The Prayer Room at St Mary's Melton
WE DID IT AGAIN!!
For a whole week in Advent we ran another 24-7 prayer room at Asfordby Church. It proved to be a great way to begin our advent period leading up to the Christmas celebrations. So many people commented on the peace and tranquillity, putting the busyness of the season very much into context. New people took the night slots and are keen to have another go. so maybe next Lent....?
THE ADVENT CHALLENGE 2011
Remember last Lent? Well, we are doing it again, starting on 27th November, Advent Sunday. Asfordby Church is hosting the second ever Mission Partnershiop 24-7 Prayer Room, concluding with a service at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th December, when Bishop Tim Stevens will be our guest preacher. Do come along and join in! Book your slot by phoning Rev sue on 01664 813184, or by emailing her on spaterson@leicester.anglican.org . Alternatively, pop in to the Melton Mowbray parish office (or phone them on 01664 503530) between 9.00am - 12 noon to make your booking.
24-7 Prayer Rooms
We did it!! Four weeks of unbroken prayer across Framland Deanery, with over 150 people taking part and 4 venues. What seemed initially like an impossible dream turned into a stunning reality, beginning with the launch service at St Mary's, Melton Mowbray and ending back there with a party after the concluding service. We are hugely indebted to Richard King for his organisational skills, to Alison Kitching for her hard work keeping the bookings register, to Bishop Christopher for his unflagging support - and of course to all the participants who came to explore and pray in our prayer rooms. Altogether we kept the prayer chain going for 271 hours, losing only one hour when the clocks changed! The 24-7 prayer journal will soon be available to view online, so watch this space!
The next step is to see if we can persuade every benefice in the deanery to set up a prayer room and use it regularly for prayer: so start thinking - which of YOUR churches would you want to use? Or maybe it would be a chapel...or a room in a totally diffferent building....One thing we have learned through the 24-7 is that a whole variety of places can be transformed so that the atmosphere is palpable. It's not the place, or even the people, but the prayer that is the transformative material. The prayer room has returned to Asfordby Church now, so go and have a look. If the church is locked, simply pick up the key from the Post Office and venture in. (You will be asked to sign for the key and provide some sort of contact details.) But mostly, the church is manned in the afternoons, so just turn up, hoof the church welcomer out of the prayer room in the chancel, and move in yourself for an hour of peace and tranquillity. Or if not an hour, for as long as you feel you need. But be warned - most people who try out the prayer room for an hour emerge saying that they have not had nearly long enough in there!
We learned something else of importance during the four weeks: that prayer makes a huge difference. It gets results. It changes people's attitudes and therefore changes what happens around them. It matters to be part of something bigger, to be a link in a chain and to make a commitment to sacrifice time (and sometimes sleep!) to be still with God. It offers a whole new way forward for our deanery, giving us the hope of growth both numerically and spiritually. Thanks be to God!!
Rev Sue Paterson
24-7 Prayer Journal
Thank you for the opportunity to take part in the 24-7 prayer vigil. I found the experience quite moving and would take part again if the opportunity arose. The prayer room was well supplied....Bless you for organising this.
What a profound experience. Sitting quietly, in the silence, the stillness, the solitude, and knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit. Praying, waiting on the Lord. Being here early morning, seeing this holy space fill with light, listening to teh bird song outside, aware of the creation of the Father. I will miss this time, but my own quiet time each morning will be enriched from this experience.
A very well resourced prayer room. Thank you for those who set it all up and were inspried to do it. A wonderful gift. Please do repeat this again. A blessing and a joy and lots to take forward into my own prayer life at home.
It has been humbling to be part of this 24-7 and have loved the peace it has given. Thank you.
To have the 24-7 Prayer Room IN church suddenly makes sense of the term "A House of Prayer", a little perhaps of tge experience of Anna, living in the Temple& a physical expression of Psalm 84: "How I love your Temple, Lord Almighty! How I want to be there!"
What a wonderful experience to spend time in God's 1:1 company and surrounded by such a "cloud of witnesses". I too loved being enclosed by God's rainbow and so in constant awareness of his promise to us.
- so many thanks for this opportunity to be part of 24/7. If only all the world could find such peace. The "Rainbow" gauze curtains lead each one of us to pray remembering God's promise to so many and all who have found life-changing experiences in this place.
So inviting. If churches were prayer rooms people wouldn't be afraid to come in - and they wouldn't want to leave....
The atmosphere you created here, the candles, music, books and the myriad ways of expressing ourselves. I have prayed and written with God holding the pen and will benefit from this time enormously, you have given us who have come here what we need, private prayer and contemplation time in our fast and busy live, thank you.
A wonderful experience to take part in. Can we have one in every church where you truly feel to be in the LORD's presence. Maybe not so full in the smaller areas, here is beautiful. Thank you.
I came for an hour a couple of days ago and found the experience so amazing I came back! The prayer room is so beautifully peaceful and an hour is not enough. So much to read and look at, so much to open my eyes to and a wonderful chance to be quiet with God. If all churches had a room like this we would be very lucky and it would spread the love so easily. I would love to do this again.
More tealights would be lovely! God bless all who come here to pray.
Birdsong begins at 5.45am. Oh wonder!
I have returned for a longer session - After a busy day I now feel like I have found the stable center of the seesaw of life~
But it's not me...
I have enjoyed this time in the prayer room. A closer time to God and Jesus. We live such busy life's sow e need to pray to jesus our God. Bless you all. I would like to this experience again perhaps at a different time....
A very moving experience. The quietness so beneficial in our busy lives....
God took my hand and moved it. I was directed to a book which had the very words I had asked of him before I came. He then took me to the picture and raised my hand, with my eyes closed I felt a cold draft. When I opened my eyes my hand was on his.
What a wonderful time we have had, so close to God, such peace, what a wonderful room, so much thought. (Rotherby House Group).
Praise you LORD Jesus, who went out to quiet placces to pray. Thank-you Lord for this space of prayer to know of your presence. Thank you Lord for gifts you have given us, to hsare in this 24/7 prayer time. We praise your holy name.
Thank you for still times in such a hectic life. An hour of contemplation is so precious & rewarding. I reluctantly signed for one hour & came back for another with happy anticipation!
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of the quiet, dark and empty nights, with the beautiful moon....and the dawn and birdsong that I just wiouldn't have seen or heard otherwise....
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ARCHIVE NEWS
The Framland Lent Challenge!
This Lent will be different in Framland Mission Partnership! We are embarking on a series of 24-7 Prayer Rooms stretching over 4 weeks at a variety of venues across the deanery. Week 1 will begin on 20th March at 6.00pm at St Mary's Church, with a launch service led by Bishop Christopher, and the Prayer Room will be available in the south transept all week. On Sunday 27th the Prayer Room will move to the chancel of All Saints' Asfordby parish church and continue there for the week. The next Sunday, 3rd April, sees us move to Great Dalby Methodist Chapel, while the last week beginning 10th April will see us in the basement room of Sage Cross Methodist Church. Bishop Christopher will rejoin us for a concluding service back at St. Mary's Church on Palm Sunday at 6.00pm.
What is a 24-7 Prayer Room?
24-7 Prayer Rooms hark back to ancient monastic traditions of Christian spirituality. You can find an account of the spread of the movement in the book Red Moon Rising by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts, but basically the idea is that prayer is offered continually for a whole week, with people signing up to pray for an hour at a time. It tends to be an eye-opener for those whose only experience of prayer is either a series of token requests for God to do something, or else a reeling off of well-known but never examined texts. Prayer is simply a time set aside for tuning in to God's presence. It does not require speech necessarily, nor does it have to involve asking (intercession). Anyone can pray. Yet few do.....
A 24-7 prayer room will contain any amount of stimuli for prayer to happen. You might choose to sit and listen to some meditative music, or to read a devotional book. On the other hand, you might want to offer something to God in art, craft, writing, or any other media. The resources will be there. 24-7 prayer rooms end up with peoples' offerings pinned up round the walls: they are outpourings of thoughts rather than great works of art. For the hour that you have signed up for the prayer room, the space is yours to do whatever you like in. It is an oasis of peace and tranquillity, a treasure trove of ideas, artefacts, things to ponder and wonder at. It can generate a profound experience of God's presence. And it is coming to Framland! Watch this space during the time between 20th March and 17th April to see pictures and writing about the whole project.
How can I take part?
It's simple. A centralised booking form is being operated from the parish office of St. Mary's church, Melton Mowbray, above the Samworth Centre in Burton Street. The office is open from 9.30-12.30 every morning, Monday - Friday, and you just ask the Parish Administrator to put down your name by a time of your choice. You can do this for any week of the project, no matter which venue you are planning to visit. Alternatively, phone the office on 01664 562267. Out of hours you can leave an answerphone message with your phone number, and someone will ring you back to confirm that the time you have picked is available.
Will it be safe at night?
Safety is a key priority, and you will be able to lock yourself in for the hour you have chosen. All we ask is that you let the next person in punctually. There will be a mobile phone in the prayer room in case of emergencies.
Can more than one person book the room for the same time?
If you prefer to have company, then of course this is acceptable, especially at night. But beware of the temptation to spend the time chatting instead of in prayer!
Is this just for Anglicans? Or can anybody sign up?
This is most definitely for absolutely anybody who wants to join in. Prayer is what unites us as Christians, and this is an unmissable opportunity to be part of something amazing. NB Children are as welcome as anyone else, BUT a child cannot make the booking, nor can a child be left unsupervised in the 24-7 prayer room. Any children must have parental consent given in writing and be accompanied by a parent throughout. Enjoy!
South Framland Prayer Room at Wymondham