Special Celebration in Ely Cathedral
Four special Schools Cathedral Days commemorating both two hundred years of the National Society and four hundred years of the King James Bible get underway tomorrow (Tuesday 11) in Ely Cathedral.
Over 2,500 primary school children will pass through Ely Cathedral on four separate days (11, 12, 19 and 20 October).
A morning of workshops and activities will be followed by an act of worship in the afternoon under the Cathedral’s famous Octagon.
During the workshops, the children will be taken back to the times of their ancestors from two hundred years ago, with the aid of history re-enactors, discovering how they lived and what the first schools were like. Part of the experience will be hearing the words of the Bible read in the King James Version – the same translation of the scriptures many of their ancestors would have used as their chief reading book.
The worship in the afternoon of each day will be led by the Bishop of Huntingdon, Dr David Thomson. As part of the services, Dr Thomson will bless the ‘Church Schools’ Quilt’ – a beautifully crafted piece of needlework made up of eighty squares, and so long (twenty-one feet) it eventually had to be created in three pieces rather than as one single quilt.
Each square was designed and created by the pupils of a Diocese of Ely church school and is a striking snapshot of life across the Diocese in this celebration year.
The schools attending the Cathedral will be bringing gifts too – not for the Cathedral, but for the Diocese of Vellore.
Vellore (Church of South India) has been twinned with Cambridgeshire for almost twenty years and schools have been raising money at harvest time to help rebuild three small Indian village schools which are threatened with imminent closure.
Helping preserve the education of others is a way of saying thank you for the gift of education we enjoy in this country.
The Cathedral is open to the public during the Schools’ Cathedral Days and visitors are welcome to join the schools for worship at 1pm.
The quilt will remain on display in the Cathedral for one month following the Schools Days.
10th October 2011