New Bishop of Dover praises plans for St Mary's during Ashford tour
The new Bishop of Dover, the Right Reverend Trevor Willmott has praised the development plans for Ashford St Mary's Church during his visit to the town on March 15th.
Commenting on the project, which in partnership with Ashford Borough Council will create a shared space and arts' venue in the church, Bishop Trevor said: "This is a God given opportunity to recreate the church so it may be of service to its community."
During the meeting at the town centre church, the Vicar of Ashford St Mary's Revd Colin Preece explained the philosophy behind the plans and the progress made to date. Mark Carty the Head of Cultural and Project Services at Ashford Borough Council outlined the council's backing for the project and architect, Nick Lee Evans explained the details of the £1.6M project which includes environmentally sustainable elements such as rainwater harvesting and ground heat source pumps.
Bishop Trevor said: "Every building is a community building, not just a church building and we want this building to live and breathe for the sake of the community." The Bishop went on to say he welcomed the next stage of the planning process which will involve an open hearing at a 'Commissary Court' and was hopeful that a positive outcome would be reached soon.
After the visit to St Mary's, the Bishop was led on a tour of Ashford, including the County Square extension and the town centre shared space, the Ashford Gateway building and 'The Tank'.
Earlier in the day, Bishop Trevor visited the John Wesley Church of England Methodist Primary School in Singleton. After being greeted at the school by the four school captains, Bishop Trevor led a whole school assembly.
During the assembly the Bishop, who was dressed in a purple cassock explained to pupils the significance of his crook, cross, Bishop's ring and his purple cassock and sincture. Bishop Trevor took the opportunity to ask pupils why the life of Jesus is celebrated - to which the reply came from one of the younger children: "Because Jesus did good things for us and we should do good things to other people." - a reply that obviously delighted the Bishop.
In the evening, Ashford Borough Council hosted a reception at the Civic Centre to provide an opportunity for council staff, councilors, community and business leaders to meet the Bishop. Chief Executive of Ashford Borough Council, Mr John Bunnett welcomed everyone and invited Bishop Trevor to speak and to answer questions from the floor.
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Bishop Trevor spoke passionately of the need for partnership between the church and borough council. He addressed issues including the need for community development in new housing estates and the Bishop offered partnership in deploying a community worker for Ashford's new housing estates. Bishop Trevor also said that particular attention must be given to young school leavers who had no real prospect of work on the immediate future.
The evening concluded with a vote of thanks from the Mayor of Ashford, Cllr John Holland.
Ends
Notes fro Editors:
Bishop Trevor Willmott was installed as Bishop of Dover on February 6th 2010. Bishop Trevor has designated oversight of the Church of England Canterbury Diocese on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Diocese stretches from Maidstone to the East coast.
Further information available from:
Emily Shepherd, Director of Communications Canterbury Diocese, 07876 210 446