Taking the pulse of Christianity in the Lancashire Town of Leyland has become an annual Pilgrimage for our Year One Undergraduate Trainee RE Teachers.  As part of the Module on the History of Christian thought and culture we visited four Christian Churches beginning with St Mary’s a Roman Catholic Church were we joined the community for the week day celebration of Mass and then for breakfast.  Fr Jonathan Cotton then gave us a tour of the Church and answered questions. The Church has recently won an award as one of the best modern church buildings in Britain. Christie commented that how the altar was positioned in the centre of the building gave it a really different feel to more traditional churches.

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The second Church we visited was the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles. We were welcomed warmly by Fr Dionysius who gave us a very entertaining overview of the Greek Orthodox Church.

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After lunch we moved onto Leyland Baptist Church were we met Pastor Tony. Pastor Tony shared his beliefs and described the ministry of the Church in detail. Becky commented that she hadn’t realised that the Baptist Church did not have a hierarchical system and thought that this was a real positive !

Finally we were welcomed at  St James Church Of England by Fr Mark

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