Marathon tour of churches for new Bishop
 
A marathon tour of five in one day churches will keep the new Bishop of Southwell & Nottingham on his toes this weekend.
 
The Rt Revd Paul Butler will join in celebrations for the newly formed East Trent Group of parishes on Sunday 6th June, which will start with a joint service for some 200 people in Newark Showground at the Joe Hallam Pavilion at 9.30am.
 
There won’t be much time for sitting down after the service, as the Bishop will be off to consecrate a Cemetery at Collingham at 11.10am, followed by blessing a restored church roof at All Saints, Harby, at 12.50pm. The Bishop will also lead a service of Holy Communion and preach.
 
The Bishop will be allowed time to join a parish lunch at 1pm, but he will be back on his feet  to arrive at St George the Martyr at Clifton and All Saints Winthorpe, for a visit at 2.30pm. He will then travel on to bless a church roof at Holy Trinity, Besthorpe, at 4pm, before ending the marathon day of visits with a service of Evensong at St Helena's South Scarle, at 4.30pm.
 
The day of visits and services has been arranged by the Revd David Milner, Priest-in-Charge of the East Trent Group of parishes, which includes some 11 churches across 14 villages. David explained he usually takes 3-4 services each Sunday and can clock up some 500 miles in a week travelling between the various scattered communities for which he is responible.
 
David said: "We are delighted that Bishop Paul is coming to spend the day with us and we're looking forward to showing him round all the churches in the group - it's fantastic that he is happy to pack so much into one day!"
 
 
 
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