Dear Friends
I do hope that you had a joyful time celebrating Easter, whether inside, outside or online this year! I visited the Prayer Stations at St.Paul’s on Good Friday and found this a very powerful experience, as I am sure others did both there and at St.Philip’s. I’m told St.James’ had a very good drive-in Easter service this year – far better than a drive in McDonalds for a message with a long lasting taste! At St.Mary’s, our worship was all indoors but it was great to welcome a good number of people, some new as well as old over the weekend. And perhaps you took part in one of the Churches Together Easter trails in various local parks as well, telling the Easter story in a child-friendly way using QR codes on your smartphone?
Easter is, of course a season, in the Church’s year which begins on Easter Day and lasts for 50 days until the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, as promised by Jesus to his disciples. In recent years we have marked the last 10 days of the season by taking part in Thy Kingdom Come, a global prayer movement, initiated five years ago by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, to invite Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. If you would like further details, please visit Thy Kingdom Come | Thy Kingdom Come. There’s a whole wealth of resources there including materials for children (using this year’s ‘The Cheeky Pandas’ series!) and an online prayer diary beautifully written by Stephen Cottrell (the Archbishop of York) which you can download to help you to pray for others.
To provide a focus for our prayers this year, our Team are promoting three particular days of prayer:
1. Ascension Day, Thursday 13 May – there will be a service of Holy Communion in St.Mary’s at 7.30 p.m. which is open to all. To register, please visit
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ascension-day-holy-communion-service-tickets-152571963851
However, if you do not feel comfortable/are not able to join us in person, then we will be streaming the service via Zoom. Email stmarysofficesankey@gmail.com for the link and get online by 7.25 p.m. and please ensure you are on mute!
2. Thursday 20 May – There will be another Prayer Walk across our benefice which we are opening up to other Christians through Churches Together in West Warrington. The day will start with prayer at Penketh Methodist Church at 10 am, then carry on to St.Mary’s for prayer at 11.30 a.m., followed by lunch and prayer at St.James at 1.00 p.m. before finally ending up at St.Philip’s for prayers at 3.00 p.m. Do join us for some or all of the day as you wish.
3. Pentecost, Sunday 23 May – The 10 days will draw to a close with an online Team Pentecost event at 7.30 p.m. with the opportunity for worship, prayer and encouragement of each other. To access the event contact sarahp@westwarringtonchurch.uk for the Zoom link
There will also be the opportunity for private prayer at St.Paul’s on both Thursdays 13th and 20th May from 10.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.. Just turn up and pray!
My hope and prayer is that these days will prove to be a powerful 10 days in the life of our Team churches, and the wider churches of West Warrington, as we ask God for others to come to know the abundant life we have experienced in Jesus Christ ourselves. And please don’t forget that the Spirit’s work of drawing people closer to Jesus is sometimes a lifetime’s work, so don’t forget to keep praying for your 5 people (if need be!) after Thy Kingdom Come is over this year.
With my prayers and best wishes
Jeremy Tear
Pioneer Team Rector
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