We love working in partnership with churches, and it’s been a real joy and privilege to see the Mission Partner model develop, grow, and bear fruit over the last 2 years as we work more intentionally with churches to equip, encourage, and enable them to deliver school chaplaincy.
Greenstead with Colchester St Anne is one of our (now eight) Mission Partners, and this week Rev Sue Howlett shared some of the journey with us:
“Our deepening journey with one of the six primary schools in our parish was firstly built on decades of faithful ministry through clergy taking assemblies and collective worship in school. But I was conscious that there was more to be done to encourage children and staff to embrace what the church could offer. And so, it was after a powerful CYO prayer walk that things began to change dramatically! There was almost an instant change of attitude towards the church and doors previously closed, began to open.
With the help of CYO, we explored and now deliver Prayer Spaces for Year 6’s as they prepare to leave for secondary school; we begin the new school year with Tea and cake for the staff; we also celebrate that the KS2 children now come into the church (which is quite a hike!) for their Christmas service and end of year service for leavers. And again with the help of CYO training and partnership, we have been able to place two brilliant members of the congregation in school, starting their chaplaincy journey by mentoring students.
Their involvement and profile within the school has made a huge difference and at this year’s Collective Worship with Holy Communion, more staff attended, with one teacher saying that it was the most moving thing she’s been to in a school. It was joyous to have a couple more staff attending this service with one or two even responding to take communion.
We are looking forward to learning more about generation Alpha (the current generation in school) from CYO, so we can reach out more effectively with the Gospel to the children who have not yet heard about Jesus.”
Rev Sue Howlett
It’s so encouraging to see how this relationship between school and church has flourished. I love that it started with prayer, and that prayer led this church to have an increasing presence in the school. Prayer is powerful. God opens doors, creates opportunities, provides contacts, and sparks creativity as we pray.
Please pray for your local school. Pray for God’s blessing on the staff and students, and for wisdom for the leadership team, and please pray for opportunities for God’s love to be shared and made known.
And please pray for Rev Sue, her church(es) and the members who are serving in school. Pray that they might have more opportunities to serve, support, and help others explore the Christian faith.
find out more about Mission Partners