St Cedd + Lastingham with Archbishop Stephen Cotrell

Lucy, Amy and Caroline went to the beautiful village of Lastingham on Sunday 26th October for Evensong, followed by a delicious afternoon tea and then listened to The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, deliver this year’s Lastingham Lecture on the life and legacy of St Cedd and how his example can teach the Church today about discipleship and mission. 


Speaking in the church at Lastingham, where St Cedd founded a monastery and is buried, the Archbishop reflected on Cedd’s ministry across Lindisfarne, Bradwell-on-Sea, Lastingham and Whitby. He used Cedd’s example to show how the early English Church grew through communities that grounded people in their Christian faith and inspired them to share it with others. "The monastery at Lindisfarne was not a place of retreat from the world, but a place of formation and sending,” said Archbishop Stephen. “Cedd learned there how to live the Christian life and how to share it with others — and that same calling belongs to every Christian today.” 

The Archbishop connected Cedd’s story with the challenges and opportunities facing the Church of England today.  He spoke about the need for every church to be a school of discipleship, encouraging a renewed focus on formation, storytelling  and pilgrimage as ways of sharing the Christian faith.  Archbishop Stephen contributed three reflections exploring Cedd’s example to a series exploring English saints and places of pilgrimage expected to appear in the Church of England’s Everyday Faith app and print next year. One way this vision is being carried forward is through Faith in the North, a movement emerging from conversations across the Northern Province of the Church of England. Faith in the North seeks to encourage and support discipleship and prayer, to help Christians share their stories of faith and help enable growth in church planting and revitalisation, hoping to see 3,000 New Worshipping Communities across the North. Faith in the North is offering free resources for individuals, churches and schools to help them explore the Lord’s Prayer, pilgrimage, heritage and baptism over the next three years.

“Cedd reminds us that to bring people to Jesus is to bring them into community,” he said. “The Church is the body of Christ — a place where we learn to live, serve, and love together for the sake of the world.” Archbishop Stephen commended St Cedd’s example of faith, humility and mission: “In every age, the Church is called to live the same story — to know and follow Jesus, to form communities of love and service, and to be sent out in his name.”              

​*Extract from the Archbishop of York's' social media. 
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