Around 30 churches in the dioceses of Durham and Newcastle are part of four revived pilgrimage routes starting from villages and towns in the region, re-creating the routes taken by pilgrims to Durham Cathedral,'The Way of Learning, The Way of Life, The Way of Light and The Way of Love,' allows pilgrims to walk from 27 to 45 miles while exploring places of historical and religious significance. Modern- day pilgrims can visit churches and historical monuments, museums and galleries on the route, including shrines and places associated with Saints Cuthbert, Bede, Hilda, Helen, Wilfrid, Oswald, Aidan and Godric. Further pilgrimage routes, The Angels Way, (30 miles) and the Way of the Sea (62 miles) link Lindisfarne and Durham, the two most important pilgrimage centres in the region. Pilgrims on 'The Way of Light' can stand where medieval pilgrims once made the Sign of the Cross as they caught their first glimpse of Durham Cathedral from a hill near the village of Esh.Mount Joy, just south of Durham, on the Way of Life, takes its name as the place where pilgrims had their first sight of the cathedral close at hand.In Esh, ‘Cuthbert’s Cross’ commemorates the village’s role as a refuge for the coffin of St Cuthbert during the era of Viking invasion.Other highlights of the trails include St Mary’s Well near a ford on the River Tees at Gainford, where Cuthbert’s coffin is likely to have crossed on its last journey from Ripon to Durham.Northern Saints Trail Coordinator David Pott said he believed the new routes will help cater for a growing interest in pilgrimage and a hunger for spiritual exploration. “There is a 21st-Century revival in pilgrimage – only 2,500 people walked the Camino to Santiago in 1985, but there were 347,538 pilgrims recorded in 2019," he said."Pilgrimages are attracting people who are not necessarily of strong Christian faith but want to explore more."For many from the London and the South East, this will be the first time they have visited the North East and learned about its crucial role in the history of Christianity in Britain.”
If you’ve ever wondered where the oldest remaining church bells are in the world, you just need to venture to Suffolk to see and hear them.Take a trip to St Lawrence Church in the centre of Ipswich, and there you will find the set of five bells which all date back to between 1450 and 1480. The bells – collectively known as ‘Wolsey’s Bells’ – rang for hundreds of years before falling silent in 1985 after the tower they were housed in became too unstable to support them. 24 years later however and the bells were restored in 2009 thanks to a £100,000 restoration project.
The Church of England is collaborating with the Church Times and the Roman Catholic Church to launch the "Green Church Showcase."This will be a hunt for inspiring church initiatives to protect and preserve the planet and builds on earlier successful collaborations: the Green Church Awards and the Green Health Awards. Participating churches, church schools, dioceses, and Christian groups of any denomination, are invited to submit details of work that they have undertaken to combat climate change, protect nature, and involve their communities in making changes. A judging panel chaired by the Bishop of Norwich, Graham Usher, the new lead bishop for the environment, will sift through the entries at the end of July. They will be looking for projects that are most easily reproducible by others, so the whole Church contributes to the reversal of climate change. These selected projects will feature in a specially commissioned video — the ‘showreel’ — to be launched during the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow at the start of November. Participants will be encouraged to include information about:Building projects moving towards net-zero carbon, such as energy efficiencies, pew heaters, heat pumps, and solar panelsBuilding projects that balance conservation and the environment, such as maintenance programmes, sympathetic retrofits, and using low-carbon materialsCourageous advocacy and community engagementNurturing the natural world, and using church land to develop health and wellbeing Involving young people at every levelDiocesan initiatives that break new groundSimple but effective gains on a shoestringPast winners of Green Awards, eco-congregations, and groups from any denomination are invited to tell their stories. The showreel will be launched during an online debate about the Church’s response to the climate crisis in early November, hosted by Church Times. The selected projects will also feature in a booklet, published at the same time. Advice will be available online, to give other churches and groups the tools they need to replicate the successful projects. Timetable:Launch: 4 JuneClosing date for entries: Wed 21 JulyJudging w/b: Mon 26 JulyCreation of videos, booklet, and dossiers: August-OctoberLaunch event and publication: w/b 1 November The Rt Revd Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich and Chair of the Church of England’s Environmental Working Group, said this week: “It’s my great pleasure to support the Green Church Showcase as one of my first actions, in the week I take over as lead Bishop on the Environment.“In this vital year for climate action, I encourage churches and church schools around the country to tell their stories. The Showcase aims to celebrate practical action on the ground and, through these real examples of what is possible, inspire others.“Whether your project has tackled the energy use in your building, cared for nature in your grounds, or engaged your community, please do apply as part of the Green Church Showcase.” Paul Handley, editor of the Church Times, said:“Nothing is more encouraging than learning from people who have tackled the same problems and met the same challenges — and overcome them. We know that many Christian communities have taken huge strides in reducing their carbon footprint and protecting the natural world. It will be a privilege to report these achievements and inspire others to follow their lead.” For more information, and application forms, see https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/green-church-showcase
