WELCOME TO ST MARY'S AND ALL SOULS
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Take a look at the churches in the Benefice from the air |
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St Mary's and All Souls Services We will post any revisions to services here and on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StMarysAndAllSouls |
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St Mary's and All Souls latest Newsletter |
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PCC Papers You can now download minutes and other PCC documents from the PCC page |
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Food Bank latest needs: https://bromleyborough.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/ *PLEASE DON'T SEND US FROZEN OR CHILLED ITEMS AS WE DON'T HAVE THE CORRECT STORAGE FOR IT AND IT SPOILS BEFORE WE CAN DISTRIBUTE IT* WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF PASTA, CEREAL & BISCUITS
Thank you!
Judith Simmonds will be taking the Parish contributions towards the end of the month so please drop your donations into our box in the porch before then. |
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The Church Of England Daily Prayer |
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Rev Michael writes:
Christian Unity – Something to pray for
For a week in January each year Christians across the world join together in prayer for Christian Unity and Christians in Orpington are no exception. This January there will be a united service on Sunday 25th January at Orpington Baptist Church at 7pm.
As I write this article the debate over the introduction of Prayers of Love and Faith in standalone services is causing division and frustration in the Church of England again and I was reminded of the need for Christian Unity in our own church. Prayers for Christian Unity have a long tradition and I have described below the events that have led to the current practice of prayer for unity in this week in January.
The basis for unity prayer goes right back to New Testament times and this New Testament evidence is the basis for the World Council of Churches proposal that each week throughout the year, the Churches should all pray for all the Churches in one particular part of the world i.e. mutual intercession. This concept is biblically based in that Jesus prays for his disciples that they may be one. Prayer for unity has been the mainspring of ecumenical advance and a special prayer for unity may have its origins in the Methodist minister Henry Lunn who in 1890 called a number of British Church leaders together to discuss 'home reunion'. The momentum grew and the world-wide Faith and Order movement in 1920 encouraged an annual week of prayer for the unity of the Church, ending on the day of Pentecost. This was the forerunner of the current Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which evolved in 1966 when complete agreement was reached between the World Council of Churches and the Vatican Secretariat for promoting Christian Unity for the week of 18th-25th January. As mentioned above, the World Council of Churches has extended mutual intercession further through an ecumenical prayer cycle where each week throughout the year, the Churches all pray for all the Churches in one particular part of the world. It can be seen from the timescale of the development of unity prayer that progress on a universal ecumenical level takes many years and this has to be borne in mind with any progress towards Christian unity. Despite this apparent inertia, at varying paces, the Churches have proceeded from simultaneous, to joint prayer for unity.
As an extension to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, many religious communities follow the practice of lighting a candle week by week - the Thursday candle - accompanied by the prayer: "Grant that in you who are perfect love, we may find the way that leads to unity, in obedience to your love and truth". This practice of candle lighting draws on a long history of their use in the Christian spiritual tradition since candles were in normal use in Christian worship by the fourth century and there is also evidence of earlier use. Candles not only have a long history of use in Christian Worship but also enjoy a wide popularity among different denominations and it is thus very appropriate for them to be used as a symbol of unity in the prayer life of ecumenically minded Christians.
As you can see, it has taken many years for this week of prayer to be established and this year I would commend you to pray for Christian Unity particularly in our own national church so that we can continue to preach the gospel to this land in a powerful and united way.
May God bless you all.
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