Bishop sends inspirational message to school live from the Holy Land

The Rt Rev. Philip North spoke to Year 6 pupils from Holy Trinity CE Primary School live from the Sea of Galilee in Israel.The Bishop has visited the school several times in recent months to talk about pilgrimages as part of a Year 6 module “Life is a Journey”.On his last visit a few weeks ago he promised the youngsters he would record a message for them while he was on a real pilgrimage.While paddling in the Sea of Galilee he delivered a two-minute talk to them and said: “A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place and I’ve done just that.“Look at my feet, I’m standing in the Sea of Galilee! All those stories you know from your RE lessons – many of them happened around the shores here.“I’ve come here with a group of pilgrims and they are delighting in being in this place and their faith is growing deeper as we walk in Jesus’ footsteps.”More than 40 intrepid local parishioners have been on the pilgrimage which has visited Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, Jericho, Bethany and Mount Zion.Headteacher, Mrs Sally Smith said: “We have been discussing pilgrimage as part of the lessons for Year 6 but this message from Bishop Philip, together with all the other vlogs, gives a really good idea of what a real pilgrimage can be like.“It’s great for the young people to be able to view this message and we are very grateful to the Bishop from taking time out of his busy schedule to record it for us.”

In a first for the Church of England in Lancashire, the Bishop has been producing a daily video blog (or ‘vlog’) reflecting on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land.