unity.
More volunteers are needed to man the Hospital Information Desk. Ann Done would be pleased to tell you what this entails as she organises the rotas.
Please pray for the ecumenical movement in our Churches: it is very important to show a united Church movement in our confusing world of today.
What shall our greeting be:
Sign of our unity?
Jesus is Lord!
May we no more defend
Barriers he died to end
Give me your hand my friend—
One Church, one Lord!
© Fulwood Methodist Church
15:10:25 Wednesday, 26 October 2005
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