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AliveChurchProcessionWin
Norwich church comes alive to win Lord Mayor's prize 

An entry by Alive Church has been named as the best float in the Norwich Lord Mayor’s Procession, held on July 8.

Alive Church entered with a community theme of 'Beauty and the Beast', with Jono Thorne and Isabelle Rose in the title roles.
 
Pastor Johanna Thorne said: “As Alive Church, Norwich, we decided at the beginning of this year that we would accent all of our community activities with the theme of Beauty and The Beast.
 
“Strange for a church you may think, but the reason behind this was to firstly engage with the community and secondly to promote the importance of good health and self-image, in a society where looks, finance, fame are celebrated. Alive Church recognises the importance of celebrating the "Beauty within."
 
Jo said: "We are created as amazing individuals. Beauty is in the kind word, the smile, the time taken to listen or to walk with someone. In a society struggling with issues of poor identity and battling increasing rates of mental health concerns, the Church should be a beacon of hope, shouting loud about the wonderful creations that God had made us. David said in the psalms that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that his soul knew very well. We aim to help those around us ‘know very well’ what a wonderful creation they are. Beauty and the Beast is a culturally relevant conduit."
 
The float entry took several months to prepare and the church auditioned locally from the community to find the lead roles and also worked with the amazing Wensum Junior School where some of the children and families joined with Alive Church and learnt dances to accompany the float.
 
The float and costumes were designed and put together by the Alive team as well as hiring in a few extra set props. 
 
"We knew the float looked great and everyone had worked so hard to make it happen, but we weren't expecting to win anything," said pastor Phil Thorne.
 
"The real win is knowing that when people pull together they can not only have a brilliant time but can achieve something amazing."
 
Alive Church were presented their winning trophy at a ceremony at City Hall with The Lord Mayor and The Sheriff of Norwich, on July 19, where they celebrated with the other runners-up. 
 
Beauty and the Beast is to be performed as a full dramatic musical production over a few weeks leading up to Christmas. For more details and to order tickets, please email Norwich@alivechurch.org.uk
 
Pictured above are Jo, Jono and Isabelle from Alive Church Norwich collecting their trophy from the Lord Mayor and the Sheriff of Norwich.
 


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