Some beautiful feedback from the Ballymacarrett Prayer Room
C S Lewis wrote once about being surprised by joy, and in Ballymacarrett, a place he would have known well, we have been surprised by that same joy.
We got off to a stuttering start because it had been difficult to sell the concept in the middle of carol services, parties and general Christmas involvement. After our Sunday service, though, we took off, with only the slots from midnight to six being difficult to fill. Many people came forward to fill the hours and in a largely elderly church I was amazed, and humbled by the response.
I was humbled again by the response of the people after their hours of prayer. There has not been even a single note of negativity (surely rare in a church environment). People have brought in fruit, sweets and goodies for those who followed, but the desire for a place of peace a place of nearness to God is the single most common thread in the experience of those who prayed. The only problem there has been in this latter end of the week is that the need for more prayer slots cannot be met.
As the early Celtic, would have identified it, we now have a near place, somewhere we can be close to God and that we do not want to lose. The desire now is to continue with this place of nearness and already we are talking about a monthly 24/7 event and as an former parishioner of Bangor Abbey, where 24/7 probably started on this island around the sixth century, I can only agree.
It would be our prayer that as we pass the scroll on to St Clements on Saturday that they and those who follow them may share in that joy we have experienced.
Read more about the year of 24–7 prayer here.