Being a Praying People - Day by Day with Ss Mark and Anne It has been said that “a church that walks together with God is a church that will thrive and draw others to it”, and so part of our mission and our call must be to become a community of prayer. It can be easy to become discouraged when we pray on our own. There are competing demands on our time, we may not be in the mood, things crop up or we simply forget. We may not even think we have to pray every day. Jesus, though, told us we must persevere with prayer. When his disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, he replied with “Our Father…”. Christian prayer is always “we” prayer – We are the Body of Christ. When we pray, we are never alone, and we pray as part of the Body of Christ. To become a praying community, we are being asked to commit to pray at least the Psalm prayer for the day and the Lord’s prayer (Stage 1), “Day by day with Ss Mark and Anne”, wherever we may be, so that even if we are physically alone, we know that we are always praying with others - with the Body of Christ here in Heyside and Royton and indeed with the wider Church of Christ. Evelyn Underhill, a twentieth century spiritual writer wrote, “The world is full of jangling noises. You know that there are better melodies. But you will never transmit the heavenly music to others unless you yourselves are tuned in to it…giving…it careful and undivided attention during part of each day… you must yourselves be spiritually alive.” By God’s grace may way we walk together as a community of prayer seeking to: stay close to Jesus; live up to our calling as his friends; tune into the heavenly music so we might share that music with others and so do his will. With prayers and blessings, Revd Liz
His Story – Our Story A pilgrimage of prayer around the streets of the Benefice of Heyside and Royton. Join Revd Liz in person or on social media for this month of prayer and discovery, listening and sharing. At the start of this new chapter in the life of St Mark’s Heyside and St Anne’s Royton. Revd Liz, our new Vicar is undertaking to walk and pray around every street of the Benefice of Heyside and Royton, praying for all who live here as well as the schools, shops and businesses, giving thanks for all that has gone before and praying for God’s blessing on the Benefice as we continue our pilgrimage of faith together in hope. There are a number of ways to be involved: 1. Follow on social media (Facebook and Twitter) and join with her in prayer. 2. Sign up to walk with Revd Liz and join her in prayer and in sharing your faith journey and hopes for the future. 3. Share your story with Revd Liz on this His-Story, Our Story form which can be downloaded from this page. Revd Liz will include you in prayer as she walks. 4. Sponsor the walking part of the pilgrimage of prayer around the Benefice with proceeds to St Mark’s, St Anne’s and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice. 5. Join in “Guess How Many Miles” competition at £2 a guess! Contact Revd Liz to be involved! 07725 739506
For wedding/funeral enquiries contact Sylvia Coppock on 01706 846710 or 07900232708For Baptisms enquiries contact Diane Jones on 07961 934763For General Parish business/enquiries contact Barbara Hindle on 07711355960
