On Sunday morning, 22 January, along with a number of other churches at the city end of our Circuit, we closed our own church doors and almost 30 members of our congregation joined many others from across the Girlington, Heaton and Manningham area in a packed Little Lane Church. This was to mark the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The service this year was led by a group of young people from the different churches, many of them from the Unite Youth Group. The theme for the service had been devised by a group of Christians in Germany but our Bradford youngsters added their own very personal interpretation and thoughts, to present what turned out to be a very challenging, thought- provoking and uplifting service. There was a real element of relevance to our theme of unity, when we saw in a very practical way how barriers are created and then how they can be effectively broken down.
Many different denominations were represented but theological differences were not in any way an issue. The ages ranged from toddlers to the oldest, who had reached her 100th year. It was simply a joyful service of shared Christian belief and had to be seen to be believed. This, when some of our churches are struggling with reduced numbers and an ever-increasing average age. It was heart-warming to witness that the Christian faith in this area is as strong as ever – and across a very wide age range too.
The service was followed by continuing fellowship and a faith lunch in the Church Hall. Despite the huge turnout for the event, the amount and variety of food provided demonstrated a unity both unspoken and unplanned and truly brought the event to a closure in an atmosphere of real fulfilment.
As a Church we will continue our friendship with those other Church communities in this network and share in the events and activities wherever possible. Those of us who attended look forward in eager anticipation to the next united gathering, when we hope that we can attend in even greater numbers.
Trevor R and John P,
Haworth Road
The service this year was led by a group of young people from the different churches, many of them from the Unite Youth Group. The theme for the service had been devised by a group of Christians in Germany but our Bradford youngsters added their own very personal interpretation and thoughts, to present what turned out to be a very challenging, thought- provoking and uplifting service. There was a real element of relevance to our theme of unity, when we saw in a very practical way how barriers are created and then how they can be effectively broken down.
Many different denominations were represented but theological differences were not in any way an issue. The ages ranged from toddlers to the oldest, who had reached her 100th year. It was simply a joyful service of shared Christian belief and had to be seen to be believed. This, when some of our churches are struggling with reduced numbers and an ever-increasing average age. It was heart-warming to witness that the Christian faith in this area is as strong as ever – and across a very wide age range too.
The service was followed by continuing fellowship and a faith lunch in the Church Hall. Despite the huge turnout for the event, the amount and variety of food provided demonstrated a unity both unspoken and unplanned and truly brought the event to a closure in an atmosphere of real fulfilment.
As a Church we will continue our friendship with those other Church communities in this network and share in the events and activities wherever possible. Those of us who attended look forward in eager anticipation to the next united gathering, when we hope that we can attend in even greater numbers.
Trevor R and John P,
Haworth Road
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