13th October 2025

Archbishop's 'The Lord's Prayer Tour' comes to Lancashire for major event at Cathedral and visits to schools

Hundreds of people from across Lancashire explored the wonder and beauty of The Lord’s Prayer in schools and as part of a multi-media event at Blackburn Cathedral.

Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, was on the latest leg of his ‘Faith in the North’ Lord’s Prayer Tour, during which he is visiting all 12 dioceses in the Northern Province of the Church of England to speak and share the importance and relevance of the Lord’s Prayer to our world today.

He is using the Prayer to foster deeper connections with the Christian faith across the north and renew the Church’s missionary purpose to share God’s love with all.

The Archbishop was in the Diocese of Blackburn (which covers the whole of Lancashire) for a whole day on Friday, during which he also visited several Church of England schools – St Christopher’s High School in Accrington; St Aidan’s Primary School in Blackburn and St George’s Primary School in Chorley.

Coinciding with his visit the Diocese flooded its social media channels alongside the Archbishop’s channels, beforehand and on the day itself, with video and picture content to do two things: promote the events and the day’s activities and also to encourage people to post comments and videos about what the Lord’s Prayer means to them.

This content included a special video production featuring people from all across the County saying one line each of the Lord’s Prayer.

During the day, alongside the Bishop of Blackburn Rt Rev. Philip North, the Archbishop met many of the pupils, sharing his passion for the Lord’s Prayer with them and participating in some inspiring and challenging question and answer sessions. He also sat in on staff meetings and led Eucharist services at the schools.

Later in the afternoon the Archbishop visited our Centre for Christian Prayer and Discipleship at Whalley Abbey, where he met staff and the praying community who live and work there.

The main Lord’s Prayer Tour event was in the evening at the Cathedral where the Archbishop was welcomed by the Interim Dean, Rev. Canon Andrew Horsfall.

Those who attended were able to hear about what the Lord’s Prayer means to young people; listen to the Cathedral Youth Choir sing the Lord’s Prayer to a beautiful musical setting; watch a series of inspirational videos; participate in discussions about their own experiences of using and saying the Lord’s Prayer and much more.

At the heart of the night was a simple but profound invitation: to learn the Lord’s Prayer by heart and allow its words to shape lives for the better and for eternity.

The evening culminated in an address from the Archbishop, followed by the opportunity to ask questions. The whole event took place in the shadow of the spectacular Gaia artwork which is on display at the Cathedral until November 16.

Reflecting on the day, Bishop Philip said: "The Lord’s Prayer is not just a set of words we recite - it’s a challenging invitation to live differently. What this tour has done so powerfully is remind us that prayer is the heartbeat of renewal.

“When people in our Diocese pray ‘Your kingdom come’ we’re committing ourselves to transformation - in our lives, our churches and schools and our communities. It was also wonderful to see in our schools how our children are learning to pray with such confidence.

“The Lord’s Prayer tour has brought us rich inspiration as we prepare for the Centenary of the Diocese of Blackburn. I hope that it will inspire people to pray boldly, live generously, and speak courageously of the love of Christ.”

Archbishop Stephen added: “What a joy it has been to explore the Lord’s Prayer with the people of Blackburn Diocese. It’s been encouraging to see so many reflecting on this powerful prayer — one that draws us back to the heart of our faith and sends us out to meet the needs of the world.  

“Schools from across the North have found time in their school day to gather together to say the Lord’s Prayer which is wonderful news. It is our hope that this shared moment will inspire young people to keep praying and growing in faith.” 

Future Faith in the North Lord’s Prayer events offering more evenings of reflection, teaching, and worship are planned in 2026. These are:

• Thursday, 12 March 2026 – Liverpool Cathedral
• Thursday, 19 March 2026 – Manchester Cathedral
• Tuesday, 14 April 2026 – Chester Cathedral
• Sunday, 26 April 2026 – Durham Cathedral
• Tuesday, 28 April 2026 – Wakefield Cathedral

According to Theo Sheridan-Watts, Faith in the North Programme Manager, the focus of Faith in the North is ‘encouraging churches, schools and individuals to explore and respond in a fresh way to the prayer that Jesus taught us’.

Theo continues: “We have lots of resources available on our website to help you do exactly that, from newly commissioned songs for children and choirs, collective worship resources for schools and small group resources for churches.”

Visit the Faith in the North website here.

• Search for coverage of the whole Lord’s Prayer Tour day with the Archbishop on social media on various channels including Facebook and Instagram (the channels for Blackburn Diocese, Blackburn Diocesan Board of Education and The Archbishop of York); more on @cofelancs and @BDBofE and @bpblackburn and @CottrellStephen on X/Twitter and view more pictures on the Archbishop of York’s flickr feed here.  

Captions for the above pictures, top to bottom:
Pictures – by Clive Lawrence (Cathedral evening event) and Heather Lee (schools’ visits) for Blackburn Diocese

•  The Archbishop speaks to a busy Blackburn Cathedral audience
•  The Cathedral Youth choir perform as part of The Lord’s Prayer Tour evening
•  The Lord’s Prayer Tour event took place in the shadow of the magnificent Gaia earth artwork currently on view at Blackburn Cathedral
•  At Blackburn Cathedral, Rt Rev. Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn, speaks to Joe and Imogen from St Christopher’s CofE High School in Accrington during the Lord’s Prayer Tour evening, about what the prayer means to them
•  During his visit to the Diocese, Archbishop Stephen was welcomed to St Aidan’s CofE Primary in Blackburn and is pictured with the school choir during his visit
•  Another stop for Archbishop Stephen (third left) during his Lancashire visit was St Christopher’s High School in Accrington where he and Bishop Philip (second left) and Diocesan Director of Education Iain Parks (fifth from right) were welcomed by some of the pupils and their Headteacher Richard Jones (right)
•  People came from parishes across the County for the event, pictured are l-r Katie Proctor, Alex Proctor and Gill Harbour of St Leonards, Padiham
•  The Lord’s Prayer Tour event attracted people from further afield in neighbouring Dioceses and pictured here Rev. Sweetline Burnell, right, a curate from a parish in Bolton pictured with the Bishop of Lancaster, Rt Rev. Dr Jill Duff

Ronnie Semley, October 2025