Our Bernard Gilpin Weekend at the beginning of March is now firmly fixed in the St Michael’s calendar.  On Saturday we held another very successful Tudor Family Fun Day. The church was busy with adults and children enjoying Tudor themed craft activities including some fearsome Gilpin Boar masks, Tudor houses, jesters hats and Tudor candle holders.  The audience was engaged fully with the Tudor cookery display when they ate all the food!. We were delighted this year to be joined by Concordia, a medeival/ Tudor singing group, who both sang and got us singing in the style of Henry VIII.  There was an opportunity to enjoy Tudor dancing and to have a go and to hear Bernard Gilpin himself tell his story!  Many people were dressed in Tudor costume which greatly added to the atmosphere.  This year we were delighted to welcome the Mayor and Mayoress of Sunderland to the Fun Day and they truly entered into the spirit of things also dressing in costume plus Mayoral Chains!

Sunday brought our Parish Eucharist in memory of Bernard Gilpin including a procession to his tomb, followed by Sunday Lunch in the Kepier Hall.  The hall looked beautiful thanks to the hard work of Anne Goodman, Stan Morson and their team and the lunch was expertly cooked by the Next 900 team, who were dressed in Tudor Costume for the occasion.

Sunday brought a special Engage! service based on the attributes of Bernard Gilpin: social care; social justice and integrity and education, and how they are revealed in the Christian tradition throughout history.

A big thank you to everyone who was involved in another very successful and enjoyable Gilpin Weekend.