Celebrating Pentecost Through Worship and Baptism
The Day of Pentecost, this year taking place on 8 June, marks fifty days since Easter Day and brings the Easter season to an end. It is a time when we recall how God’s Holy Spirit was given to the disciples after Jesus’ ascension, empowering them to begin the work of making disciples of all nations. Read how some of our churches celebrated Pentecost below.
St Paul’s Church Throop
St Paul’s Church Throop took their celebration of Pentecost to the great outdoors on Sunday morning. Just over 200 people gathered at a ‘beach’ on the River Stour in Bournemouth to witness the baptism of 8 people. It was a beautiful occasion, with great weather, that was a huge encouragement to the church.
Revd Jim Findlay said, “This has become a regular feature in the worshipping life of our church and it feels very special each time we come here. The Lord is continually stirring faith and growing His church here and it’s a joy and a privilege to baptise people in this way, in this place. We’re grateful to the BCP Council for giving us permission to do this and to the staff and volunteers of Kingfisher Barn who welcome us afterwards.”
Matt, one of the people being baptised said, “I’ve been searching spiritually for a long time. In a way I’ve been swinging from branch to branch. Today, through baptism, I’m taking hold of the root.”
Winchester Churches Together
On Sunday evening, Christians from all over Winchester gathered at Christ Church for a joyful Pentecost service hosted by Churches Together in Winchester. It was a great chance to celebrate both what we share and what makes each church unique, all while opening our hearts again to the Holy Spirit.
The service was led by Revd Marianne Foster, Chair of Winchester Churches Together and Priest in Charge at St Luke’s, Stanmore. People came from Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal and independent churches, a real mix that gave the evening a sense of unity and purpose. The theme was all about the Holy Spirit and the kind of unity that makes space for difference, not about being the same, but about being together with grace and hope.
Fr Mark Hogan from St Peter’s Catholic Church gave a thoughtful sermon on what it means to be one body in Christ, not by ignoring our differences, but by embracing our shared calling.
Revd Marianne said, “This felt like a glimpse of what the Church can be, joyfully united in Christ, honouring difference, and led by the Spirit into hope and mission.”
Churches Together in Winchester keeps on meeting, praying, and working together across the city. Please do pray for this work. And if you’re local and would like to get involved, they’d love to hear from you!
Andover Parish
Andover Parish celebrated Pentecost with baptism – 11 people were baptised on Pentecost, each offering their testimonies of how they came to faith and felt welcomed into God’s church. The church community felt blessed to support these individuals as they decided to embrace new life in the waters of baptism.
See all the wonderful photos from the service here >>>
Celebrating Ten Years of Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Kingdom Come started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York for every parish in the Church of England to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for people to come to know the love of Jesus Christ. Ten years on it has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer, uniting more than a million Christians in nearly 90% of countries worldwide and across 85 different denominations.
Every person, household and church is encouraged to pray during the 11 days in their own way.
This year the focus of Thy Kingdom Come has been on The Lord’s Prayer and people have again been asked to pray that God’s Spirit might work in the lives of 5 people who haven’t yet met Jesus.
Here’s how some churches in our diocese responded to the call.
St Andrew’s Church, Dibden Purlieu
St Andrew’s Church chose Thy Kingdom Come as the theme for their monthly ‘Refuelled’ service. The service is a time of reflection, prayer, prophetic word and extended worship with the band. St Andrew’s welcomes worshippers from across the Waterside and beyond.
To mark Thy Kingdom Come, prayer stations were created around the church which were used during the service for quiet contemplation. They were also in place throughout the period for use by church members and visitors.
Rector of Dibden Parish, Revd Peter Toller said, “The Prayer Stations are very much an interactive initiative, so they will be up throughout the week. About 2,000 people come through the church centre every week for various groups and when they walk past the church, if there’s something going on, they’re often a bit intrigued. So, the invitation will be just to come in and explore for themselves.”
Each prayer station reflected a different line of The Lord’s Prayer.
Annette Jones has coordinated Thy Kingdom Come since 2016 and set up the prayer stations. She said, “On Sundays we can sometimes rush the Lord’s Prayer, and I think it’s good to take it line by line, to focus and let each line speak to us, to reflect and go deeper with God. It’s a prayer that he taught his disciples to pray so it’s important and I hope God is going to speak to people who come here and they’ll get a sense of his presence.”
During the service the congregation spent time walking around the prayer stations. There were words and messages to reflect upon and actions to encourage reflections – whether eating a breadstick to remember God’s blessings, wearing a smiley sticker as a reminder of his love or praying for a nation using the world map.
Worship leader Heidi Shaw said, “Something I love about Thy Kingdom Come is this idea of being connected with believers around the world. I’m half Iranian and I have family all around the world. I know the church is growing in Iran and I feel we are a multicultural country now and Thy Kingdom Come really touches on that because we all say this prayer and all believers say it. I absolutely love that sense of being rooted in Christ regardless of where you are or where you live, so for me Thy Kingdom Come is special for that reason.”
Revd Peter added, “Ever since ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ began, we felt it was an initiative worth joining in with. It seemed to connect and resonate with people, and I think they’re very keen that it seemed inclusive as a prayer movement and drawing churches together. Our Thy Kingdom Come initiative here on the Waterside is very much getting churches together and gathering Christians to pray and the emphasis is still on growing the kingdom and getting people to pray for their friends and family to come to know Jesus and that sounds great to us.”
St Barnabas the Encourager, Darby Green and St Mary’s, Eversley
Prayer lunches were held at St Barnabas in Darby Green and St Mary’s in Eversley. The churches hold regular in person and online prayer meetings throughout the week and this was the first time a prayer lunch had been organised as part of Thy Kingdom Come, with the aim of helping people to connect in prayer.
They used the Thy Kingdom Come prayer journal and its daily reflection to lead their discussions and prayers, for the local area, for the nation and world and for people to come to know Jesus.
Revd Faith Bailey said, “One of the things I want to do this year is to up the spiritual temperature in the church and so this is a really good opportunity to do that. With a national event, you get all the national resources which help as well. There are people in the church who have been praying for the same five people for years and it’s an encouragement for them to carry on as well.”
Last weekend a prayer brunch was also held at St Barnabas, with interactive prayer stations to help people listen to God, wait upon the Spirit and pray for the churches and community.
Revd Rachel Hartland said, “It’s important to have events like this to give people permission to pray together and to encourage people to pray generally. Even as clergy, it can sometimes get pushed to one side. To consciously pray in a very deliberate way is different from your arrow prayers over the kitchen sink or whilst driving. You’re able to take prayer to a deeper level when you’re praying with other people and pray with a more open heart and mind. It’s creating those spaces for individuals to come and meet with others and not feel as though they’re praying on their own. Having prayer stations can help introduce younger people to what prayer can be and different prompts to prayer. There are lots of things we can use and it’s helping us all.”
St Mark’s, Highcliffe
Throughout the year St Mark’s in Highcliffe holds a number of Quiet Mornings in the church, at Lent, Easter, Advent and for Thy Kingdom Come. It’s open to other churches in the area as an ecumenical event. The church marks Thy Kingdom Come each year.
Prayers stations were set up around the church to help focus on The Lord’s Prayer, prayers for Highcliffe, for Christians facing persecution and the prayer for five people to come to know Jesus.
The morning also included group reflections and meditations and times for contemplation, to consider Ascension and Pentecost. It offered a quiet place for people to sit and pray.
Maureen Stringer, LLW and Prayer Coordinator, said, “I think Thy Kingdom Come gives people the opportunity to focus their prayers on the five people or five situations that they are praying for. In the session we have just done, we heard about the disciples who had to wait for God’s promise and sometimes our prayer is just about waiting. I know some people here have been waiting years for the people they are praying for to come to know Jesus, but we trust that one day, there will be an answer.”
The prayer stations provided activities such as doodle prayers for neighbours and making bracelets with knots and beads to represent the prayers for five people. As well as the Quiet Morning on Saturday, the church also held a day of meditation and prayer on Friday.
Maureen added, “With the prayers for Highcliffe, you imagine you are walking around the village with Jesus, and you are talking to him about what you see and listening to what he is saying. It finishes with us imagining someone we know who needs the Lord and he reaches out his hand.
“One lady came yesterday, and she hardly said anything. I don’t know if she was a visitor. She was in here for an hour or so and just sat at the prayer for Highcliffe. I don’t know what happened, but she walked out beaming.”
