Hello Christian Friends,
we hope your journey through Lent is full of blessings and you are finding encouragement and inspiration through pray. We hope the Lent Prayer Books distributed throughout the churches have also been a source of encouragement.
2023 has certainly been full of prayer and listening to God.
The year started with an invitation from The Right Worshipful, The Mayor of Bath Councillor Rob Appleyard to all Church Leaders to join together in the Council Chambers to pray together for Bath.
What an wonderful and blessed time it was. To hear How Great Thou Art sung so powerfully on a cold Monday morning in January in the Chambers was very special.
Rev’d Michael Farrier began the session by interviewing the Mayor, [left] followed by
[right] Pastor Kenny Nelson, Paul Wakely, Peter Heywood and Belinda Thomas leading us in Prayer, Listening to God and Praise.
It was also encouraging to see so many of you at the Prayers for Bath meeting at Bath Abbey [below] in February at the start of Lent.
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Prayer Walk – Good Friday United Prayers of Hope
Start:
9.30 Salvation Army, Green Park;
10.00 St Michael’s, Hot Bath Street (Chapel of St John’s Hospital behind the Cross Bath);
10.40 St John’s RC, South Parade;11.15 Manvers Street Baptist Church.
You are invited to join Christians praying and walking between different City churches on Good Friday starting at 9.30am at the Salvation Army, Green Park, Bath BA1 1XE
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Manvers Street Baptist Church…are organising a small informal service to highlight World Autism Awareness Week.
The service is on Sunday 2nd April at 4pm.
It will be led by Christians with autistic spectrum conditions and all are welcome at this service. You are also invited to stay for tea and cake following the service.
For more information about the Manvers Street Baptist Service click HERE
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Let’s talk about Mental Health
Bath Youth For Christ has worked with young people for more than 30 years and Focus Counselling has been meeting the mental health need of people from Bath and the surrounding areas for nearly 25 years. Dave Joyce, Director of Bath Youth for Christ, and Helen Marton, CEO of Focus Counselling, have both recently attended Mental Health First Aid Training delivered by Bath Mind. This training was very thorough and raised the importance of people looking after their mental health.
Benefact Trust are committed to raising mental health awareness in Churches and equipping the local church to better support those in their communities with their mental health needs. They have funded the training for Dave and Helen and are funding them to support the local church in Bath. Dave and Helen want to equip church leaders, pastoral workers and youth workers to confidently and safely talk about mental health so that they are able to provide relevant support to members of their congregations and to know where to signpost them.
To book Dave and Helen to facilitate a conversation with your team, to help you provide support to members of your congregation, or, to find out more, email Dave at dave@bathyfc.co.uk.
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The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Bath Councillor Rob Appleyard invited Church and Christian Project leaders into the Mayor’s Parlour at the Guild Hall Bath on Tuesday 21st March to talk about their experiences with the warm spaces initiative. This was a follow-up meeting that The Mayor had requested following the first session last year.
This was a great opportunity for everyone to share how these initiatives had worked or not, in different churches and areas of the city. It also gave an opportunity for people to discuss ideas to move forward and develop on the warm spaces in other ways. [watch this space!]
Everyone enjoyed light refreshments with The Mayor after the event.
Let us continue to pray that God will continue to have a presence amongst the Council Chambers and we see His Kingdom Come in our city.
God Bless.
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