Chorley and the surrounding area comes alive this weekend with a range of community activities for all ages and leading the charge for the ‘Come and See Mission’ will be real-life ‘classic’ Gladiator ‘Ace’ (Warren Furman)!

There are events big and small to engage with and a big highlight will be a major youth event at St Michael’s High School in Chorley. Anyone who wants to find out more about any of the activities taking place across the weekend can contact the Vicar of St George’s in Chorley, Rev. Mike Print by emailing mike.print@blackburn.anglican.org

The Church of England in Lancashire is split into 14 Deanery areas and dedicated people in our Chorley Deanery churches are deep into final preparations for three days of faith and fun.

Also joining in the mission events at various points across the weekend are the two bishops of the Diocese Rt Rev. Philip North, Bishop of Blackburn and Rt Rev. Dr Jill Duff, Bishop of Lancaster alongside retired Bishop Tony Porter.

Chorley Deanery stretches from Standish in the south to Mawdesley and Croston in the west, Whittle-le-Woods in the north and then churches in and around Chorley itself.

• Visit this page on the Diocesan website for links to all the churches in the Deanery.
• Visit this page for all the activities happening from Friday, May 17 to Sunday, May 19.

Warren Furman (pictured) was one of the original Gladiators - ‘Ace’ - in the original 90s TV series. He became a Christian in the years after leaving the show and now speaks all over the country at Christian events, sharing his faith story.

Warren has visited Lancashire before, most notably in 2016 when he accompanied the Archbishop of York and other Bishops from across the north of England tom work with parishes across this Diocese for the four-day Crossroads Mission. Visit his website here.

In a new video, watch here, Warren and Bishop Philip look forward to the weekend.

Warren says: “These days I am a Gladiator for God and I love nothing more than sharing the Good news of Jesus Christ as I know He has the power to transform lives as He did with my life.

“I’m so excited to have been invited to Chorley to ‘Come and See’ and play a small part in your mission. So I hope to see you in and around Chorley and share how you can come to know Jesus personally like I did. I look forward to being with you.”

Watch Warren here sharing his faith story on the first day of the Chorley mission with pupils at St Michael's High School. 

Bishop Philip, pictured with Bishop Jill, adds: “I’m really excited by the coming weekend. ‘Come and See’ is going to be a full-energy non-stop event across the Deanery for all ages, including young people.

"'Come and See' was the way the early disciples invited their friends to see Jesus and that’s the invitation we are making to the people of Chorley Deanery … come and see this extraordinary person who gives us life, joy, and salvation like nothing else can.”

Some highlights of the coming days include …

Friday

• Visits to local schools by Ace and a mission team, including St Michael’s High School in Chorley, all on Friday morning
• Quizzes in many churches across the Deanery in the evening

Saturday

• Men’s breakfast event with Ace and Bishop Philip on Saturday morning at 8.30am in Shevington Parish Centre
• Kids and families event at St John’s Whittle at 10am
• Forest crafts at Charnock Richard 11am-3pm with Ace and mission team
• Bishop Jill will attend the ‘Crafternoon’ at Euxton parish 1.30-3pm
• Bishop jill will also visit St Peter’s Chorley – where there will be a live 60s band ‘La Bamba’ followed by hotpot
• Ace, Bishop Philip and supporting mission team, including staff from the Diocesan Board of Education will lead the St Michael’s High School Youth Event, 5-7pm,

Sunday

There will be various services across the morning with guest preachers including …

• 8 and 10am St Peter’s Chorley service, Rev. Steve Haskett, Parish Mission Support Officer
• 8 and 9.15am Euxton Parish service, with Ace
• 9am Charnock Richard service with Andy Pratt, Bishop’s Adviser on Inter-faith matters
• 10am Coppull Parish service with Bishop Tony Porter
• 10am Croston, Bretherton and Mawdsley united service with Bishop Philip
• 11am - St George’s Chorley, with Ace

Then, at 6.30pm, the whole weekend culminates in a Deanery Celebration Service with Ace and Bishop Philip at Coppull Parish Church. 

• Remember to visit this page for all the activities happening over the three days. 

Summing up the coming weekend the Area Dean of Chorley, Rev. Jo Smith, who is also the Vicar of Euxton Parish, said: “We are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to all and this weekend is a chance for us to do this on a scale rarely attempted before in Chorley Deanery. We are coming together across our many churches and will be inviting family and friends to hear the gospel message from a variety of wonderful speakers.

“We are grateful to Ace, our bishops and all who are supporting the weekend and we hope to have some wonderful stories of lives changed in the days, weeks and months following the mission. And we also hope to have some fun so ‘Come and See’, get along to your nearest event and join in!”

Ronnie Semley, May 2024