Bishop Paul's encounters with people and projects across the Diocese in June/July ....

Bishop met soldiers en-route to Afghanistan

Soldiers and their families gave the Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham an insight into front line pressures, when he paid his first visit to Chetwynd Barracks in Nottingham.
 
The Rt Revd Paul Butler, arrived at Chetwynd Barracks in Chilwell, Nottingham, when he was met by the Brigade Chaplain, the Revd Steven Griffith, who took him on a tour of the barracks.
 
The day visit included meeting with the soldiers from a variety of units based at Chilwell. He was also given an overview of how the Army is currently operating and pressures faced by soldiers and families.
 
After lunch with soldiers and chaplains, he met with members of the Territorial Army being prepared to deploy to Afghanistan.
 

Flower arranging taster for Bishop & colleague before ‘Open Churches’ weekends

A flower arranging lesson was lined up for the Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham – giving him a taster of what’s in store for visitors for two Open Churches weekends in July.

The Rt Revd Paul Butler and his colleague, Children’s Ministry Adviser, Nick Harding, were given some top tips on flower arranging from a Chelsea gold medallist, at St Mary the Virgin, Plumtree at 2pm on Monday 4th July 2011.

The Bishop and Nick found out what Pumtree church had planned for its part in the Open weekends, which included an exhibition of Church life over the centuries by the local history society, displays of old photographs, church tours and bell ringing demonstrations, along with flower arranging demonstrations by Diana Knight. There was also a treasure hunt and sales of cakes and preserves.

Churches across the districts of Mansfield, Ashfield, Gedling, Rushcliffe, Broxtowe and the city of Nottingham gave a special welcome to visitors over two weekends in July, when more than 70 churches took part in the Open Churches weekends.

The special weekends, (on the 9th/10th & 16th/17th July) were launched under the umbrella of the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham’s Church History Project, following a successful pilot in other parts of the county in 2010.