Prayer-on-the-Hill feedback
26 July 2010
This was the third year in succession that ‘Churches Together in Weston and District' have gathered above the town to pray for its welfare. The ancient ruined church at Uphill overlooks the whole area - and has been a site of Christian worship since the 3rd Century. The hilltop is an inspiring place to pray, perched above the Bristol Channel, with panoramic views across to Wales, southward to Devon, northward to Bristol and eastwards across Somerset villages and the Mendips towards Wells and London beyond.
Musicians from across the churches led extended times of worship - we heard afterwards that the sound wafted over all the homes below, where residents could even hear the words of the songs. A Town Councillor (a member of one of the local churches) gave a word of testimony and thanked the churches for their prayers for the Town Council and our MP. The PDF document (earlier sent to you by Jane) provided an ongoing Aide Memoire for local Christians to pray for Weston and Area over the next 12 months. There will also now be a series of ‘Town Prayer Meetings' - to be called ‘Weston-super-Prayer'. The name in no way implies that we are expert pray-ers or any kind of intercessory elite ! The word ‘super' just means ‘over' our community.
As in previous years, ‘Prayer-on-the-Hill' was a most uplifting event, expressing Christian unity and combining moving live worship with prayers of blessing for the welfare of the communities we live among. The Lord blessed us with a fine sunset to round off the event. The Weston Mercury covered the event. The numbers attending are a bit exaggerated in their report - and we prayed for the overall wellbeing of our 72000 neighbours, not just their material prosperity! From this autumn, we hope to come down from intercession on the hilltop to add prayer-walking of our streets, alongside the night work of our Street Pastor teams and other regular kinds of day-time witness, such as Healing-on-the-Streets (HOTS). In 1607 Weston suffered amid the only recorded tsunami to hit Britain, which surged up the Bristol Channel, flooding a huge area of Wales and Somerset. Now we are praying for a flood of blessing to come upon our towns and the villages around - on both sides of the estuary!
John Simons
Crosswinds Christian Trust
