BBC to broadcast live from Shrine of St Augustine, Ramsgate

Base of St Augustine altar

BBC Radio 4 will broadcast live from the Shrine of St Augustine, Ramsgate, this weekend. The weekly programme Sunday Worship, with 1.5 million listeners, is coming to Ramsgate for the second week of Lent 2016. The broadcast will be at 8.10am, on Sunday 21st February 2016, on BBC Radio 4.

The service will be a 'meditation' with reflections from Robert Pugin Purcell, the great great grandson of Augustus Pugin (the architect who built the church as his personal church, and is most famous for designing much of the Houses of Parliament), as well as readings from the Bible and Bede's narrative of St Augustine's mission. Sister Mary Stephen of Minster Abbey will read a poem she has written for the occasion. There will be congregational singing, and music performed by The Victoria Consort under the direction of Thomas Neal.

The broadcast has the theme of 'Pilgrimage: Taking and Leaving'. This fits in well with St Augustine's growing association with pilgrimage.

In 2014-15 it launched the "Way of St Augustine" - a walking trail between Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustine's in Ramsgate. This follows the route
St Augustine took when he travelled to Canterbury from Thanet in 597AD. The route was launched in collaboration with Canterbury Cathedral, the Green
Pilgrimage Network, and Explore Kent. More information is available here: http://explorekent.org/activities/the-way-of-st-augustine

A new DVD is co-presented by St Augustine's Rector, Fr Marcus Holden, called To Be A Pilgrim. This was launched in October 2015. It documents the fascinating sites and histories of the ancient Pilgrims' Way from Southwark to Canterbury. The route was made famous by Geoffrey Chaucer in his The Canterbury Tales. The DVD was produced by St Anthony Communications and is available here: www.saintant.com/item.php?itemno=208

Members of the public are invited to join the congregation for the live national broadcast. Those wishing to attend should arrive at 7.45am. The church is located on the seaward side of St Augustine's Road, Ramsgate, and the postcode is CT11 9PA.