You shall call his Name Jesus

Later on Christmas Day, at 10.00 a.m. there was another Communion service, when children brought the gifts that they had received to tell us about. In his sermon, Steve showed us a gold heart. And said that Jesus was the gift of God the Father to us at Christmas. A gift that showed that he loved us. He encouraged us to value that gift – and to make it our own.
May we all know the presence of Jesus in our lives in the coming year.

Glory to the Newborn King

The great day has come. It started with the First Communion of Christmas, starting at 11.30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. The Communion reminded us that the baby who was born in Bethlehem 2000 years ago, was the same Jesus who died a criminal’s death on the cross in Jerusalem thirty years later – died to forgive our sin and to open the way for us to return to God.

Crib and Christingle Servicve

On Sunday afternoon, 24 December, St Pauls was nearly full for its annual crib and Christingle service. Many of the visitors were children (and grandchildren) of former members of St Paul’s, who had now moved away.

The service was very family friendly, led by Lou, our youth worker, using video clips, some of which had been prepared by our own young people, to explain the Christmas story. We also sang traditional Christmas carols.

The next of our services – the midnight Communion – will be the first of the services properly “of Christmas.” Do join us.

See Amid the Winter Snow

Well not quite, because the snow had melted by then. But mid-morning on Friday 22^nd December, a number of people from St Paul’s (and led by the rector) joined other members of Oadby churches to sing carols in the Parade. All were in good voice as we sign right through the carol book. It was good to be able to remind everyone passing by of the real meaning of Christmas.

Carols by Candle-Light

Choir in Rehearsal

Nearly 100 people met in a darkened St Pauls on Sunday evening 17 December 2017 for a celebration of “Carols by Candlelight.” Apart from individual candles around the wall, every member of the congregation had a candle, that was lit at the beginning of the service. There was a mixture of readings from the Bible which either predicted the coming of Christ or recounted the events of the first Christmas Day; poems and reflections on the event; an opportunity for the congregation to sing the traditional carols and pieces for a specially assembled choir that also told of Christ’s coming. It was a wonderful time to reflect on all the implications of Christ becoming man for us.

After the service, we all enjoyed each other’s company, with and mulled wine and mince pies.
 

Christmas day is fast approaching.

Carols at Sainsbury's

At 11.0 a.m. on a chilly Saturday 16 December, fifteen members of the congregation of St Pauls, together with the rector, Steve Bailey, met in the trolley park in the front of Sainsbury’s. It was our opportunity to share the joy of Christmas and the love of Christ, with passing shoppers. Not only to did we sing many of the much loved Christmas carols, but offered chocolates to all who were not diet conscious! It was our chance to do something for the community, so we were not there to collect money. Anyone who insisted on giving a donation was pointed to the in-store charity collection.

We also gave invitations to the St Paul’s Carols by Candlelight, happening next day, and to the rest of the Christmas programme.

Gifts with Love

Our next Christmas activity has been our gift service, today, when the congregation was encouraged to give gifts to people whose Christmas might otherwise be rather spartan. After contact with local women’s refuges and mother and baby hostels he got a list of children likely to be there at Christmas and the congregation took away gift tags with the child’s sex and age. They then went away and bought a present for a child of that description. The gifts were brought up during our service this morning and placed under the church Christmas tree. These gifts will be delivered to their homes in the next few days.

There was also an opportunity for those who had not taken tags to give appropriate gifts for the refugees in contact with the Welcome Project run at Leicester Cathedral.

At a time when we remember Jesus coming as the greatest gift of all it’s important to show his love bygiving to those who have much less than we do.

Coffee Pot Carols

Although Christmas Day is still two weeks away, we seem well into the Christmas season at St Paul’s. On 5 December, the Parkinson Society Choir who use old buildings regularly, held a session of carols, led by the former member, Revd Richard Curtis, who has now moved to Wiltshire, but came back from vacation. They had invited our congregation to help swell the noise! It was a good time.

Two days later Coffee Pot are regular Thursday group held their Coffee Pot Carol service. It was led by our curate Gillian Gamble, with readings, a talk – in which the Christmas story was told using some hideous puns on the names of popular snacks (but it made it memorable) – and of course lots of carols. The service was held grouped round tables and afterwards there was tea and coffee and mince pies.

Lots more events are planned. Do come and join us.

Welcome Rector (Designate)!

Since Michael Rusk left as Rector of St Peter’s to serve in Geneva, the Parish of Oadby has been without a Rector.

Last night (28 November), the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, licensed Steve Bailey, currently the Vicar of St Paul’s, Oadby to be Rector designate of the whole parish. He is only licensed as “designate” because the parish borders are undergoing reorganisation. The “designate” ceases when the scheme is completed.

At the same service, Liz Wilson, who has been the Curate of St Denys' Evington, to be the Team Vicar (designate) of St Peter’s. Liz will be sharing in the Ministry of the team and we look forward to seeing her at St Paul’s.

The licensing took place in a joyous service, with a packed church, filled not only with members of St Peter’s and St Paul’s congregations, but also people from previous parishes of both clergy, representatives of the community and of neighbouring parishes and family. The service contained both the necessary legal promises, but also devotion and praise to God. The exuberant music – both traditional and modern – nearly raised the roof as we praised God for this occasion.

In his sermon, Bishop Martyn pointed both clergy to the way that Jesus preached, starting from small beginnings (the mustard seed) but always pointing to faith in Christ – the Pearl of Great Price.

After the service everyone was invited to a magnificent buffet in the St Peter’s Centre.

We offer Steve and Liz our prayers and support as they start this new stage of their ministries.

Christmas Fayre

Unbelievable as it is, Christmas is only five weeks away. Last Saturday St Paul's held its annual Christmas Fayre, with lots of offerings of and crafts, gifts to be given at Christmas, refreshments in the neighbouring Barnabas Centre and a visit by Santa. We were able to raise to be shared between the Children's Hospital and the Air Ambulance. Thank you to all those whose hard work made the event such a success.

Archbishop Welby – Welcome to Leicester!

The visit by Archbishop Justin Welby to Leicester called “The Big Conversation” has been well-publicised in the media. It is good to be part of a church which has an Archbishop who is so willing to speak of his faith – whether that be on the “Hospital Hopper” or in conversation with students.

One of the events in the programme was “In Jesus Name” on the Tuesday night at the Leicester Arena (where Leicester Riders basketball team play). Christians of all denominations were invited to come. There were about 2500 present.  Those who didn’t come missed a treat. There was modern worship, a talk by the Archbishop, several sessions of prayer led by church leaders of different congregations and nominations, and an Act of Commitment to Mission, made by those present.

If you didn’t manage to come, there are several videos available:

See the highlights of the Archbishop’s visit.

See how people of Leicester reacted in the Archbishop’s visit
See the Archbishop speak on suffering.
See some of the events of day 1
See some of the events of day 2, the rural church
See some of the events of day 3,
we pray that many who heard the Archbishop may be drawn to get to know Jesus Christ better.

Bishop's Lay Congress

St Paul’s is a member of the Church of England Diocese of Leicester. One of the valuable things about being part of a larger group is that is able to do things that we could not do not do on our own. One of these is “the Bishop’s Lay Congress” which has taken place in the autumn term for a decade.
This year, it was held at the Cathedral itself on Saturday 4 November. There were two principal speakers. In the morning Rodney Green, a former Chief Executive of Leicester City Council gave a challenging talk in which he showed, not only a decline in church numbers, but also a decreasing acceptance of Christian principles, such as the Ten Commandments – many did not consider covetousness or adultery wrong, and even murder was not absolute.
Because it was Armistice Day, 11 November, proceedings stopped after the first talk, as outsiders joined us in the cathedral and we held an act of remembrance, with a two-minute silence.
In the afternoon, the speaker was Bishop Martyn himself. And then there was a time of questions and answers.
All the speakers were very challenging and interesting. These three quotes give a taste of the talks:
Revd Rosie Woodall:: “We are Easter people and alleluia is our song.”
Bishop Martyn said: “The greatest challenge we have is to share the gift that is Jesus Christ.”
Rodney Green: “If you’re a Christian you cannot be optimistic but must be hopeful.”It was a good day – and so was the lunch!
This event happens every year and is open to all non-ordained members of the parishes in Leicester Diocese. It is well worth coming along. Look out for the next one!

The Most Valuable Thing that this World Affords

Traditionally, the last Sunday before All Saints Day is celebrated as Bible Sunday. This year, this is particularly appropriate, as it is just 500 years ago that Martin Luther rediscovered the Bible’s teaching that we can approach God only through faith in Christ.

This is why, during the Queen’s coronation, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland presented the Queen with a Bible, while the Archbishop said: “We present you with this Book, the Most Valuable Thing That This World Affords.”

This month, our charity is the Bible Society, which seeks to make the Bible available to all. In the past this has been through the printed book, but now they also use literature and recordings to make the message of the Bible better known.

Many of us and multiple versions of the Bible. We are so fortunate as in many countries it is a criminal offence to own a Bible. In others, there are still many people for whom the is not yet available in their mother tongue.

We are pleased to help the Bible Society make the word of God more widely available.

African Experience

Lou McGoldrick, our youth worker, recently joined other diocesan workers in  visiting Mount Kilimanjaro diocese, Tanzania. It is one of several dioceses with which Leicester has links.

Last Sunday, in the place of the sermon, Lou showed us photos of her visit there, and talked about her experience of the churches in Mount Kilimanjaro. Two aspects particularly struck her. One was  a couple who had left relative luxury to work in a very poor area, teaching life skills and teaching the children. Ultimately they were able to found a church.

She was also impressed with the work among the Maasai, a group who up until recently had had little contact with Christian belief. She and the group visited different new churches.

The visit had given the opportunity to talk with those who led young people in the church there. As they discussed social issues that affect the church, they found that their understandings were frequently different. Who was right?

It was certainly a different and challenging sermon for those of us who live in a relative lap  of luxury.

A New Face in the Pulpit!

In recent months Karen Johnson and her husband have started worshipping regularly at St Paul’s. Karen has already been licensed as a Reader when she was in her previous parish. We are hoping that Karen will be able to continue her ministry in St Paul’s, and Sunday 22 October was her first sermon, here. However, before preaching she was interviewed by Colin Chettle and she told us of her life (she is a teacher) and her development in faith.

She also talked to the children before they went out to Supertroopers (the Sunday school). She dressed up one of the young people with multiple baggages and used other people to make a gateway (the eye of the needle). She showed how all these encumbrances (“things”) could stop one passing through. This was also true as one approached Christ – things will get in the way   

At the end of the month we reach the 500^th anniversary of Martin Luther proclaiming his ninety-five theses. Karen spoke to us from the book of Romans highlighting his teaching, on the way that salvation is a gift of God, that we cannot earn – but just have to be willing to accept by faith.

We look forward to Karen continuing her ministry among us.

The African International Christian Ministry

The African International Christian Ministry is a government recognised Ugandan NGO, working in the south-west of the country. The Friends of African International Christian Ministry is a UK charity which supports their work financially. It has been one of the charities that St Paul’s supports, and now St Peter’s Oadby is supporting it as well.

The inaccessible forests of south-west Uganda have some of its poorer citizens. In particular, there is a very high percentage of the pygmy people, known as Batwa. The Batwa are a despised group and are often excluded from society.  AICM provides support, training, schools (where there are none), feeding of schoolchildren (who are often undernourished) and Christian ministry.

A link here links to an article by the Archbishop of York which gives the background of the work in greater detail.

 

Last Sunday (15 October) we were joined by the congregation of St Peter’s. We were visited by Colin and Sue Townsend who are AICM supporters. Colin had just returned from a visit to the AICM work in Uganda and was still jetlagged. Sue explained the situation in the area and showed photos and videos of the work. For those of us used to the facilities we have in England, it was quite an enlightenment. But the scenery was magnificent!

There is more about the work with Batwa here.

We look forward to continuing to support this work and deepening the links with it.

 

Principal Services — October - December

Dear Friends,

The busy autumn term moves through the themes of Celebration and Remembering. We have just celebrated Harvest and now we celebrate the Baptism of Samuel & Joel. We think of all the good things God has given us and how we can respond to His generosity as we give our harvest gifts, fill shoeboxes, review our financial giving and give gifts to those in need this Christmastime.
Towards the end of October we will be marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Lou will be remembering her trip to Tanzania and sharing with us some of her reflections. We then come to Remembrance Sunday and we pause to remember those who gave their life. As Christmas approaches we come again to the familiar story of Christ's birth and remember that He is Emmanuel — God with us and we celebrate this amazing truth.

Yours In Christ,

Steve Bailey.
Link to services

http://stpaulsoadby.blogspot.co.uk/p/current-sunday-programme.html

Youth Weekend Away

Lou writes..."We had a great weekend, taking 17 teenagers away for a chance to stop, relax, have fun and explore more about how God loves them, adopts them, walks with them, would give everything for them and gives them a hope for the future. It's great that several want to explore baptism and confirmation, its great that they felt so at home, it was great to see them look after one another and great to see them have some well deserved rest and realise they are precious to God before they do or prove anything. Bring on next year!
If you're missing it already - we have the reunion next Sunday evening with pizza pictures and games to reminisce about the weekend. This Sunday, 6:30-7:45 in the Barnabas Centre "

Come Ye Thankful People, Come

Sunday 24^th September was our Harvest Thanksgiving Service. In the reading, we remembered Jesus warning about the danger of storing up more and more goods without thinking about the future. But in his sermon Steve concentrated on the words that followed, in which Jesus encouraged us not to worry, as our heavenly Father knew all that we needed.

We then brought up our harvest gifts to the front – both fresh and tins and packets.

After the service all the fresh produce was auctioned and the profit sent to the Christian relief agency, Tear Fund. The tins and packets were given to the Oadby Food Bank and the Welcome Fund, run at the Cathedral for asylum seekers.

Coffee Pot Harvest Lunch

The members of Coffee Pot, our Thursday coffee meeting met together for a special event on Thursday 21 September, a harvest lunch, with soup and sandwiches. To remember the significance of the event, this was preceded by singing the hymn “we plough the fields scatter” and in your grace we remembered our dependence on God and prayed for those who are less fortunate than ourselves.

Thank God for All His Gifts

As we approached harvest, this display appeared in the foyer (Thank you to Vivien and Derek), reminding us of the meaning of harvest. Of how dependent we are all the gifts of nature that God gives us. We may not – in the words of the old hymn – “plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the ground” – but we are still utterly dependent on food – fresh and processed.

At this season we are using a special booklet for our services which centres not only on harvest, but also on creation, as we remember the greatness of the world that God has given us, and our commission to look after it, and not destroy it.

Church Open Day

On Saturday 16 September from 2 to 4 p.m. we held a church open day at St Paul’s. We had put flyers through the letterboxes of many of the local residents inviting them to come and see what we are about.

In church we put out A4 posters beside all the items that we use in worship (cross, font, Bible etc.) explaining what they meant to us and how they fitted into our faith in Christ. There were also displays showing our different activities – such as youth work, “Little Angels” mother and toddler group, and the charities and mission agencies that we support. Leaflets about our future activities and pamphlets explaining the Christian Faith were placed around for people to take.

The chapel was open for prayer and we served tea and coffee to those who were happy to sit down.

We made contact with a number of people and it was also an opportunity to let people know that we are here.

Thank you so much to all who distributed leaflets, made the displays or served refreshments. It all contributed to a worthwhile day

Open Church at St Paul’s

On Saturday 16 September we will be opening the doors of St Paul’s from 2-4 p.m. There will be displays of what goes on in church, explanations of what we believe, why we do things,  and what different items in church mean to us, and videos of some of our recent activities.

Do drop in and see what we are about and enjoy a drink and cake. Everything is free.

What Have You Got in Your Hand?

Tear Fund is a Christian relief and development organisation that St Paul’s has supported for many years. In particular, we are linked to projects in a church in Uganda. Today, Charlotte Nobbs visited our morning service, to speak on their behalf.

The reading was about how Jesus fed the crowd of 5000 men plus women and children. But to do this, he used one child’s packed lunch of just 5 rolls and two fish. Charlotte admitted that as we looked out at the world the needs seemed as great as trying to feed the enormous crowd. But her challenge was to look at what we did have – what had we got in our own hands, and make that available for God to use. Charlotte illustrated with pictures and case histories from Uganda which demonstrated how investment of small sums of money have been able to recreate the well-being of families.

May we respond in generosity and prayer to all that we learned.

Young people Support the Homeless

On the 23^rd August

our young people organised a coffee and cake sale in the Barnabas Centre, in order to support homeless young people in Leicester.

We sit comfortably here in Oadby, so it’s good that our young people can be concerned about his major social problem.

Tearfund Connected Church

On Sunday we look forward to welcoming Charlotte Nobbs to speak at our morning service about the work of Tearfund. Charlotte will focus on the work of our Connected Church partner PAG in Uganda following on from her recent visit with Tearfund.
If you want to find out the latest news from PAG then follow this link to their latest blog post.
Do join us at 10am on Sunday to hear more.

New Rector for Oadby Announced

On the diocesan website you can find the following announcement:

"The Revd Stephen Andrew Bailey

The Bishop announces that the Revd Steve Bailey, Team Vicar, St Paul’s Oadby has been appointed also as Priest-in-Charge (Team Rector Designate) in the Oadby Team Benefice.

This appointment will be announced in church this Sunday, 20 August.  (This was duly announced by the Churchwarden, Vivien James on Sunday 20 August.) A licensing date will be announced in due course.

The slightly unusual wording is because the Parish of Oadby is in the process of becoming a team ministry with Great Glen, Burton Overy and Carlton Curlieu parishes. When that is complete Steve will become the Team Rector, officially.

We have valued Steve’s ministry among us for the last six years. Now we pray for his continued ministry, with this additional responsibility.

Holiday Club

Three days this week (9-11 August) St Pauls rang the shouts of children as they took part in the holiday club activity. There was song, dancing and acting as they discovered the way that God had led Moses.

This theme was picked up again at the service on Sunday 13 August when some of the children and their parents also joined us. All those who had come to holiday club were also invited to the barbecue which took place afterwards.

 Thank you so much to all those who took part – the leaders, those who helped during the week, and all those who helped to put on the barbecue – and of course the children themselves.

 
If you missed out this year, do look for it in August 2018! Or, better still, come and enjoy the Supertrooper activities for primary school age children, every Sunday at 10 a.m.

Holiday Club

This week we held our summer Holiday Club 'Spy Kids' using the story of Moses. Here is a video from the week showing what we got up to.
Do join us tomorrow for our Celebration Service at 10am followed by a free BBQ!

Principal Services – July – September

Dear Friends,

New Service Sheet - Click Here

In July we hold our first ever Holiday at Home and look forward to celebrating with them in our service on 9th July. A month later in August we are again running a summer Holiday Club for primary school aged children. There celebration service on 13th August is followed by a BBQ.

We continue with our sermon series based on David Watson’s book I Believe in the Church through July & August. In September we welcome a speaker from Tearfund to update us on our Connected Church partner in Uganda PAG.

Harvest this year will be on 24th September. All tinned and dried goods will go to Oadby Food bank  and fresh produce will be sold off and the money sent to Tearfund.

As we head into October a new sermon series will begin, watch this space for more details…

Every blessing,

Steve

Steve Bailey, Vicar

Lou McGoldrick Talks about Youth Work at St Paul’s

McGoldrick leads our youth work at St Paul’s and we thank her for all the hard work that she puts into it. Recently she spoke about her work in a video that was broadcast of the Leicester Diocesan website. If you would like to hear about her experiences and hopes, click here.

Lou’s pressing task is preparing for the Holiday Club that takes place this week at St Paul’s. They that be both a fun time and an opportunity for youngsters to hear of the love of Christ.

Holiday at Home video

We had a great time running our first ever Holiday at Home at St Paul's this week. Click here to watch a video of some of the pictures from our time together as shown in church this morning.

Thanks to all those who came along and to all those who worked so hard to make it happen.

Everyone had a really enjoyable time with events from quizzes, crafts, entertainments and sing-a-longs. Lots of delicious food and some great company. Thank you one and all. Happy Holidays!

Holiday at Home

Today was the first day of our first ever Holiday at Home! We were delighted to welcome over 40 people to join us for a fun filled day getting to know one another, games, quizzes, food, drink, a Bible reflection and a sing a long. Here are some photos from our day today.

We look forward to tomorrow when we shall have a variety of craft activities and fish and chips for lunch!

The Church of God

In my sermon on Sunday I finished up with a quote from Bill Hybels in his book Courageous Leadership where he talks about the local church being the hope of the world.

‘I believe that the local church is the hope of the world. I believe to the core of my being that local churches have the potential to be the most influential forces on planet earth. If they get it and get on with it, churches can become the redemptive centers that Jesus intended them to be. Dynamic teaching, creative worship, deep community, effective evangelism and joyful service will combine to strengthen families, transform communities and change the world.’ 

Be Suspicious!

As usual, today, we held “Coffee Pot,” our Thursday morning coffee group, mainly frequented by older citizens. At it, we were visited by PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) Nad Ikram, who gave a PowerPoint illustrated talk on “Telephone and Postal Fraud.”

He talked about the importance of always being suspicious, whether of telephone calls (the commonest), email or web announcements, unsolicited letters, or individuals on the doorstep. If an offer was too good to be true – it wasn’t true. He discussed, and showed a video, of some of the commonest scams and warned people to give away the minimum of data and never to reveal PIN numbers, or the three CSV numbers on the backs of credit cards.

He also described scams where people were told they had a fraudulent financial problem and encouraged to ring their bank, only for the fraudsters not to hang up, but to still be on the line when the individual thought they were talking to their bank – and trustingly revealed just the information that the fraudsters wanted. He warned that sometimes the (bogus) bank would send a courier for the person’s cards, which would never be seen again – apart from a large withdrawal on their statement.

Hopefully, we have all learned lessons. Thank you Nad.

I Believe in the Church

This was the title of a book written by the late David Watson, formerly vicar of St Michael le Belfry, York. This has provided the background for a series of sermons on the subject of  The Church, which will be preached in both St Paul’s and St Peter’s churches.

Today, Gillian preached on the first of the series: “The Church of God.” We look forward to the subsequent talks in the series, next week being: “The Kingdom of God.”

People often say that they appreciate much of what Christ said, but they do not like the church. If that is you, do come and hear about the real meaning of the church

              

Where Was God When That Happened?

This event which had been advertised in an earlier blog, took place on Saturday evening, 17 June. It was led by Neil McBride, a Reader at De Montfort University, together with one of his students, Ben who, had suffered a disabling illness that left him in a wheelchair, and our vicar, Steve Bailey.

In the evening we addressed the problem of reconciling a loving God who was all-powerful with the existence of suffering and evil. Neil spoke from the philosophical point of view – with insights like “how would we know the meaning of evil, without a good God contrast to it with,” while Ben spoke of his practical experience and his ability to reconcile God’s love with his disability.

In groups at tables, we discussed our own attitudes to the issues raised.

In an interval, we all shared in the puddings that people had bought and enjoyed a glass of one of the drinks that had been provided.

There will probably never be an answer – at least not a simple one – to the original question, but we all came out better informed, and even more thoughtful.

Tea Fit for a Queen

Saturday 17 June was a busy day at St Paul’s. It was the Queen’s official birthday and we celebrated it with a magnificent Royal Tea. The ladies of the church had worked hard to lay on a spread for any who wish to come. There was a good turnout.

Our thanks to those who had worked so hard.

Where was God when that happened?

We are looking forward to this event on Saturday evening at 7.30pm.
It is a free event so come along and join with us, bring a friend!

Wrath-Hope-Peace

Yesterday we welcome Robert DeBerry with 3 other cyclists and their support car to St Paul's in the afternoon.

 We joined with them in a prayer meeting last night for the persecuted church and were pleased to welcome others to join us.

This morning those who had hosted the team prayed with them before they set off on the next leg of their journey.

 And then waved them goodbye as they headed off.

Every blessing for the remained of the journey. What a privilege to pray together for those who are persecuted for their faith and to support the work of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The Prayer Tree

At an earlier event of “Thy Kingdom Come” we set up a Prayer Tree in The Parade in Oadby Village Centre. Passers-by were offered chocolates to represent God’s generosity and invited to write a prayer on one of the the paper “leaves,” which was then stuck to an outline of a tree.

Quite a number of people accepted this opportunity – though the high wind made it a battle to keep the “leaves” on the tree, let alone keeping the “Thy Kingdom Come” banner upright!

Our prayer is that more people may consider the importance of prayer.

Praying together for Oadby

On Sunday evening St Paul's hosted 'Praying together for Oadby', an evening service for Churches Together in Oadby at the end of the Thy Kingdom Come wave of prayer. In between sung worship at the beginning and end of the service everyone was invited to make use of a variety of prayer stations at the back of church. Each church had been invited to provide an interactive prayer station focused on a particular area of our shared community life together. Here are some photos below..

 Everyone up and out of their seats making use of the different prayer stations which had been provided by the different churches in Oadby.

 Praying for the local emergency services and the safety of the community.

 Asking God how we should respond and share the love and light of Christ in the community.

 Praying for the local borough council and for our diverse community, that we can continue to live in harmony.

 An opportunity to write our own prayers and put them on the prayer wall or light a candle for those who have suffered particularly at the terrorist attacks in Manchester and London.

Praying for the local shops, businesses and community groups.

It was a good time for us to come together and pray for the needs of our community. A big thank you to all who came along and to those who worked hard to make the service happen.