Corringham adds fuel to the Rock Thurrock fire
 Corringham Baptist Church (CBC) hosted the latest Rock Thurrock Prayer gathering on Friday 29 April.
After a long day in front of the telly watching the Royal Wedding, around 50 people turned out to pray into the various strands of what is for our borough a hugely ambitious project.
After a time of worship, we were welcomed by Bob Sullivan (left), pastor at CBC. This lead straight into an explanation of the Rock Thurrock Prayer Strategy by Tim Harrold, who in turn introduced the three young adults who are heading up the youth stream of Rock Thurrock Prayer - Elle Rew, Hannah Lawton and Steve Blakey (below right).
 They have some really creative ideas to engage young people (and adults!) in praying for the borough. These ideas include:
- prayer walks between churches
- two "24-1" prayer days at the Stanford Boiler Room and Grays Baptist Church
- get as many people as possible to join hands in prayer around the Civic Hall, and then launch Chinese lanterns as a sign of the Light rising over Thurrock. In the words of Isaiah 60:1-3:
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
The young people are also going to host four of the Rock Thurrock Prayer nights, on 3 June, 2 September, 23 September and 7 October (for venues see list below).
 We then watched a video that explained the Rock Thurrock Bring A Friend Initiative. Rock Thurrock's Core Team Leader, Colin Baker, explained that everyone is asked to pray for young people they are connected with and then take them to hear Will Graham - Billy Graham's grandson - present the good news of Jesus Christ at Thurrock Civic Hall on either of two nights on the weekend of 24 and 25 September.
CBC's Lyn Warren then encouraged everyone to split into four groups to pray for the Rock Thurrock Adult & Youth Prayer Streams; the Host Churches; the Bring A Friend Initiative; and Youth & Friends.
This was followed by a video presentation of the Rock Thurrock Christian Life & Witness Course, which is taking place in four venues on four nights a week for three weeks in June (see below). Colin explained how the CLWC works and why everyone should sign up for one of the courses. Bob then suggested three prayer groups to pray for course leaders, venues and attendees.
 Another video followed showing the Rock Thurrock FM419 course and the Main Rock Thurrock Events at the Civic Hall in September. Edwin Hughes also gave a brief explanation about the Rock Thurrock Community Action Projects where young people and adults will work together on projects such as gardening, litter picking and decorating in partnership with Besom and the Seabrooke Rise Community House. Andy Blakey also talked about the Rock Thurrock Velocity courses that will follow-up any harvest from the Main Rock Thurrock Events.
Helen Smith of CBC invited everyone to pray in groups for these three aspects of Rock Thurrock and also for the staff at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) who are working with the local Rock Thurrock team.
The evening closed with a rousing rendition of As Sure As Gold Is Precious (Revival) and after Pastor Bob closed in prayer, a time of fellowship.
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Rock Thurrock Prayer dates and venues
- NEXT ROCK THURROCK PRAYER: Friday 20 May - to pray for Rock Thurrock - at St Cedd's, Stifford Clays
- Friday 3 June - to pray for the following week's CLWC courses - to be led by young people at Grays Methodist Church
- Friday 10 June - to pray for the following week's CLWC courses - at Destiny Chapel, Culver Centre, South Ockendon
- Friday 17 June - to pray for the following week's CLWC courses at Open Door Christian Centre at the Belmont Village Hall, Parker Road, Grays RM17 5YN (off the London Road, adjacent to Stifford Primary School).
- Friday 22 July - to pray for Rock Thurrock (last before summer) at Aveley Christian Centre
- Friday 2 Sept - to pray for Rock Thurrock and FM419 course (half-night of prayer) - to be led by young people at Grays Baptist Church
- Friday 23 Sept - to pray for Rock Thurrock Civic Hall Events (this comes at the end of a week of prayer & fasting) - to be led by young people VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 30 Sept - thanksgiving event for Civic Hall events (inc. celebration) VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 7 Oct - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses - to be led by young people at Aveley Christian Centre
- Friday 14 Oct - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 21 Oct - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses at Linford Methodist Church
- Friday 28 Oct - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 4 Nov - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 11 Nov - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses at Aveley Christian Centre
- Friday 18 Nov - to pray for the following week's Velocity courses VENUE REQUIRED!
- Friday 25 Nov - thanksgiving event for end of Rock Thurrock project (inc. celebration) VENUE REQUIRED!
Christian Life & Witness Courses
- Mondays 6, 13, 20 June at Gates of Praise, Grays
- Tuesdays 7, 14, 21 June at Fruitful Land, Tilbury
- Wednesdays 8, 15, 22 June at Aveley Christian Centre
- Thursdays 9, 16, 23 June at Gateway People's Centre, Stanford
To sign up to do a CLWC and find location details of these venues, please follow this link... http://www.billygraham.org.uk/page.asp?pageID=125 or see the article on the left of the screen.
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