It was wonderful to welcome Bishop Chris to St Bede this morning as President and Preacher for the first time. He found the church without a 'sat-nav'! and was very much at home and relaxed...

His message to us was taken from Matthew 13.8-14 where the message was for us as followers and believers in Jesus to 'Wake up, Shake up, and Dress up' St Paul said in his letter to the Romans that the time has come for the Christians to wake up from our sleep. Which reminded me of the story of a Vicar walking past an old Railway Maintenance Yard when he spotted the following sign at the entrance to the yard – ‘Old Sleepers for sale’! He decided there and then that his sermons would be such that that sign would not be hung above his church door! His congregation would be Alive in Christ and be a living witness to the dawning of the day of Salvation, that God’s people would not ‘overlay’ or ‘sleep in’ when there was a great truth to tell. Some of us need an alarm to wake us in the morning, as an illustration Bishop Chris used a ‘Wallace and Grommet’ Alarm Clock which was given to him by his children some time ago so as to ensure he did not sleep past the appointed time!

The other task Bishop Chris did for us was to dedicate a lovely Chalice which was donated to St Bede by Community Transport in memory of Peter Stubbs, who died in June of this year. Peter had been our Church Warden and latterly our Treasurer, as well as these jobs Peter also did a lot of voluntary work with Community Transport as treasurer, and also driving one of the buses for the benefit of the people of Bolton. Peter’s family and the vice Chairman of Community Transport were present with us to witness the dedication of the Chalice in memory of Peters life, faith and contribution to his church and community.

Our thanks, love and prayers are extended to Bishop Chris and his wife Susan for their future work and ministry in the Bolton Archdeaconry.

Bishop Chris, we look forward to welcoming you again in Jesus’ name to St Bede, and can assure you that no where will you see any signs outside church reading ‘Old Sleepers for sale’!