Monday 20th May 2024

Thanks to all who came out to celebrate Pentecost and the end of Christian Aid week with us yesterday. It was wonderful to welcome Kathy Childress to our services and hear all about how the money we have raised is used.  Massive thanks to Sue Charlton and her team as always for putting on so many great events for Christian Aid week.
I was also seriously impressed with the number of languages we were able to say 'Jesus is Lord' in as we celebrated Pentecost. If you want to catch up, you can do so here. 

Also, yesterday we held our Annual Church Meeting where we worshipped together and elected a range of people to serve in Leadership.  We heard stories of what God has been doing in this place, as well as hopes for the future in this ‘vacancy’ period and discussed ways we can stay united.  Details of the new Church Council and elected officers are attached.

An important date for your diary is 12-14 July when we will be hosting a 24/7 Prayer Room at St. Stephen's. There are several reasons we think this season is the perfect time for a prayer event like this. Firstly, as part of this transition time between vicars, it is really important we pray and seek the Lord for this next season. Secondly, this kind of prayer event is really unifying for us as a community as we all get involved in praying and thirdly, it really builds faith and deepens our personal relationship with God as we take time out from our busy lives and intentionally set aside time to spend with him. I have been involved with a few 24/7 Prayer Rooms over the years and I love the sense of God's presence that builds in the space as people continue to pray there. The shifts in the middle of the night are particularly amazing, there is something similar to fasting I think when you intentionally give up sleep to pray, and God graciously meets you as you sit up with him in the watches of the night.

24/7 Prayer rooms are filled with creative and diverse things to help you engage with prayer whatever your tradition or personality, so rest assured there should be something in there you find helpful to pray. There will be opportunity to sign up for individual slots as well as some corporate times of prayer. Stay tuned for updates on how to get involved in the coming weeks. 

God bless and have a great week! 

Ruth