Stretching from the city suburbs of Cringleford in the east to the rural town of Hingham in the west, with the Abbey town of Wymondham in its centre, this is a varied deanery.
Bishop Graham’s visit began with a celebration of eucharist using a Northumbrian liturgy with the clergy chapter at St Remigius Church in Hethersett. This was followed by a light lunch at the back of this welcoming and airy church. Cringleford vicar, the Revd Graham Wilkins tweeted: “Broke bread together, ate a meal together, heard the Scripture’s read- loving this lunchtime’s version of the early church!”
Graham was delighted to then show his namesake around Cringleford VA CofE Primary where he is a governor. Bishop Graham joined in with a whole-school assembly, answering questions on what it is like to be a bishop. Kumbirai willingly obliged to demonstrating the symbolism of the Bishop’s crozier and a classroom of students quizzed the Bishop further.
Next on the itinerary was a visit to Lotus Cars in Hethel to see this local-based global brand’s plans for electric production. A presentation, a viewing of the electric prototype and the production line was followed by an opportunity for Bishop Graham to take to the test track, which he did with great enthusiasm!
The visit was rounded off with a pancake party at the vast church of St Andrew’s in Hingham. A proficient pancake production line was in operation ensuring that everyone had their fair share on this Shrove Tuesday evening. It was a relaxed occasion, giving Bishop Graham a chance to meet and chat with people from across Humbleyard Deanery.
The Revd Colin Reed, Rural Dean for Humbleyard then turned inquisitor, interviewing Bishop Graham with a wide range of questions to give people a real flavour of what makes our Bishop tick. The evening concluded with Compline officiated by the Revd Sally Wallace-Jones.
See a full set of photos from the day on our Facebook gallery link below.