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Devon’s Bishops join 2400 young people on Dartmoor for start of Ten Tors Challenge

The bishops of Exeter and Plymouth joined more than 2400 young people for the start of the Ten Tors Challenge on Dartmoor on 10 May. Bishop Mike and Bishop James watched the start of the annual two-day event at Okehampton Army Camp, before walking part of the Jubilee Challenge route, which is aimed at young people with additonal needs. The Ten Tors Challenge is in its 63rd year. It was originally devised in the late…

Going for Gold: Devon Church celebrates Eco Award

One church in Devon has been awarded gold for its incredible efforts to become more eco-friendly. In a service on Sunday 4 May, St Mary’s Church in Dunsford celebrated being presented a Gold Eco Church Award. The Eco Church Award scheme is from Arocha UK, a Christian charity that work to protect and restore the natural world and is committed to equipping Christians and churches in the UK to care for the environment. The Eco…

Devon Church’s Poppy Cascade Commemorates VE Day 80th Anniversary

The Bishop of Exeter has taken part in a service at a church in Devon to bless over 6000 hand-knitted and crocheted poppies, made to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. The stunning 64ft Remembrance Poppy Cascade is displayed cascading from the church tower at St Peter’s church in Bratton Flemming, North Devon. The idea for the Cascade project came from local resident Sue Squire, who thought of it while watching the 80th Anniversary…

Crediton Vicar’s WW2 VE Day Sermon Shared by Daughter 80 Years On

A retired GP and churchwarden from Devon whose father was Vicar of Crediton during World War Two has shared the handwritten sermon he wrote to celebrate VE Day ahead of the 80th anniversary on 8 May. Jane Richards, 91, was 11 in 1945, when Victory in Europe Day, marking the official end of the Second World War in Europe, was declared on 8 May 1945. Her father, the Rev’d Francis Richards, had been a minor…

Sunrise and Paschal Candlelight as Easter Sunday Dawns Across Devon

The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt. Rev’d Dr Mike Harrison, began his first Easter Sunday in Devon with a Sunrise Easter Service at Exeter Cathedral. The deeply symbolic service began in darkness inside the Cathedral Lady Chapel, before the Bishop, Dean and congregation processed outside to the cloister garden, where a firepit was lit to symbolise the light of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. The flames were then used to light the large Paschal (Easter)…