ACNUK NW Office Prayer Vigils for Religious Freedom

NW Manager and Archbishop Kaigama

I have devoted most of my time this week to confirming the details of the Prayer Vigils that I have planned for the coming months. I’m nearly there now—I just need to hang on for a couple of lucky priests who worked all summer and are now enjoying holidays in September while the rest of us are slogging away. Clever people—fewer crowds and cooler weather! This is all a bit frustrating, but I am nearly there so I shall keep smiling and I’ll get there in the end. All of the prayer vigils that have been finalised have been entered as events of the Aid to the Church in Need – North West Region Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/acnuk.northwest ), so feel free to have a look there, but remember to keep checking as more vigils and events will be posted shortly!

The big news this week is that Archbishop Kaigama of Jos will be visiting the NW in early November to help spread the news about the ACN Religious Freedom Report. The report will be launched formally in the House of Lords on Tuesday 4 November (I shall need to buy a new outfit for this…). The Archbishop will speak there and then head to Scotland for an event on Wednesday 5 November at the Gillis Centre in Edinburgh (6:30pm). Scottish Lorraine will put the Archbishop (presumably exhausted by this point!) on a train for Lancaster on Thursday morning. He will spend the next two days in the North West. I am just now firming up the details of an event in Manchester. Full details will be provided as soon as I have them (and you will be the first to know!); please try and come if you can—Archbishop Kaigama is a great man and a wonderful speaker. I met him in Malta in May and he spoke about his hard work in his native Nigeria and his firm belief that dialogue between various religious communities is the way forward.

I have had 1.5 days off this week (shocking, I know!), so this entry is short (and ‘sweet’ enough, I hope!), because I’ve got a lot to get through before I finish up my week’s work. Believe it or not, I have managed to complete (more or less) the tasks I set for myself in my entry for this past Monday—I am still waiting for the designer for Prayers from our Hearts to return from a week’s holiday and I have begun, but not completed, my plans for my appeal in Penrith. Otherwise, I am on target; I am feeling quite proud of myself actually. Next week I have a full working week planned, so I intend to rest up over the weekend!

One final thought/request for you: there is so much going on in the new NW Office that I am thinking about expanding my ‘staff.’ I am thinking of ‘interviewing’ a new puppy for the position; I am particularly interested in a border collie as this breed is well-known for its keen intelligence and, let’s face it, with Jassy, my head of security, regularly falling asleep on the job and Rosie, the would-be cleaner, lounging in her litter box, I could use an assistant with a bit of nous around here. The only problem is that the current favourite in the name sweepstakes is….Wanda. Now I have nothing against the name Wanda (I’m sure that there are lots of Wandas out there who are living happy and fulfilling lives), but I was hoping to convince everyone here to go for something rather more ACN-friendly, a saint’s name at the very least. Any suggestions? Please feel free to let me know!

Thanks for reading!  Caroline