THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT PETER IN EXETER THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT PETER IN EXETER
Life on the Beach, the outreach event organised by Exeter Cathedral in partnership with the Council of Mission and Unity of the Diocese of Exeter and local interdenominational churches, holds its first event this year on Saturday 24 May. This event is being hosted by the River Dream Centre Church and includes the Big Cream Tea, to tie in with the national cream teas being organised as part of the HOPE 2008 initiative. People attending the event, or passing through the cathedral green will be able to participate in a genuine Devon Cream Tea completely free of charge, as all things are that happen during any of the Life on the Beach events. The Iscapella Close Harmony Gospel Choir will be the special guests at this event and will be doing several slots of their unique type of music to entertain people as they enjoy their cream tea. This event will run from 1.00pm until 4.30pm.
The dates for the other Life on the Beach events this year are:
Saturday 14 June which starts with the Devon Children's Orchestra playing in front of the cathedral between 10.00am and 11.00pm leading into the main Life on the Beach event at 11.00am until 2.00pm hosted by the Riverside Christian Centre who will be holding a garden party to celebrate the Queen's Birthday.
Saturday 5 July starts at 11.00am with the Glorious Chorus doing a unique performance on the green as part of a rolling programme happening across the city on this day before Exeter Network Church takes on the event at 12.00noon through to 3.00pm. Devon Green Action will be joining in on this day also, highlighting green issues, a hot topic in today's world.
Saturday 26 July again this year sees the Creationfest Team from Woolacombe turning the cathedral green into a giant skate park and stage for some excellent live bands flown over especially from the states to take part. This is a unique event; in that an amnesty operates on the cathedral green on this day to allow skateboarding to take place, which is normally strictly forbidden in this area. There will also be some proskate demonstrations. This event runs from 11.00am until 5.00pm and TraidCraft will also be on site promoting fair trade issues.
Saturday 13 September is the last event for this year and is being hosted by the Christian Motorcyclists who will again make a fantastic sight on the cathedral green with their powerful motorbikes and unique style of dress and there will also be a DJ and bands on site.
At all of the events there will be a bouncy castle, badge making, giant Jenga, giant Connect Four, refreshments and a prayer labyrinth all of which are free plus many other special guests and other different activities for all ages happening on each of the Saturdays.
If you require any further information on the national HOPE initiative, especially where the free cream teas are being held please look up any of the following sites:
<http://www.hope08.com/ > <http://www.hope08devon.co.uk/ > <http://www.hopeexeter.com >
For further information on any of the Life on the Beach events please contact:
Zetta on zetta@btconnect.com <zetta@btconnect.com > or 07734 246114.
(Keep tuned a Life on the Beach website will be up and running very soon)
Life on the Beach and the Big Cream Tea – Saturday 24 May 2008
Where else could you get the Dean of Exeter Cathedral and the Canon Missioner for the Diocese of Exeter serving you a cream tea wearing dog collars and tail coats, other than at a Life on the Beach event? This is exactly what happened on Saturday 24 May when Life on the Beach hosted a Big Cream Tea to tie in with the Big Cream Teas being held as part of the HOPE 2008 initiative. Despite strong winds, a record number of cream teas, all completely free of charge, were served to people passing across the cathedral green between 1.00pm and 4.30pm, by a team made up from the cathedral, Southernhay URC and Sidwell St Methodist Church. As people ate their cream teas they could listen to jazz being performed by the River Dream Church from Exeter, or the excellent and harmonious voices of the ‘Yours in Harmony’ ladies choir; who made a splash on the west front of the cathedral in their high coloured outfits. For the children there was a free bouncy castle, which was in constant use all afternoon, as well as a selection of games and activities, including badge making for them to enjoy. The ‘Create A Space’ team also had various activities running that people could participate in. A very special evensong happening in the cathedral on this day added to the visual pleasure of the participants of the cream tea; when a full procession came out of the cathedral and processed back in another door showing people who might never normally enter the cathedral, the magnificence of the robes and specialness of the cathedral style of worship.
Churches Stand at the Devon County Show 2008
The Churches Stand at the Devon County Show felt slightly different this year with the Bishop of Exeter, the Right Rev Michael Langrish, being president and as a result the spotlight being more on the churches. As usual the show kicked off on the Monday with the usual round of setting up and cleaning duties to prepare the area for the exhibitors and entertainers joining with us for the show. On the Wednesday night the preshow service, where the Bishop was the key speaker, along with various input from representatives from Farms for City Children and others, took place at the YFC marquee as did the reception, instead of being on the Church Stand as it normally is. It was good to share this time with others from around the site
Guest organisations on the stand this year included the ever-popular Pennywell Farm and their famous miniature piglets as well as a host of other animals to be cuddled and cooed over. Also Christian Aid highlighting issues relating to the world’s poor, a support team from the musical Cargo promoting the event in Plymouth, Churches Together in Devon, HOPE 2008, the Salvation Army and the Farm Crisis Network highlighting the very vital work they do with farmers. As always there was a good stock of books and a variety of other items available to purchase from the Choice Words bookshop and all the fair-trade items from the Traidcraft stalls. In the year of the Bishop being president of the show; the stand was completed with Exeter Cathedral's display and it was very interesting to see the intricate and skilful work of the stonemason, Tony, as he carved stone in front of very interested parties who do not normally get to see this line of work. The cathedral also contributed to the entertainment side of the stand with the Dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev Jonathan Meyrick, performing a wide range of secular songs, including hits from Tom Jones and Flanders and Swan; which as always intrigued the crowds to see a dog collar wearing dean belting out old favourites. The Salvation Army band played on the Thursday of the show and as always this was well received.
This year on the stand we focussed very much on the large amount of young people that come to the show and in addition to the usual free bouncy castle we offer and the puppet shows on the Saturday we had a dedicated marquee for children’s events where they could make badges, listen to stories, play a host of games, do a wide range of craft activities and be generally entertained all for free. To give you some idea of the amount of children that passed through this area – 600 badges were made over the three days of the show. This was all hosted and arranged by Wayne Hackman and his team from St Andrew’s Church in Cullompton.
On the Friday of the show we hosted, in partnership, with Bishop Michael, a Big Cream Tea as part of the HOPE 2008 initiative, and we are extremely grateful to Ollie Allen, the show secretary, for making this happen and to all those who came along
As always were kept to our mission statement to offer generous hospitality and sensitive conversation to anyone coming onto the stand; whether it be for a chat to someone, a free cup of coffee or tea or just the need to sit down and rest tired legs and feet after walking around the show.
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