OPINION: Ripon's St Wilfrid’s efforts are still bearing fruit 13 centuries later

The month got off to a very good start in Ripon. How could it have been any different when Yorkshire Day combined with the annual St. Wilfrid’s Procession?

The city was in festive mode as those of us joining in progressed around the streets and roads for two-and-a-half hours. Thousands cheered the Ripon City Band, it set a great atmosphere and pace as it led us along.

The enthusiastic cheers were sustained for St. Wilfrid riding on a magnificent white horse, and the cathedral and mayoral parties, then for the Morris dancers and the whole steam of lively, entertaining floats.

Ripon Farm Services and the Ripon Swimming Club were just two of the many organisations involved. Ri(p)o(n) de Janeiro and Egypt were just two of the countries to which the floats transported us.

The St. Wilfrid Procession was revived a few decades ago but probably goes back through the mists of time to some glorious, vibrant medieval feast. In the third decade of the twenty-first century, it remains an extremely popular celebration of much that is good and life-giving in this ancient cathedral city.

It is also very definitely an effective reminder of Wilfrid - the courageous and determined seventh century missionary bishop who built a most spectacular basilica on the site of the present cathedral. The crypt of that basilica remains part of our cathedral today – giving the cathedral and its city a national and even international significance.

It was a glorious site to see the occupants of the many and varied floats converge on the cathedral for the very lively final service and the presentation of the trophies and prizes to those who had entertained and delighted crowds across the city for the afternoon. It seemed perfectly natural and appropriate for them to join in the singing of hymns and saying of the prayers, showing the strength of connection between the life and teaching of the Church and the wider community it serves.

While taking a short break recently in Dorset, I took time to read a very interesting book by the journalist Lamorna Ash. Following the pandemic, she decided to write a piece on the way in which some young people were turning to the Church for purpose, meaning, support and guidance for their lives.

The project snowballed, she spent a year exploring how young people were searching by engaging with very different expressions of the Church, from conservative evangelical bible classes to more liberal, inclusive churches and monastic communities.

In the end, Lamorna found that this was more than just a journalistic exercise by someone who didn’t regard herself as a Christian. She realised that in exploring how other people were seeking to learn more about the gospel and the Church’s ministry and mission, about how Jesus Christ still transforms lives and the world for the better, she was beginning to take faith to heart personally.

Following Ripon’s St. Wilfrid celebrations, we are bound to reflect on the fact that there would have been no Ripon Cathedral if Bishop Wilfrid had not shown so much determination to share the gospel, build up the Church and equip it to serve the world.

Thirteen-and-a-half centuries on, it is encouraging that his efforts are still bearing fruit. It is even more encouraging that Lamorna Ash has found clear evidence that young people are finding in Christianity a path to greater meaning and fulness of life. In a way, they too are following in the footsteps of St. Wilfrid.