October Letter
  Dear Friends   
  Do people pray? This is a question I have been pondering for a little while… If we look at our Benefice church services, attendance is on the increase in most of them – Sunday mornings, Family Services and Messy Church. But I have been wondering whether people are praying who perhaps we wouldn’t see at any of our regular services. Some recent statistics from the Church of England certainly make interesting reading. 48% of UK adults have offered some form of prayer recently, with 28% praying in the last month (research findings, August 2022).    

A Tearfund poll records that 51% of UK adults pray overall, and 20% of people who describe themselves as non-religious turn to prayer during a personal crisis (research findings, 2018).    

Interestingly, younger adults aged 18–34 are also more likely to report having prayed, at 56%. Anecdotally, many church leaders are telling me that their church attendance is on the rise and that more young people are turning up at their services, so perhaps these statistics have improved since 2022. What am I noticing locally?  

Well, the Scarecrow Festival gave us some very encouraging answers. We gave people three different opportunities to pray.   

By my scarecrow, I put out ribbons for people to write a prayer and tie onto the fence. When I finally looked on Saturday, all the ribbons had been used. I spent some of Saturday evening preparing more ribbons for Sunday – and by 5.00 pm on Sunday, those had all been used too!              There was also an opportunity to tie ribbons onto our Tree of Remembrance, remembering those we loved and lost during the dark Covid year of 2020.  And again it was a tree filled with ribbons fluttering in the breeze, loved ones not forgotten and still mourned.         
And then there was our church, which was open throughout both days of the Scarecrow Festival as people came to marvel at our Enchanted Forest exhibition. Again, I put out prayer tags for people to write a prayer, or perhaps simply to remember someone they wanted to pray for. 

When I checked on Saturday evening, they had all been used up. So, Saturday evening saw me preparing another 75 prayer tags for use on the Sunday!  And again these were all used before we closed the church at 5.00 pm, with some people making their own prayer tags as we had run out again! So perhaps the answer to my question is yes – people are praying, especially when we give them an opportunity to do so. I find that incredibly encouraging.   

  People are asking God for help or they are saying “thank you”. Perhaps they are saying “sorry”. They are praying for someone they love, remembering someone they have lost, or simply putting into words something that is difficult to say to anyone else.    

And perhaps that is one of the gifts of prayer. You don't have to know exactly what to say. You don't have to have been to church for years. You don't even have to be sure what you believe. Sometimes you can simply stop, be still for a moment, and say, “God, I need your help.” The Bible gives us these words:    

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6–7    

So, to everyone in our villages, whether you are a regular churchgoer, someone who comes occasionally, or someone who has never crossed the threshold of a church – keep praying.  And I pray that God will give you his peace and that he will answer your prayer. And if you don't know what to pray, or if you would simply like someone to pray with you or for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch.    

Sometimes, all we need to do is give prayer a little space. And perhaps, as our prayer ribbons and prayer tags at the Scarecrow Festival have shown us, there are rather more people praying than we might imagine.    

With every blessing, 
gRev Alison Jackson
Priest-in-charge and the Ministry Team 0783 366 7707
revajacksonhwge@outlook.com