Read on Twitter
The Order of Prayer for Wigan began in 2016 when many of us saw that the Church would be changing in the coming years, principally the Church of England, but all the churches faced similar challenges. We knew that without prayer whatever we planned would be built on sand.
1/
1/
Some, from a High Church tradition, emphasized liturgical prayer. Your host @P_G_Anderson is in that tradition. Others, in the New Wine network belonged to the charismatic movement. We'd tended to be tribal, defining ourselves against one another, but no longer had the luxury.
2/
2/
What had been a relatively strong bastion of churchgoing had become structurally unsound. Despite the highest per capita church school places in the country, we were disconnected from most younger people. Financially we had become debtors to the diocese. Things had to change.
3/
3/
The national Church offered a grant to help see what could be done. @RevTimWigan was appointed to help us @TransformWigan. Like @JustinWelby he encouraged us in our sense that revival begins with prayer. But how to go about it? Six months discernment and fact finding followed.
4/
4/
We approached some traditional monastic communities asking if they could start a house in the town. They offered much wisdom but couldn't make this commitment. We visited some 'new monastic' communities in London. We loved the inspiring young community at St George's Shadwell.
5/
5/
@cookrnj1 and @P_G_Anderson sat in Regent's Park, waiting for the train back to Wigan, talking and praying, and came to the conclusion that a dispersed community of committed local people was the right path for this season, rather than run the risk of 'outsourcing' our prayer.
6/
6/
Whitsunday 2016 the Bishop of Liverpool @paulbayes came to celebrate the eucharist with thousands of people, church members and many friends, at a festival underpinned by prayer, including a space for quiet reflection, and prayer ministry. Out of this grew our first cohort.
7/
7/
Commissioned in Advent 2016, drawing on the example of the Melanesian brotherhood, and others, we invited people to make year long vows, to:
- pray for the town's needs and salvation daily
- read the Bible daily
- fast weekly
- gather monthly
- join in a 24/7 vigil monthly.
8/
- pray for the town's needs and salvation daily
- read the Bible daily
- fast weekly
- gather monthly
- join in a 24/7 vigil monthly.
8/
We deliberately didn't specify a particular liturgical form, given our breadth, and being dispersed this meant members remained rooted in their local churches. The hope was that this committment would encourage others.
It helped build a shared identity alongside the parochial.
9/
It helped build a shared identity alongside the parochial.
9/
We've had some bumpy periods. Being dispersed brings challenges around mutual accountability and support. But the annual nature of the commitment brings a helpful inbuilt time of review, and means everyone has to examine whether they are called to make this commitment afresh.
10/
10/
We have not solved all the problems that we faced in 2016, but as the pandemic hit we did so with some experience in seeking God through sustained prayer.
For @P_G_Anderson one of the joys has been to see people finding strength through the spiritual exercise of Daily Prayer.
END
For @P_G_Anderson one of the joys has been to see people finding strength through the spiritual exercise of Daily Prayer.
END
