Neighbours join in the Lord’s Prayer together
Many people across the diocese took part in Saturday’s Day of Prayer and Fasting and at 8.00 pm prayed the Lord’s Prayer on their doorstep. Some had the joy of sharing the experience with their neighbours.
Revd Niall and Gerry Griffin are retired and live on an estate in Rostrevor, Co Down. “Niall went to each of the 42 houses in our estate,” explains Gerry. “We are the only Protestants living here and most of the folks are well known to us. Many of them responded with an immediate ‘yes’ to doing this and thought it was a great idea. On Saturday evening Niall went up and down the streets and folk came out, maybe as many as 30. He led us loudly in the prayer and then we clapped the Lord! We agreed to do this again next week so Niall will go to them again and weather permitting we will pray together. There was a great atmosphere of desire and agreement and we do thank God and Bishop David for the idea.”
Revd Peter Bourke, rector of St Jude’s, said: “I was blown away with the response on my street. At 8.00 pm I was joined by about 10 neighbours whom I invited to join me to pray The Lord’s Prayer. Even an atheist who came out for moral support!”
Revd Jono Pierce, rector of St Finnian’s Cregagh, dropped a little note into seven nearby houses explaining the initiative and inviting people to come out and share the Lord’s Prayer at their gate:
“Four households made their way to near our gate and after sharing the Lord’s Prayer we stood a good distance apart and just chatted about home schooling and the challenges and joys of lockdown. We hadn’t met some of the people before as they are quite new, and we don’t often see our neighbours day to day. It was a really moving and beautiful thing to do together. Being honest I didn’t expect anyone to turn up but people seemed keen to build community and try to live differently. In the note I explained about how we ring the bells for the NHS on Thursday nights for 5 minutes and for hope on Fridays at 12 noon and invited the neighbours to connect into our Facebook page if they want us to pray for anyone during the bell ringing.”