The messages are going out to just a handful of church leaders - though I certainly can't count myself in that category!And it's addressed to 'all churches in and around Coventry' although I live more than an hour's journey from that city.
But I have been impressed by Coventry Cathedral since my parents took us there as children to watch the progress of the building work. The old Coventry Cathedral, you see, was destroyed by German bombs during a major air raid. The new cathedral was under construction while I was still at school. Wikipedia covers all the basics of the story.
I wonder if there is some kind of revelation here. What was old and traditional was violently destroyed, burned in a fierce fire, so all that remains is ruinous. And after the destruction a new kind of structure has been raised up like a new beginning. The new is totally different in style and construction materials.
I think I need to retrace my childhood steps and revisit Coventry Cathedral and see if the Spirit will speak to me as I do so. (I did go there later, here's a brief report of what I heard.)
Meanwhile, here is the first of the two messages I received. The organisers would like me to pass these details on, so that is what I am doing. The letter contains contact details. You might also like to download the leaflet in PDF form and view the Sherbourne Trust website.
Coventry Pilgrimage
26th March to 1st April 2012
Letter to all churches in and around Coventry
October 2011
Dear Church leader
We are writing to you on behalf of the planning group for a Coventry Pilgrimage to be held in the week beginning March 26th 2012 and culminating in a service in Coventry Cathedral on the evening of Sunday April 1st2012, Palm Sunday. The small planning group is led by the Revd Robin Trew, Rector of Allesley, and includes Christians of different denominations.
The proposal for a pilgrimage has arisen from Robin Trew’s experience of leading several groups from Coventry churches on the Camino de Santiago, from the recognition of Coventry Cathedral as an international centre of pilgrimage by the worldwide Community of the Cross of Nails, from the experience of a local group associated with the Northumbria Community of prayer walking along the River Sherbourne and parts of the Coventry Way, and from the inspiring story, told in Stephen Verney’s Fire in Coventry, of the Cross of Nails 40-day journey around Coventry and Warwickshire, in which Christians of different denominations participated, before the consecration of Coventry’s new Cathedral on 25th May 1962.
The proposal for 2012, the Jubilee year of Coventry Cathedral, is to follow the route of the 40-mile way-marked circular footpath, the Coventry Way, by walking from Meriden to Berkswell, Burton Green, Kenilworth, Stoneleigh, Bubbenhall, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Wolston,Brinklow, Ansty, Bedworth and Fillongley, then to walk down the route of the River Sherbourne via Allesley to the Cathedral. We hope that Christians from many different churches and denominations will join together to walk and pray for our city and the surrounding towns and villages.
A week event will cover the route with walks of 4 ½ to 6 ½ miles on weekday evenings between 5pm and 8pm from Monday 26th March followed by day walks on Saturday and Sunday, with pilgrims returning home each night. A weekend event for experienced walkers, youth groups etc. will cover the route with long walks from Friday evening to Sunday, pilgrims being accommodated in Kenilworth and Bedworth en route. A pilgrim service will be held each evening in a church on the route.
Monday Meriden via Berkswell to Burton Green
The proposal for a pilgrimage has arisen from Robin Trew’s experience of leading several groups from Coventry churches on the Camino de Santiago, from the recognition of Coventry Cathedral as an international centre of pilgrimage by the worldwide Community of the Cross of Nails, from the experience of a local group associated with the Northumbria Community of prayer walking along the River Sherbourne and parts of the Coventry Way, and from the inspiring story, told in Stephen Verney’s Fire in Coventry, of the Cross of Nails 40-day journey around Coventry and Warwickshire, in which Christians of different denominations participated, before the consecration of Coventry’s new Cathedral on 25th May 1962.
The proposal for 2012, the Jubilee year of Coventry Cathedral, is to follow the route of the 40-mile way-marked circular footpath, the Coventry Way, by walking from Meriden to Berkswell, Burton Green, Kenilworth, Stoneleigh, Bubbenhall, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Wolston,Brinklow, Ansty, Bedworth and Fillongley, then to walk down the route of the River Sherbourne via Allesley to the Cathedral. We hope that Christians from many different churches and denominations will join together to walk and pray for our city and the surrounding towns and villages.
A week event will cover the route with walks of 4 ½ to 6 ½ miles on weekday evenings between 5pm and 8pm from Monday 26th March followed by day walks on Saturday and Sunday, with pilgrims returning home each night. A weekend event for experienced walkers, youth groups etc. will cover the route with long walks from Friday evening to Sunday, pilgrims being accommodated in Kenilworth and Bedworth en route. A pilgrim service will be held each evening in a church on the route.
Monday Meriden via Berkswell to Burton Green
Tuesday Burton Green to Stoneleigh
Wednesday Stoneleigh via Bubbenhall to Ryton-on-Dunsmore
Thursday Ryton-on-Dunsmore via Wolston to Brinklow
Friday Brinklow to Ansty
Saturday Ansty via Bedworth to Fillongley
Sunday Fillongley via Allesley to the Cathedral
Weekend Event
Friday Meriden via Berkswell to Kenilworth
Saturday Kenilworth via Stoneleigh, Bubbenhall, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Wolston, Brinklow and Ansty to Bedworth
Sunday Bedworth via Fillongley and Allesley to the Cathedral
We would like to invite you to support and participate in this pilgrimage by:
· Advertising it in your church community
· Considering registering a group – perhaps a youth group – for the weekend challenge
· Nominating a “Pilgrimage Link Person” from your church to liaise with the planning group
· Indicating your interest by joining our mailing list
We will shortly be able to send you a promotional leaflet and to give you a web address where further information and registration forms will be found.
With every blessing,
John and Margaret Lloyd
For the Coventry Pilgrimage 2012 planning group
1 Hill Top,
Coventry
CV1 5AB
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