Chaplains showcase Christian unity at Cornwall’s biggest show

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Sun Jun 08 2025 by Donna Birrell

Chaplains have been out in force at one of the biggest events in the south west this weekend.

The Royal Cornwall Show in Wadebridge attracts thousands of visitors every year and the chaplaincy team plays a vital role in providing pastoral support.

The team is co-ordinated by Churches Together in Cornwall (CTC) which also had a marquee providing spiritual sanctuary throughout the three-day event.

Rev Alison Shaw is the lead chaplain who also organised the annual pre-show service, which saw the new Bishop of Truro commission and bless the chaplains and volunteers.

Rev Alison told Premier: “It’s always a really wonderful event and very life-affirming. We had a real mixture of people taking part and for the first time, we had a Roman Catholic seminarian from Bodmin leading our prayers. The Archdeacon of Bodmin read the Scripture, and Rev Dr Dan Haylett from Methodist Church preached.”

16 chaplains have been on duty, with one on duty every hour inside the Churches Together tent, which has the ‘number one’ position in the showground just inside the main entrance gates.

Rev Alison said each hour starts with prayers “and then we’re there just to sit and talk to people. There are chaplains walking the show ground for the entire three days as well. We all are out there talking to stall holders, talking to customers, talking to the people who just come. The conversations that we have start off with, ‘oh, you’re a chaplain. What does that mean?’ And we talk about what we do, and they often talk to us about what’s bothering them, especially in our farming industry, with so many struggles. So we want to better celebrate, but we want to better listen as well.”

The new Bishop of Truro Rt Rev David Williams who was making his first visit to the show, told Premier he was encouraged by the ecumenical nature of the mission:

“I’ve sat here in the Sanctuary for the last two hours, and it’s amazing, endless conversations, but actually a real place. It’s very clever to have it right next to the gate, and it’s a remarkable example of ecumenical working. I’ve spoken to Methodists, to Catholics and to a few Anglicans as well. It’s brilliant.”

Kathy Pope who is coordinator of CTC told Premier that having a moment of quiet prayer is important during such a busy, hectic event “so everybody is held in that space. We couldn’t do that unless we did it together, so we are volunteers and chaplains from all denominations and backgrounds, and we are much better together.”

Shelley Porter, CTC’s Treasurer and organiser of the Sanctuary tent agreed:

“The atmosphere when you come in is a real atmosphere of joy of being together. It’s really good that we’ve got multiple denominations here, and that’s my passion. We’re all Christian, and it doesn’t matter what variety of Christian, we should all have the same outlook on life. We should all be promoting Jesus as saviour. We should be all doing good where we can.

“I know that we also have people who pray at home because they can’t be here. This is the church in our community, and this is a big event in the whole of the calendar for Cornwall.”

Listen to Premier Radio package of interviews by Donna Birrell

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