[37] A visit to All Saints

Then we prayed in pairs, on a similar theme.

Next we gathered together to share our thoughts and experiences of being here tonight. It was a great encouragement to reflect on the range of feedback, and how each person shared exactly what they felt, regardless of if it was different to what others had said. And also how well we listened to each other as a group.

This is what we are taking forward from our time at All Saints.

What we learnt about the House of Prayer community

• We realised that when we gather together as a community we feel God's presence and peace. When we first thought about developing a rhythm of prayer together we realised it is a structure for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. This is a great encouragement - the Holy Spirit is dwelling among us!

• There is a very large stone altar in the centre of All Saints. God used this to speak to us about the house of prayer - it is always to be a place where we feast on Jesus Christ - the Bread of Life. 

• There is a bell pull in the church and again God reminded us through this about the Hope Bell in the Bargate, and our role of calling people to pray and declaring God's hope in our prayers.

• The house of prayer may not have a permanent home to start off with, but there will be starting point.

• In our prayers we felt a great deal of encouragement and intercession for All Saints. This is part of our assignment - to pray for Southampton.

Location of the House of Prayer

Being here at All Saints made us wonder about the location of the House of Prayer. It was a very useful exercise to imagine 'what if it were here?'. This made us think about what is going to be important about the space and the place where we begin praying.

• not to be too big

• a location accessible to students

• we need a space that allows us to be creative, expressive, artistic

• should it be in a central location, and not in the east, north or west?