wfn.org | ACNS3716 Hundreds expected on Boxing Day pilgrimage as Bishop

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3716     |     ENGLAND	|     23 DECEMBER 2003 

Hundreds expected on Boxing Day pilgrimage as Bishop pledges commitment
to the countryside

[ACNS source: Diocese of Ripon and Leeds] With hundreds of walkers
expected to take part in the annual Boxing Day pilgrimage from Ripon
Cathedral to Fountains Abbey, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd
John Richard Packer, will use this year's occasion to pledge the
church's support for rural concerns. 

The now traditional four mile walk on 26 December has attracted up to
fifteen hundred walkers in previous years and follows in the footsteps
of a group of 12th century Cistercian monks who walked from Ripon
Cathedral along the River Skell on 26 December 1132, to found Fountains
Abbey.

This year the walk will again be led by Bishop Packer, who hopes that
many people will be encouraged to join in. "This has become an occasion
of celebration for many Christians as we follow in the steps of the
first monks who went from Ripon after Christmas to found their monastery
in search of a new dedication to God," he said. "The walk represents our
commitment to following in Christ's way throughout the coming year."

After a service of Holy Communion in Ripon Cathedral at 10am, pilgrims
will gather on the Cathedral's West Front before setting out at about
10.40am through the streets of the city and into the countryside. The
one and a half hour walk concludes with a short service of carols in the
ruins of Fountains Abbey, during which Bishop Packer will restate the
continuing commitment of the church to rural concerns during 2004.

"The pilgrimage is an opportunity for the church to pray for countryside
concerns and for those involved in the rural economy." says Bishop
Packer. "I plan to reflect on the monks who in 1132 escaped from the
temptations and power-struggles of the city to find a new direction in
the wild countryside of Skelldale. There they learned quiet and
stillness, found a place where God's creation is experienced, and came
to know more of the love of Jesus, the good shepherd. So Jesus was born
in the little town of Bethlehem, and not the city of Jerusalem. The
appointment of James Bell as Bishop of Knaresborough, to live in the
countryside at Exelby and have its spiritual needs on his heart,
demonstrates the commitment of the church and diocese to rural concerns.
Today especially we celebrate the way the infant Christ is to be found
away from the bright lights, in solitude and his natural creation."

The traditional four-mile walk follows in the footsteps of thirteen
monks from St Mary's Abbey in York, who stayed in Ripon on Christmas Day
1132, before walking on to Fountains on St Stephen's Day. The route goes
through the Studley Royal estate. Pilgrims are fortified with mulled
wine and mince pies at the half way point, the Studley Lakeside entrance
of Fountains Abbey, where fewer mobile pilgrims also swell the numbers.
The walk is open to all and those taking part in the walk are given free
entry to the abbey grounds.

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