Prayer Matters

The prayer Matters group formed almost six years ago and our aim is to pray as a group and individually about God’s vision for St. Mary’s Church and then share thoughts with others to help develop these and deepen the prayer life of the church. This has included providing resources in church and the churchyard, engagement on social media and with community groups, and of course supporting the work of the PCC in prayer.

One of the first things we felt led to do was to continue the development of the North Chapel as a dedicated area that for prayer. Resources added at the time were the monthly Bible verse displayed on the chapel altar and the print of Holman Hunt’s ‘Light of the World’ painting in the arched nook. Other ideas that have developed since have been the large prayer banner by the North Door; the prayer tree which has been widely utilised by visitors and those who have been bereaved; Christian poems and reflections on the tables at the monthly coffee mornings for people to take away; a Prayer Chain set up for people requesting urgent prayer; free helpful cards on the North Chapel windowsill for people to take away; and finally slates dotted about the churchyard with Bible verses to encourage passers-by.

We welcome anyone who would like to be a part of this group. We generally meet monthly and if you would like to come and join us in praying for the life and community at St Mary’s please do speak to one of us; and/or come to our next meeting.

Chriss Hewitt, Marion Higley, Sheila Brown and Diane Goodwin