Norwich Cathedral is looking to recruit new volunteer Pilgrim Pastors to join the Cathedral’s visitor engagement team and act as chaplains to visitors.
The Cathedral welcomes over 600,000 people through its doors each year and many reasons draw visitors to the Cathedral.
For some it is the sense of being in sacred space, a thin place between earth and heaven. Others are drawn by its calming atmosphere and its peace and quiet. Still others want to explore its history and heritage, and for others it is just a sense of curiosity. Some come in a spirit of thanksgiving and others because they are feeling burdened or sad.
The Cathedral’s Pilgrim Pastors are a vital part of the visitor engagement team.
They wander the site speaking to visitors, volunteers and staff. A quiet, approachable yet unobtrusive presence, ready with a smile and willing to offer a listening ear. Sometimes it can just be a friendly welcoming chat, other times visitors deliberately seek out the chaplain to share a burden, to request help or ask for prayer. The important thing is being there so that when the need arises, we can be there to support our visitors.
Each hour, on the hour, the Pilgrim Pastor calls visitors to be still and offers a prayer, a reminder that Norwich Cathedral is first and foremost a house of prayer.
The Cathedral is inviting interest from anyone, ordained or lay, in an authorised ministry or a significant role in any Christian denomination.
The commitment is to a minimum of six half days per year (more is very welcome!) to fit around your availability.
Training and ongoing support is given.
To find out more and express an interest in becoming a Pilgrim Pastor, please email the Revd Canon Andy Bryant, Norwich Cathedral’s Canon for Mission and Pastoral Care at canon.missionandpastoral@cathedral.org.uk