I have now started to think more about the ideas we have been having for the Dickens Festival. We see between 10000-15000 through the cathedral doors over this weekend. My task is to work with others to develop ‘stations’ or some way that people can encounter God as they pass through the building.

This can be a tricky task at normal times, but during ‘Dickens’, being near to Christmas, people always seem to be in such a rush unless something really grabs them. Last year we ran with the theme of ‘pause for thought’ and this year we are using the theme of angels. In my conversations with people I have noticed angels cropping up in conversation quite a bit. There seems to be, at least a local, interest and so it makes sense to me to take this as a theme and see what happens.

We are going to take a bit of a gamble this year and run with a similar set up to how we worked at the Sweeps Festival with a mind body spirit theme overarching what we do. We will be offering prayer for healing, a space for meditation, prayer beads and the ever popular and valuable foot and hand massage and you will again be able to experience a Jesus Deck reading. Our ‘giveaway’ will invite people to spend a week with the angels.

I’m looking forward to the weekend and hearing peoples stories – it’s one of the privileges of my role!

The team is looking good, but if you want to get involved please let me know)