Praise in the Park
This year’s Praise in the Park event was organised by Syston Churches Together, which is made up of St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Syston Methodist Church and the Catholic Church of the Divine Infant of Prague. Syston Churches Together meet several times a year and share in ecumenical prayer once a month, working together to reveal and share God’s love within their community.
An intergenerational group of Syston people came together in fellowship and prayer. The sun shone as the Syston ukulele band brought an upbeat, gospel flavour to the gathering, which saw more than 50 people sit outside among the flowers in the town’s Central Park Sundial Garden.
Reverend Biddy Saunders, curate in the parishes of Syston and Barkby, welcomed everyone and led the opening prayers in a service that was sprinkled with rousing hymns, readings and reflection.
“By bringing church outside we were demonstrating that church doesn’t have to be at 10am on a Sunday morning, in a building, and that we can all come together – people of faith, and of none,” says Reverend Biddy. “The main message is that no matter who you are or what you’re doing, God is here for you and we are a community. Everybody is welcome, anytime!”
Jane from the Catholic Church read a poem and finished with a prayer for the people of Ukraine. Margaret, from the Methodist church read the lyrics of the song ‘pray for a world where every child is free’. The Methodist minister, Reverend J Daniel Yovan, gave a reflection on what it means to come together.
The event brought together people of all ages. People joined in with the singing, clapping along and when the band struck up Shine Jesus Shine and The Spirit Lives to Set Us Free some felt the desire to dance. One little girl entertained the crowd with her dance.
All in all an entertaining event where people felt free to come together and demonstrate their solidarity to their community.