Archbishop of York at 100th anniversary of Mid Sussex church
Young people received special attention from the Archbishop of York at the 100th anniversary celebrations of a Mid Sussex church today.
Dr John Sentamu preached to more than 400 people at St Andrews Church at Burgess Hill on St Andrews Day, Sunday November 30.
The congregation was celebrating exactly 100 years after the Bishop of Chichester consecrated the church as an unfinished new building on St Andrews Day, 1908.
The Archbishop, second in ranking only to the Archbishop of Canterbury in church hierarchy, specially asked to meet the youngsters from the parish in the packed church after presiding over a 90-minute service and made them laugh with one reference to Star Trek.
More than 300 people filled every pew space in the church, with guests including Mid Sussex MP Nicholas Soames, chairman of Mid Sussex Council Cllr Margaret Hersey and Burgess Hill Town Council chairman Chris Thomas-Atkin.
So many people wanted to attend the service that the service was relayed to an almost-full Rider Hall of about 100 people next to the church.
In the congregation were some of the oldest and most loyal of the congregation, along with some youngsters representing a new generation of worshippers, who the Archbishop chatted with afterwards.
Inside the church were listed vicars who have led the church through great periods of history including the First World War, The Depression of the 1930s, the Second World War, and the move into the modern era from the 1960s.
The present vicar Rev Ian Prior and his deputy Sylvia McLarnon, pictured with the Archbishop and children, welcomed the Archbishop to the service, which marked a year of celebration for the church.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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