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Worshippers surround all seven deaneries with prayer
OUR worshippers surrounded all seven of our deaneries in prayer as part of this year's Thy Kingdom Come celebrations.
Clergy, churchgoers and schoolchildren embarked on seven Prayer Pilgrimages, around a different deanery each day, to mark the 10th anniversary of the global prayer initiative. They stopped every hour, on the hour, at a series of locations to pray for others to come to know Jesus, and for the churches and communities they were visiting.
And after the Prayer Pilgrimage during the day, each evening one church in that deanery is also hosting an evening celebration, which might include worship, teaching about prayer and a variety of ways that people can pray.
Day 1: Bishop's Waltham
The first day of our Prayer Pilgrimages embraced the Bishop's Waltham deanery, starting in Wickham and following the Meon Valley Trail northwards to St Peter's Church, Soberton, and St Mary and All Saints, Droxford. Pilgrims then continued up Old Winchester Hill, where almost the whole diocese could be seen, and then finished on Beacon Hill. The evening prayer celebration took place in St Peter's, Curdridge.
Seven children from Swanmore CofE Primary School joined the pilgrims in Soberton and walked all the way to the top of Old Winchester Hill. They are all part of the school's worship council, who help out with prayer corners in classrooms and collective worship in school.
One of them, Elodie Osmond, aged six, helped to lead the prayers when the group paused near the disused Droxford railway station, which was used by Winston Churchill to meet military commanders and Allied leaders to plan the Normandy landings on D-Day.
She said: "It was nice because I didn't think we'd get to do the prayers. I would definitely do a pilgrimage again."
And Raen Rogers, aged 11, said: "It has been nice to talk to my friends as we've been walking. As the worship council, we might read out prayers or draw pictures that are shown in assembly or sometimes we do class worship."
And Rosemary Crane, aged 81, churchwarden from St Nicholas, Wickham, completed the entire 15-mile walk. She said: "I think this has been such a good idea. I've enjoyed being outside, and the fact that we've had these children with us has been wonderful."
Day 2: Fareham
The Prayer Pilgrimages are being led by our interim director of Ministry and Discipleship, the Rev Andrew Hargreaves, to mark 10 years of Thy Kingdom Come. On Day 2, he joined worshippers from Fareham deanery, as they walked from the Rising Sun in Warsash, across Fareham to Portchester Castle. Rain didn't dampen their enthusiasm, as they took in Titchfield Abbey, Holy Trinity Fareham and St Peter and St Paul Fareham on the way.
And the evening celebration that night was held at St Mary's Church, inside Portchester Castle. It included pizza being served in the tea room, after which musicians from Holy Rood, Stubbington, led worship, there was some teaching on prayer from the vicar, the Rev Ian Meredith, and worshippers tried a variety of different ways of praying. That included prayer in small groups for aspects of the diocesan strategy, prayer led from the front, and worshippers praying simultaneously out loud.
Day 3: Havant
The third day of our prayer pilgrimages saw worshippers walking across Havant deanery - from St Peter's Church, Hayling Island, in the south to All Saints Church, Catherington, towards the north. They called in on a number of churches on the way, including St Faith's, Havant; St Thomas, Bedhampton; Church of the Good Shepherd, Crookhorn; St George's, Waterlooville; and Hart Plain Church on the way - praying inside churches and on high streets for local communities.
More than 100 people joined the walk at various stages during the day, some walking for part of the route, a few walking the whole route, and some joining in the prayer in specific churches. Many also attended the evening prayer celebration at All Saints, Denmead.
Leah Elsey, from St James Church, Emsworth, walked the whole way. She said: "I was only going to walk from Hayling Island to Havant, but at each stage I felt there was nothing stopping me from going further. It was great to talk to others about their lives and to make connections with them. And it was great to pray inside churches and outside them. There were enough of us for people to notice that we were going so."
Day 4: Petersfield
Pilgrims prayer and walked around Petersfield Heath Pond as they prayed for the churches and communities across Petersfield deanery. Worshippers gathered in the rain for the latest walk, and paused to pray regularly to give thanks for the congregations in the area and for those who live in each parish.
The Rev Andrew Hargreaves then walked to All Saints Church, Steep, where he helped to lead collective worship for the pupils from Steep CofE Primary School alongside the Rev Sue Jones. He told them about the prayer pilgrimages happening this week and taught them about saying 'thank-you', 'sorry' and 'please' prayers. The evening celebration took place in St Mary Magdalen, Sheet.
Day 5: Isle of Wight
Worshippers strode 15 miles around the Isle of Wight deanery on the fifth day of our seven walks. They began at Oakfield CofE Primary School in Ryde, where the Revs David Morgan and Andrew Hargreaves led collective worship. Several classes then joined the walkers for the first kilometre of the walk through Ryde, while other children waved them off as they marched out of the playground.
After stopping for prayer in a Ryde playground, the children headed back to school while the walkers went onwards to Sandown. They shared Communion and lunch in The Bay CofE School in Sandown, before walking on to Newport. The evening prayer celebration took place in Newport Minster.
Day 6: Gosport
The sixth of our prayer pilgrimages involved walking right around Gosport, from Holy Trinity Church in the south, to Elson, Rowner and Bridgemary further north, down to Lee-on-the-Solent, and then past HMS Sultan and Gosport War Memorial Hospital to St Mary's Alverstoke.
The Rev Andrew Hargreaves was joined by worshippers from various churches on his walk, and they prayed at churches and community landmarks across the town. They were given bacon sandwiches at St Matts on the Corner cafe in St Matthew's, Bridgemary, and prayed inside St Faith's, Lee-on-the-Solent, while the church's summer fete was happening. The evening celebration was at Christ Church, Stoke Road, which is part of Haven Church.
Day 7: Portsmouth
The final day of our Thy Kingdom Come prayer pilgrimages started and ended at our cathedral. Worshippers walked and prayed around the entire Portsea Island, strolling along the seafront in Southsea, Eastney and along the side of Langstone Harbour before heading for Hilsea Lines. They paused for refreshments in our diocesan office before arriving back at our cathedral just before a special Pentecost Sunday prayer celebration, where worship was led by Harbour Church and people were able to place candles on a map of the diocese to denote their prayers.
Among those who completed the entire 14-mile walk were Michael and Marina Horner from Church of the Resurrection in Farlington. They were keen to chat to those with other theological perspectives along the way. Michael said: "It has been great to chat to people and to understand a bit more about their views, and I hope that went both ways. And when we stopped to pray, it was pitched just right."
And Jonathan Sandland, 20, from St Jude's, Southsea, walked from Eastney to the end. He said: "It's been good to meet new people and to do a lot of prayer. We've stopped and prayed for specific parts of the diocese on the way, and for the five people who we are praying for to become Christians."
