The sun shone brilliantly for the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt Revd Tony Robinson as he led the first pilgrimage for Wakefield’s Community of All Saints to Holy Island, following in the footsteps of St Aidan.
It is the first mini pilgrimage for the group and around 60 met at Church House, Wakefield for a 7.30am start up the A1 to Northumberland.
One of the group, the Vicar of Crofton and Warmfield, the Revd Louise Tinniswood, said: “We had a great trip to Holy Island. Visiting a site of such Christian spiritual significance is always moving and it is a privilege to walk in the footsteps of the Celtic saints who’ve gone before us.
“And whilst it was a brief pilgrimage everyone had the chance to visit the priory, the parish church of St Mary’s - where we celebrated The Eucharist – and even had chance to explore some of the craft shops.”
Some of the group even managed a trip over to St Cuthbert’s Island to see the seals - and everyone managed an ice cream before the return journey home!
The Bishop of Wakefield launched the Community of All Saints last year with a commissioning service in Wakefield Cathedral on All Saints Day which attracted over 300 people. A second commissioning event was held at St Helen’s Hemsworth in December and over 150 people have committed to a simple rule of life to Pray; Grow and Act.
Said Bishop Tony: "Growth” is a key issue for our Diocese - both growing numerically and in deepening our faith and discipleship. Many of us here in the Wakefield Area have already enjoyed and been inspired by the Follow Me series. But I wanted to go further, I wanted to encourage people to come together to create a Community of All Saints, to experiment with the idea of a new religious community, where people make a simple ‘Rule of Life’ commitment to Pray: Grow: Act and are supported and encouraged in this by each other and shared resources.”
Next pilgrimage planned is to Durham. If you want to join or find out more, email: allsaints@leeds.anglican.org
http://allsaintscommunity.org.uk