![[image] Northern Cross - the ecumenical Christian Easter walking pilgrimage to Holy Island](imgs-newstyle/nx-bannertop%20northern-cross%20orange.jpg "Northern Cross - the ecumenical Christian Easter walking pilgrimage to Holy Island")
![[image] Northern Cross - the ecumenical Christian Easter walking pilgrimage to Holy Island](imgs-newstyle/nx-bannerstrap%20the-easter-walking.gif "Northern Cross - the ecumenical Christian Easter walking pilgrimage to Holy Island"){kind=small}
For more information please contact us by email on press [at] northerncross.co.uk
Information for the Media
News release and Photo opportunities
News release
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION (28 March 2011) (download PDF copy) >>
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Jump to details of photo opportunities for media this year >>
Fellowship in pilgrimage? Join us....
'Celebrating Easter by walking' – modern pilgrims seek renewal on the Northern Cross annual pilgrimage
PILGRIMS AWAIT A WEEK OF FELLOWSHIP, LAUGHTER, PRAYER, AND THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. The annual Christian cross–carrying Pilgrimage to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne takes place once again during the week before Easter.
From April 16 to the 24, more than 75 pilgrims will journey through various parts of Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, in 7 groups, known as 'Legs'. Five legs will walk around 80 – 120 miles during Holy Week; while there is also one family leg based around a single location. Another leg is walking unsupported from Iona on the west coast over two weeks.
Each leg carries a life-size wooden cross as a sign of Christian witness. They stay in church and village halls along the route, and join in with people of local churches for worship. The legs will gather together on 22 April, Good Friday, to cross the tidal sands on the Pilgrims Crossing to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Northumberland for a unique celebration of Easter, finishing on Easter Sunday afternoon.
Ruth Wallace, Overall Coordinator of Northern Cross 2011, said: “Northern Cross is a unique experience, a week of fellowship which is tremendously enriching as we share in a common journey of pilgrimage together. We come from many different backgrounds, denominations and ages, leaving the normality of everyday life, to enjoy some occasionally strenuous walking, new fellowships, and joyful liturgy. Linked by our enthusiasm for walking through beautiful countryside, we constantly grow in many ways as we meet new people along the way, parishioners, passers-by, publicans, and all, sharing prayer, worship and song, and having a really good time.”
“People think of pilgrimage as a mediaeval idea, yet the idea of Christian pilgrimage is alive and well today, as can be witnessed by the 6 million people who go to Lourdes each year, or the countless thousands who in the last 30 years have resurrected the month long walk along the Camino di Santiago, from the Pyrenees to North West Spain. Northern Cross is another example of this. On pilgrimage we find ourselves divested of possessions, just requiring whatever can be carried in a small bag. Cut down to bare essentials, we see ourselves stripped of all trappings of civilisation. We look for meaning in life as we travel through it, and a pilgrimage is a chance to mirror life, and at the same time to step back from life and look to see what the important things are.”
She added: “Northern Cross, and any walking pilgrimage, is a chance to get away from the world, to figuratively carry your house on your back, to have time to commune with nature. The destination itself is not so important alone – it is a goal – but the important thing is to form a small Christian group of people, travelling together on the road, using each others skills, helping each others weaknesses, working as a team to achieve an aim. It is an important part of experiencing the Easter celebration.”
Email us at walk [AT] northerncross.co.uk for more information, or to sign up for the 2011 walk, click here.
Jump to high-resolution photos available for press & media use >>
Jump to details of photo opportunities for media this year >>
Earlier news release for the 2011 pilgrimage (issued 4 December) >>
You can still join our 2011 Easter Pilgrimage to Lindisfarne
Northern Cross: the ecumenical Holy Week pilgrimage (16 -24 April) to Holy Island. Join a small group of Christians from diverse traditions for a challenging and fulfilling week of walking, fellowship and prayer. During the week different groups (or ‘legs’) will travel different routes through the North of England and the South of Scotland. We will walk between ten and twenty miles each day, carrying large wooden crosses as an act of witness and often relying on the hospitality of Christian communities along our way. Support cars will carry most of the baggage (as well as any exhausted pilgrims), and meet us during the walk with tea and sandwiches. There will be time for quiet reflection and for group worship as well as plenty of opportunities to bless one another by doing the washing up!
On Good Friday, meet with other legs to take the ancient pilgrims causeway across to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne itself, once one of the earliest Christian centres in the British Isles. Lindisfarne was the home of St Cuthbert and before the devastating Viking raids it was an important outpost of the Celtic tradition. Nowadays it is perhaps best known for the beautifully illustrated Lindisfarne Gospels with their gloriously intricate illuminations. We will stay on the island for the Easter weekend, joining the islanders in their celebration.
Whatever your age, experience or walking ability there is a leg for you, and we would love to have you along!
Email us at walk [AT] northerncross.co.uk for more information, or to sign up for the 2011 walk, click here.
High resolution photos for use by media
Click here for high-resolution photos available for use by Media organisations, subject to being credited to Northern Cross.
Photo opportunities during the 2011 pilgrimage
- Opportunities to photograph pilgrims groups will be available Saturday 16 to Friday 22 April..
- Crossing to Holy Island on the tidal causeway, Beal Sands, south of Berwick on Tweed, gather at 10.45am, crossing will start 11.00am Good Friday morning, 22 April.
Details available to download, here (PDF).
- Easter liturgy, St Mary’s Church, Holy Island 8.00 pm. Easter Saturday 23 April
- & Easter Eucharist service, St, Mary’s Church, Holy Island. 10.45am Sunday 24 April.
(media photography inside the church must be confirmed with the local Canon Kate Tristram)
- Procession of decorated crosses through the streets of Holy Island, Easter Sunday, (after 10.45am Easter Eucharist service). Starts approx 12.30pm from outside St.Mary's church/by St.Aidans statue to end by 1.45pm. Sunday 24 April.
For more information please contact us by email on press [at] northerncross.co.uk
Publicity material
You can download our general Leaflet (PDF, 1.7Mb) new simple Poster #1 (A4, PDF, 867kb) hi-colour Poster #2 (A4 landscape, PDF, 961kb), Leg brief descriptions (A3, PDF, 961kb), or Route Map (A4, PDF, 658kb), on these links. Spread the word, and come to walk!
If you would like more information, see our FAQs here, or would like to speak in person to a representative of Northern Cross please go to our Contact page. If you are interested in walking with us next Easter and would like to sign up please go to our Registration page.
