Village churches unite for World Prayer Day service with ‘wonderful’ theme

ABOUT 75 people from Sonning Common gathered in the Springwater Church to observe World Prayer Day.

An interdenominational service was held at the church in Blounts Court Road which was prepared by the Christian Ladies of the Cook Islands.

The theme of this years’ service was “I made you wonderful” from Psalm 139, which was intended to celebrate the knowledge that each person is “unique, precious, valuable, and unconditionally loved by God”.

Each year, a service is written by Christian women from alternating countries. It is a tradition that started in the United States in 1926 to unite women across races, culture and traditions through their shared faith.

The service started with a prayer for peace around the world and was led by women from the host church. They read a service written by the Cook Islands women: “God knows us intimately and we are special to God in our uniqueness. When we open the doors of our hearts to this truth everything in our life changes.

“We glow from within and we begin treating others as beloved children of God. Through this service we hope people will be spiritually uplifted as they come to trust the great love of God.”

Three letters written by women by the Cook Islands were read out by members of the congregation.

Sian Lovett, 68, said that the service was uplifting at a time with “so much going on in the world”. She said: “It was a lovely service and it was absolutely packed.

“It was very friendly and the service itself was beautiful. During the letters from three ladies, a young person, a middle-aged person and an older lady, detailing what they had experienced in their lives and some of the difficulties they had faced, were read.

“These were read out by three different people, one of whom was a 16-year-old who did it beautifully, it was really touching.”

A choir comprising members of six churches in the Sonning Common area performed songs, including two that were written specially for the service by Ruru Maeva from the Cook Islands.

Ms Lovett said that she felt that the songs evoked images of the country where they were written. She said: “The songs were very gentle and reflected the waves and gave you a picture of that.

“The countries are allocated five years in advance and it’s amazing how often it comes at the right time. Last year, it was the Christian Ladies of Palestine. It was very timely and, although it had been written five years before, it was really pertinent to what was happening at the time.”

Following the service, the congregation was served a supper and friendship bracelets were handed out. The next World Day of Prayer will be written by the Christian women of Nigeria.