Festival Service and Dedication of the Bells by the Bishop of Hereford

The final day of St Milburga’s Bell Festival was a resounding success, with the bells being enjoyed by people of all generations from far and wide. In the afternoon, we welcomed Caring for God’s Acre, who explored the churchyard in search of slowworms and other mini-beasts with children from Bitterley school. The children were also given a brief introduction to bell-ringing, so we look forward to welcoming some of them as the next generation of ringers if they choose to take up this lifelong passion.

In the evening, the festival closed with our Service for the Dedication of the Bells, led by the Bishop of Hereford, Richard Jackson, and Reverend Father Justin Parker. A variety of readings and a veritable feast of wonderful hymns and anthems were enjoyed by the congregation, and the bells were given the Bishop’s solemn blessing in the hope that they will ring on for centuries to come.

Our photos and video clips of the Service can be viewed in our Google Photos album of the Festival here
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We would like to thank all of you who have supported our bell project, whether by helping to finance the bells themselves, by spreading the word, by coming to ring with us, by attending our events or by listening in and contemplating in your own way. We will continue to use the bells as a means of helping St Milburga’s church to grow and thrive into the future, so do keep an eye on everything that we get up to via our website www.stmilburga.co.uk and don’t hesitate to get in touch. We always love to hear from you.