Church activist looks outward for Christian Unity Week

Tony Thompson visited Santa Cruz Church in 2009

Images of Anglican, Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches from all over the world feature in an exhibition in Lichfield to celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Artist Tony Thompson created sketches during travels over five continents.

The sketches, reproduced onto cards, will be on display at Lichfield Cathedral from 15-25 January 2011.

The Christian Unity project aims to unite all Christian denominations eventually.

Tony Thompson is a head steward at the cathedral

Tony Thompson, who is also a city councillor and steward at the cathedral, said: "As a Christian I try to look outward from Lichfield, and it is my hope that Christian Churches will work together looking outward to help address the world's problems and not inwards to their internal divisions."

In 2010, with the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral, he went to Oberammergau in Germany to see the famous Passion Play there, and took the opportunity to sketch Seefeld Church in the Tyrol.

Other pen & ink sketches in the show feature Lichfield Cathedral (Anglican), St. Peter's Basilica in Rome (Roman Catholic), the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (multi-denominational) and the Santa Cruz Church - the only Catholic church on Easter Island, in the southeastern Pacific Ocean.

Churches featured in the cards are:

Congregational Church, Litchfield, CT
USA
Protestant

St Mary's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Anglican

Saints Martyrs Church, Marrakech
Morocco
RC

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
Palestine
Orthodox

St James the Lesser Church, Litchfield, Hants
UK
Anglican

St John the Divine Church, Haney, BC
Canada
Anglican

Trondheim Cathedral
Norway
Protestant

St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Vatican City
RC

Lichfield Cathedral
UK
Anglican

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Turkey
Orthodox (now a museum)

St Mary's Church, Berwick-upon-Tweed
UK
Anglican

Limburg Cathedral
Germany
RC

Hereford Cathedral
UK
Anglican

Rock of Cashel
Ireland
Anglican (now a ruin)

Santa Cruz Church, Easter Island
Chile
RC

St Oswald's Church, Seefeld/Tyrol
Austria
RC