THE bishops and clergy of Greater Manchester will again be demonstrating the Christian vocation to serve others by offering to shine the shoes of passers-by on Maundy Thursday, 1 April. The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, and the Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Revd Chris Edmondson (below), both did so last year, and found it a valuable thing to do.

Bishop Edmondson says the response was very encouraging. “Some people were intrigued, and it gave us a chance to have a great conversation with them; so they knew where we were coming from. One customer told me about losing his job as an architect. Another customer, a Muslim, kept saying to me: ‘You are so kind.’”