Bishop rolls up sleeves for Holy Week car wash event in Market Rasen

The event was organised by Claire Walker, the curate of Market Rasen’s St Thomas’s Church as part of a programme of events called ‘Sharing our Story’. This project aims to help churches communicate something of their faith and way of life to the wider community in which they live - and the car wash certainly got people talking.

Claire said: “In Biblical times, people’s feet were their transport, nowadays it is cars, so this fitted in well with Holy Week.

“People walking through the market place have been asking what we are up to. It has opened up conversation, which was the aim, for people to get to know us.”

The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev Christopher Lowson, went along to give his support too and was quick to roll up his sleeves and don his purple wellies.

He said: “It is traditional for the Bishop to wash people’s feet on Maundy Thursday - this is something more contemporary, but still a sense of service.”

The car wash was a free service being offered, but it seems this is something people found difficult to accept.

Claire said: “Some people insisted on giving us money for doing their car. It is difficult to get people to take something for nothing, but that was what we were doing - giving our service.”