Bishop and Archdeacon ride the rapids
The Bishop of Hertford and the Archdeacon of St Albans tackle white water
With one year to go to the Paralympics and less than one year to the Olympic games, the Bishop of Hertford and the Archdeacon of St Albans have travelled the 300m long, 5.5m descent of the Lee Valley White Water centre Olympic course in a raft to demonstrate that everyone can get ‘stuck in’ to the Olympics.
They lived the message that the Olympic and Paralympic Games provide a wonderful opportunity for the Diocese to get involved at the heart of what will be the biggest community event of most people’s lifetimes, embodying values that are shared between faith and sport – respect, friendship, equality, excellence, inspiration.
Sharing a raft with helmsman Aaron and seven other intrepid rafters,they battled with the 13,000 litres of water a second powering down 300m course, enough to fill 75 bath tubs every second, or an Olympic sized swimming pool in 30 seconds.
In less than a year from now, from 27th July – 12th August and from 29th August to 9th September, the Olympics and Paralympics will be the cause of a month in total of celebration and ‘buzz’ in our communities as people gather round moment after moment of athletic endeavour full of hope and expectation. It is our opportunity to involve ourselves with what is happening then, where it is happening.
Many communities will be coming together and watching key moments of the Olympics together on big screens.
The opportunities for churches to join in with the joy of the Olympics and to step out in faith to do new, even risky (but naturally not reckless or foolish) things is too good to miss.
The Diocese is encouraging Christians to be at the heart of the celebrations in their communities.
Speaking after their descent, Bishop Paul said: “We loved taking a risk and getting stuck in to the Lee Valley White Water course. It brought home, with the splash of the rapids, that the Olympics are coming soon and part of them will happen in the middle of our community. Going down the white water course need be no less exhilarating than each one of us taking on an Olympic challenge to transform our lives and the lives of those around us. That is the Olympic vision. For our 400 churches in the Diocese of St Albans, we are encouraging them to get going and plan ways of being at the heart of the joy of the Olympics and Paralympics, finding new ways of serving all people across every community in our parishes in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire Luton and Barnet.”
Archdeacon Jonathan added: “The time is now. We must be ready for this tremendous wave of excitement that will rush through our communities.”
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