A selection of 34 short articles featuring news from across the Diocese
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There is an opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in November this year.
Lancashire vicars Rev. John Bannister and Rev. Damian Porter will lead the 11 day pilgrimage together, in conjunction with McCabe Pilgrimages.
You will have the opportunity to see many famous places and sites associated with the life and ministry of Jesus, and parts of the Bible will come to life.
You will walk where Jesus walked, experience the hustle and bustle of the Old City of
Jerusalem, and enjoy the peace and serenity of Galilee.
If you would like to know more please contact: 01773 683617 johnlbannister@gmail.com or
01524 732946 fatherd@btinternet.com
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If you need funding for a church repair project or want to install a toilet, kitchen and improve community facilities in your place of worship, then the National Churches Trust Grant
Schemes can help you.
Churches, chapels and meeting houses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland open for worship and which are part of a denomination belonging to Churches Together in
Britain and Ireland are eligible to apply.
The National Churches Trust Grant schemes are now open for 2015 and accepting new applications. Churches can apply for a grant any time up to the 30 September 2015. Grant applications can be made online at www.nationalchurchestrust.org/our-grants
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If your church or school is thinking about achieving Fairtrade status and you want more information, members of the Diocesan World Development Group are able to give talks in
Church services or to visit schools, Mothers' Union meetings, uniformed organizations and other groups. For more details contact Arton Medd on 01524 64730, email arton.medd@btinternet.com or Cath Greenlees on 01772 613500, email cathgreenlees@hotmail.com
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If you want to remind yourself of the long hot days of last summer, a video is available on
The Church of England in Lancashire’s YouTube channel featuring extended highlights from the Diocesan Summer Festival in Lytham St Annes.
Go online and search YouTube and then ‘Blackburn Diocese’ to find the channel and in the video you’ll find excerpts from every single act that performed over the two days, including all the participating schools.
‘Bishop Julian’s Summer Festival’ drew around 3000 people of all ages to Arnold KEQM
School from parishes and schools on a scorching hot weekend to enjoy fellowship, fun and faith together.

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Did you know all parish churches in Lancashire can book The Chapel at Whalley Abbey as a meeting room, or perhaps a place for quiet reflection once a year, completely FREE?
Bookings must be made at least two months before the planned event. If you want to supply your own refreshments a kettle can be provided and, it may also be possible to provide a meal in the nearby Dining Room should you want one.
There will be a cost per head for the meal if required. For more information call the Abbey reception on 01254 828400.
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National Cherishing Churchyards Week – organised by the charity ‘Caring for God’s Acre’
(CGA) - takes place in the second week of June every year.
Over the years a wide variety of events have been held, ranging from local history tours and archaeology talks to family bug hunts and wildlife walks.
Now is a great time to start planning this year’s event. Contact CGA to register and for more information on 01588 673041 or visit the website www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk
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The Church o f England in Lancashire’s YouTube channel is going from strength to strength with more than 12,000 views in just over a year of operation.
Search on the web for ‘YouTube’ and then ‘Blackburn Diocese’ and you will find videos and video resources galore to watch and to download.
They include messages from Lancashire’s Bishop, Rt Rev. Julian Henderson; video coverage of recent events and even video diaries recorded by the Archbishop of York, Dr
John Sentamu, during his recent two day visit to Lancashire!
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The Church of England has a Church Legacy website www.churchlegacy.org.uk with essential information for individuals considering leaving a 'lasting gift' to their local church in their Will.
The website provides further information on leaving a legacy, example wording for your Will, and information for Solicitors and for PCCs. Church Legacy also shares parish stories where a legacy gift has helped transform a church’s future.
Legacies, of whatever size, are a hugely valuable source of income to parish churches, contributing £44.8 million to parish income in 2011, that’s almost £3,000 per parish church per year.

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Did you know there is a FREE ‘prayer app’ from the Church of England? The app has been designed to enable people to pray with the aid of their smartphone and tablets.
'Daily Prayer' gives people the ability to follow the daily pattern of morning, evening and night prayer in the words of the Anglican liturgy.
There is text for every day of the year, with the ability to select between traditional and contemporary language. Daily Prayer is available now on iTunes. More about the app on the
Diocese website www.blackburn.anglican.org
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The Church of England in Lancashire supports ‘Flesh and Blood’, a national campaign to mobilise the Church to increase the number of blood and organ donors in the UK.
The campaign marks the first time that the NHS and Church have worked together at a national level. Information and resources to allow your church to get involved have been produced by the campaign, designed for local church leaders. Go to www.fleshandblood.org
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‘Church Whys and Wherefores', a new book by The Rev. Edmund Straszak, the Vicar of All
Saints’, Chorley is now available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon and in bookshops in the near future. Do you want to learn about ‘What We Do in Church and Why?’ or do you want to learn more about church services? Whether you are reading for yourself or lead church classes, this book will tell you all you need to know.
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Specialist church and heritage insurer Ecclesiastical has once again opened its annual
Ministry Bursary Awards for applications.
Now in their 28th year, the awards are open to all clergy in Anglican Christian faiths and aim to provide financial support to members of the clergy for sabbatical breaks and projects.
The awards were established in 1987 and have, to date, supported well over 1000 members of the clergy and provided financial support for awards for a wide range of extended leave projects and plans. To find out more; eligibility criteria and to download an application form, go to www.ecclesiastical.com/mba
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Churches, chapels and meeting houses seeking funding for repairs and modernisation can apply to the National Churches Trust grants programme.
The National Churches Trust supports a wide variety of projects through its grant programmes. From repairing a roof to helping to install an accessible toilets its grants enable places of worship to continue to serve their local communities.
The National Churches Trust also works with local churches trusts on Partnership Grants which can provide funding for urgent repair projects. Full details and online application forms are available on the grants section of the National Churches Trust website. www.nationalchurchestrust.org

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It’s been a busy few months for The Church of England in Lancashire. You’ll find all the latest news always available on the Diocese website (www.blackburn.anglican.org).
The website also contains back issues of The See. Make sure you bookmark it and keep checking back for the latest information. And if you have a church website and haven’t already done so, please link your website to the Diocese website.
When you click through the news archive those pages have also been tweaked recently, and on the right of the pages you will also now find links to some useful resources for you and your church. More of this to come in 2015.
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Blackburn Cathedral Choir has opportunities for boys and girls from age 7. If your son, daughter, or grandchild enjoys singing, joining one of the Cathedral Choirs can offer musical and educational opportunities second to none.
Furthermore, membership of the choir is free – in fact, choristers receive choir pay in return for their singing!
Learn more on the cathedral website www.blackburncathedral.com. The Cathedral is also on
Twitter. @bbcathedral is the Twitter handle. For more information contact Director of Music,
Samuel Hudson, on 01254 503 091 or samuel.hudson@blackburncathedral.co.uk
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All kinds of not-for-profit groups can apply now for free trees to plant in November.
Twice a year, the Woodland Trust gives away free trees to community groups in an effort to create more woodlands throughout the UK.
This autumn the Trust will be giving away 4,000 free tree packs. Groups can apply for packs of 30 trees worth £30, 105 trees worth £105, or 420 trees worth £420.
The deadline for applications is 3 September 2015, though this is subject to change. Groups are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Full details can be found on the website; www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/planttrees
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The Church of England in Lancashire recently launched its own Twitter feed (@cofelancs) and it has already gathered more than 500 followers.
As well as regular tweets there is often ‘live-tweeting’ from key Diocese events as well.
In addition there is a Twitter feed for the region’s Anglican Cathedral in Blackburn
(@b bcathedral) and for the Diocese’s Retreat and Conference Centre at Whalley Abbey
(@whalleyabbey)

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Would you be able to spare a couple of hours one Sunday a month to help out with the
Chaplaincy Department at Royal Blackburn Hospital?
You could help transport patients to the Chapel for the Sunday Eucharist and also to take
Holy Communion to people on the wards after the service.
The commitment would be from 9.15am-11.30am once a month. For a conversation about volunteering contact Revd Andrew Horsfall, the Chaplain, on 01254 733632.
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Caring for God’s Acre is the conservation charity for churchyards and burial grounds and it is holding a ‘Beautiful Burial Ground Conference’ at Rydal Hall in Ambleside on April 23. More information at www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk then click the ‘conferences’ link. Or contact
Andrea Gilpin, National Project Manager on 01588 673041.
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The Prayer Book Society Annual Festival at Blackburn Cathedral is on April 25 from 11am.
There will be Choral Holy Communion; Celebrant: The Venerable John Hawley, Archdeacon of Blackburn; Preacher: Reverend Dr Mike Kirby.
At 2.15pm BBC TV ‘Songs of Praise’ presenter Pam Rhodes will be the guest speaker (she will sign copies of her book afte r her talk). Talk: ‘Hymns and Hearts’. A sit down lunch will be held in the crypt. The cost for this is £12.50. All other segments are free. For further information please contact Neil Inkley on 01772 821676.
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Shaun Turnbull, Assistant Director of Music at Blackburn Cathedral, is recruiting for their
Young People's Choir (teenagers and young adults). The YPC rehearse on a Wednesday evening and sings the Sunday morning 9am Eucharist. For more information contact Shaun on shaun.turnbull@blackburncathedral.co.uk
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St Aidan’s Church Hall, Station Road, Bamber Bridge, 'Trash or Treasure?' table top sale.
Buy or sell unwanted items Clear out your clutter, Saturday April 18, 9.30am-1pm. Tea, coffee and bacon butties will be served. To book a table please call 01257 267464.
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Preston Minster presents ‘A Trip Down Memory Lane’, a concert, including afternoon tea, with TV and radio vocalist Barry Stott singing the songs made famous by Frank Sinatra,
Tony Bennett and many more on Wednesday April 29 at 2pm. Tickets £5 from Preston
Minster Office. Telephone 01772 901313. All proceeds in aid of parish funds.
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Friday lunchtime recitals at St George the Martyr, Lune Street, Preston. 3 April: No Recital
(Good Friday). 17 April: Gravity Percussion Duo (from the Royal Northern College of Music).
Doors open 11am Admission £6 (includes light refreshments - you can bring your own sandwich). Duration about 50 minutes.

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The Church of England in Lancashire now has a Flickr feed with more than 1500 photographs taken at events across the region.
The feed has been live since last summer and the total views on all the pictures already exceeds 400,000.
The pictures are divi ded into ‘albums’ and the albums include pictures from the Maundy
Thursday visit of Her Majesty The Queen; the recent visit to the Diocese by the Archbishop of York and the Diocesan Summer Festival.
There are also pictures of events in parishes around Lancashire, plus much more. Search online for Flickr and ‘Blackburn Diocese’ or ‘cofelancs’.
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Dawn Eucharist takes place on Easter Day, April 5, at 6.30am in Whalley Abbey ruins. The celebrant is The Archdeacon of Blackburn, The Venerable John Hawley and there will be a bacon butty breakfast at Whalley Parish Church afterwards. This FREE event is open to all.
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Professor Kate Cooper, author of the book ‘Band of Angels’ will be in conversation with
Canon Dr Ian Stockton and Anjum Anwar, Blackburn Cathedral Dialogue Development
Officer, on Thursday 23 April 2015 from 6.30pm to 8pm. Refreshments 5.45pm in the Crypt.
Band of Angels uncovers the vital role women played in spreading the Christian Religion and seeks to restore their rightful place in history.
Kate Cooper is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester. FREE event but please book your place with anjum.anwar@blackburncathedral.co.uk Tel: 01254
503081/07903 731106
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The Dean and Chapter of Blackburn Cathedral have issued an invite to a service to recognise the contributions of Mr David Whyte to the local community and to Saint Wilfrid’s
CofE Academy at Blackburn Cathedral on Sunday 19 April 2015 at 4pm.
The Preacher will be Canon Brendan Clover, Senior Provost of Woodard School. The Dean
Emeritus, The Very Reverend David Frayne will also contribute to the service.
A presentation will be made as part of the service. All are welcome. No tickets are required and refreshments will be available after the service.
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The young cast of St Oswald's Dramatists present 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 8-11 April, St
Oswald's Parish Hall Theatre, Preesall. Bookings 01253 921793, evenings
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Come and listen to 'The Big Blue Band' on Friday 17 April 2015 at St Paul's Church (Marton)
Blackpool. Time 7.30pm. Tickets £8; children under 16 free. For further information please contact the church office on 01253 692047 or Dorothy Mather on mobile 07727369085.

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Do you, or someone who you know, have a couple of hours a week to spare over the summer?
Whalley Abbey (www.whalleyabbey.org) which is also the Diocesan Retreat and Conference
Centre, needs volunteers to welcome people and to collect entrance money to the grounds.
For more information, please contact Whalley Abbey on 01254 828400, or email office@whalleyabbey.org
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The Cross of Christ will be sung By the Choirs of St Mary's and All Saint Whalley and
Salesbury St Peter on Palm Sunday 29th March 2015 at 6.30pm at Whalley Parish Church all welcome to this service at the start of Holy Week.
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St John the Baptist Church in Tunstall is keen to secure 10 adult choir robes. If any church has robes they no longer use please contact Jane Greenhalgh churchwarden, 01524
274260.
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For all the latest news from The Church of England in Lancashire log on to the Diocese website www.blackburn.anglican.org where you will also find links to the various departments and can find out about their work.
These departments include the Diocesan Board of Finance; the Diocesan Board of
Education; Parish Mission Support and Discipleship and Ministry. There are also links on the site to the Diocese’s various social media channels.