Archbishop of York brings Bible verses to Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell travelled to Burnley, Whalley, Blackburn, Lancaster and the Fylde coast to meet with church leaders, community groups, schoolchildren, and representatives from other religious groups.

On Saturday, he paid a visit to the Pleasure Beach’s Globe Arena, where hundreds of people from all over the county gathered to listen to his sermon, in which he told the story of his own journey to faith.

He said: “My hopes are simply that I can be a voice and an instrument for the gospel of Jesus Christ here in the north. That I can fulfill not the promises I made a as a bishop or a priest, the promise I made at baptism to turn to Jesus, to follow him and try to live my life in such a way as others might also come to know him and come to serve him.”

The event followed meetings with a number of local church leaders.

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He attended a ‘Teach us to Pray’ breakfast with Rev. Linda Tomkinson and 40 other lay ministers at Freedom Church in Mereside, followed by a faith and science event at St Thomas’ Church, Caunce Street, with curate Rev. Emma Swarbrick, and a half-term holiday weekend beach mission in Jubilee Park, Cleveleys.

Later, the Archbishop joined the the leader of St John’s Church in Blackpool town centre, Andy Dykes, the Bishop of Lancaster Jill Duff, and the Archdeacon David Picken.

He said: “It’s been great to meet so many people today. There has been an amazing transformation at Freedom Church for example, and it was also wonderful to be with licensed lay ministers and authorised lay ministers from across the county to talk about prayer.

“It was also great to pray in the streets of Blackpool itself later in the day. Everything we have been given in the church building has been given to us to be lived out on the streets – lived and also shared. The light of Christ shines in us.”