The Ebbsfleet Festival of Faith 2003: 'Marching to the Promised Land: a Land of Milk and Honey' |
 The people await the start of the Mass  Some of the banners brought by Ebbsfleet parishes  Some of the eighty concelebrating priests  The Ebbsfleet Area Deans and Episcopal Vicars  Bishop Andrew delivers his Homily  Bishop Andrew exchanges the peace with the people  The Offertory  The Offertory  The people make their way to communion stations in the nave  The servers lead the clergy from the Cathedral  The concelebrants greet Bishop Andrew after Mass  Some of the faithful enjoy their picnics near the Cathedral ...  ... and on the College Green |
 LEVEN HUNDRED people converged on
Bristol on May 10th AD2003 for the Ebbsfleet Festival of Faith, the
first such gathering since 1998. Coaches came from places as diverse as Stoke
on Trent, Reading and Truro, arriving for a 12 noon Mass in the Cathedral, by
kind permission of the Dean and Chapter. The Principal Celebrant and Preacher
was the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Revd Andrew Burnham. He was assisted by two
bishops and over eighty concelebrating priests. The theme of the festival was
Marching to the Promised Land: a Land of Milk and Honey, a
celebration of the Easter faith. A sub-theme was the honouring of Mary, Mother
of God, traditional in the month of May. The bishop urged those who look to him
to put aside the family row and embrace a genuine ecumenism towards those
Anglicans with whom they disagreed. He invited them to march together and
experience the energy and renewal of such new movements within the Church as
Focolare and the Neo-Catechumenate.Music was directed by David Ogden, who had composed the Mass. A particular feature of this 'holy convocation' was the playing of home-made trumpets (Leviticus 23:24). The children had participated in their own liturgy before energetically processing their copy of the Ark of the Covenant, resplendent with gold paint. After an impromptu picnic, Solemn Evensong and Te Deum followed, sung by the cathedral choir. After defraying some of the expenses, alms collected will be sent to Ethiopia to assist in famine relief. Bishop Andrew's homily at the Mass. |
