It’s a blessing for the Mashes at a Microbrewery in Bishop Auckland, at the official opening of the Black Paw brewery by the Bishop of Durham.

In a short ceremony to open the Black Paw Brewery in Bishop Auckland, The Right Revd Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham gave a short address of welcome and comment on the fact that this was only the ninth Micro Brewery he had been to, the previous eight had all been on the same day many years ago on a trip to Basel in Switzerland whilst he worked in the Oil Industry.  

The Bishop was given a short tour of the Bishop Auckland brewery and shown how beer is made from the raw ingredients, through the mash tun, ageing and final barrel filling.

Bishop Justin said: “It's a delight to support local businesses in any way that I can; it particularly nice that this one is one my doorstep. In our current  troubling economic climate it really encouraging to see small businesses starting up and making a go of it. There is so much that small businesses can do to get our economy going both locally and nationally and I welcome this opportunity to support them.”

Brewery Owner Phil Whitfield started the business in mid 2011 when he decided that it was time to quit his then day job in the NHS to give his dream of being a micro-brewer a spin. He said:” I might have seemed like a risky move to start a small business in an economic downturn, but I just felt that I didn’t want to get to retirement age and look back and think what if? He added: “If this country is going to get out of this economic plight that it finds itself in, we will need more small businesses like this to lead the charge; as it is these businesses that form the backbone of our economy. “Bishop Auckland has a really strong local business ethic and I am pleased to be part of it.”

Local CAMRA committee member for mid-Durham Gerry Vickers said: “The Black Paw brewery makes very good, very consistent beer and it is good to see microbreweries being formed and this is an example of one done very well.

Two Bishops praised the Queen’s dedication to duty at Jubilee services held in the North East over the Jubilee weekend.
During his Sermon address at the ‘Service of Thanksgiving’ at Durham Cathedral, The Right Reverend Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, on Saturday June 2 said: “The essence of love is service and the reign of the Queen has been the essence of service. Service is what shows that love is a reality. We do not understand the love of another by their words alone, but by their actions. That is how the Israelites understood that God loved the people of Israel. He saved them, an act of love. And that is why the heart of good, even great, monarchy is now not seen in victory in war, and by leading armies, but in the service to the nation that lives out the profoundly religious nature of coronation.

“Let us be clear. The service of coronation was both deeply religious in form and in many ways a sort of ordination. In other words it was not mere symbol and flim flam with fun music and a good occasion to dress up, but something that claimed by its outward form an inner truth, that the Monarch is called and ordained by God. Hands are anointed with oil, a Bible is presented, the sword is from God for justice and so on. At each stage the monarch is also reminded that what they are is a reflection of who God is, and that their duty is to imitate Him.”

He added: “Whatever some people may say or think about monarchy as a principle, the Queen as a person has been the best possible example of what monarchy can and should be.”

At the the ‘Service of Thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’ at St Cuthbert’s, in Darlington, on Sunday June 3, the Right Reverend Mark Bryant, Bishop of Jarrow, will say: “Many of us believe that what the Queen’s Jubilee needs to be about above all else is a real sense of thanksgiving to God for 60 years of extraordinary public service. And it does not hurt to remind ourselves that The Queen does not need to do this. Even a rudimentary knowledge of English history will tell us that comparatively few monarchs have given themselves to be about and with their people in the way that our present Queen has done.

“And at a time when life is quite clearly getting more and more difficult for more and more people we perhaps need that sense of public service in our communities more than ever before.”

Bishop Mark adds: “So as we look ahead to difficult times, what might that idea of ‘public service’ look like? It seems to me that first of all public service is about putting ourselves out. Public service is about a willingness to put ourselves out for other people. Public service has a rare ability to raise people up, to give them a sense of value, a sense of new self-confidence. It gives people sense that in a world that often seems really quite chaotic, they do indeed matter, and they do indeed have meaning. Public service is going to be about putting ourselves out. It is about being there for the long haul, but we may indeed start to wonder if it is perhaps really worth it, if what it does is to raise people up to more than they can be.

“Her Majesty has done much throughout her reign to raise people up to help them realise that what they are doing is important and that they matter. Her countless walkabouts, her visits to schools, to projects great and small have often meant more than it may well be that she can imagine. She has given to the whole nation a remarkable example of public service.”

Both of the services were attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham, Sir Paul Nicholson along with other civic and public dignitaries.

The Rt Rev Justin Welby, Bishop of Durham, called for the Church to stand up for the world’s poor, when he addressed the Anglican Alliance for Development at Bishopthorpe, York, in a keynote speech called 'Good News for the Poor – at home and in the wider world' on Monday 30th April. 

Present at the Seminar hosted by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu was an audience made up of 52 people engaged in Diocesan and other forms of overseas development links and activity. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the work of the Anglican Alliance for Relief, Development, and Advocacy. 

In a week that seen the launch of the Apple iPHONE 4s and the hugely tragic death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs it would appear that their Brand has actually grown despite Steve's sad passing.

An article appeared from the Reuters news agency yesterday and it makes interesting reading:

Teesside recruitment company TechConsult UK has continued to expand by appointing its third new staff member in the past three months.