May 07 +James Walk Cumbria

Walk Cumbria

Before starting a new job as Residentiary Canon at Chester Cathedral I read ‘The Choir’ by Joanna Trollope. As it transpired, I could have had no better preparation! So before moving on to Cumbria, I eagerly devoured ‘Credo’ by Melvyn Bragg, with its gripping account of early Celtic missionaries walking across ‘Rheged’ and bringing the Christian gospel to northern villages and towns. That too resonates with contemporary reality as Walk Cumbria unfolds across the county this month.

Nearly six hundred ‘missionaries’ from all over Britain will be tramping our roads and paths for the first three weeks of May. Dressed in distinctive blue sweatshirts emblazoned with the Walk Cumbria logo they will be visiting people in their homes; chatting in pubs; attending a wide variety of local events and simply talking to passers by. They have one straightforward aim: sharing the Good News of God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

When Jesus sent the twelve out on mission he ordered them to ‘take nothing for their journey except a staff’. These six hundred will be following suit. They will be allowed only two pounds each per day – for buying someone else a drink. Most will be sleeping on church hall floors and depending on the hospitality of others for their daily bread. They are travelling here at their own expense and most are giving up annual leave to be with us. Their motivation is as simple as their message. Every one of them has had his or her life changed by Christ. All of them feel called to obey his command to ‘go out and make disciples of all nations’.

They are also responding to an invitation from the church leaders in Cumbria. This isn’t just an Anglican enterprise. It has been set up and planned by an ecumenical group which has proved (yet again) that when Christians get together in mission our historical differences fade away. Churches and congregations from all the major denominations are involved, and even before Walk Cumbria begins people are talking about the benefits and joys of real  co-operation.

Part of that co-operation has been through prayer. Hundreds have been praying for this mission for months, both as individuals and in groups. Their prayers build on those of many more hundreds who have been praying faithfully for Cumbria for years. As a result I have no doubt at all that this will be a significant further step along the road ‘from survival to revival’.

One of the highlights of Walk Cumbria will be the ‘Nights of Colour’ presented by the Mission Leader, Daniel Cozens. Before ordination he was a professional artist (emphatically not of the Damien Hirst school!) and he now uses his own paintings as a means of presenting the Christian faith. He is a tremendously engaging speaker, so if you do nothing else, go to hear him – and take a friend.

Which of course is the key to all this for those of us who are churchgoers. The six hundred visitors aren’t coming to do our mission for us. They will be here to help us with it. Opportunities like this don’t happen often. Please let’s grasp it with both hands.

+ James Newcome

(Further details available at www.walkcumbria.org.uk)