Last Thursday 9 July 2015, Rev Christine Williams and her husband John welcomed the Thurrock Leaders’ Prayer group for the first time since the church building of St Mary the Virgin in Dock Road, Little Thurrock, recently went through some significant re-ordering.
Gone are the pews, replaced by comfortable chairs. The grand piano that once stood at the front of the interior now lives in the Woolmarket in Horndon on the Hill. At the back, a kitchen and toilet have been fitted. There is a springy new carpet, and the walls have had a fresh coat of white paint.
The whole effect is fresh and bright, with a sense of ‘fit for purposefulness’.
The medieval pilgrims who passed through this building long ago would have approved.
The 13 local ministers who gathered together last Thursday prayed for the work of St Mary’s in the former village of Little Thurrock. It was not forgotten that we all need a bit of re-ordering… that our communities require re-ordering… that our Creator God is in the business of re-ordering, re-creating, and making all things new.
Rev Andy Higgs reminded us that in 2004 it was in St Mary’s that the vision for Bar’N’Bus was first put forward.
Thanks were also given for the numerous 24-7 Prayer weeks and days that took place in St Mary’s between 2003 and 2007 under the auspices of Rev Lynley Lee. Christine is now thinking of using the ancient building to host another week of creative, continuous prayer.
Now the TLP have visited once, we hope we’ll be visiting again from time to time!
If you would like to host a TLP gathering on a Thursday morning from 8.30 to 9.30am, please get in touch. It would be good to meet in Fobbing, Horndon on the Hill, Bulphan, Orsett, Tilbury Town, West Thurrock, and South Ockendon.