Bishop’s Address to Diocesan Synod – Nurturing Prayer
Diocesan Bishop’s Address to Synod – 18th May 2024
Bishop Paul opened his address by thanking Synod for their service over the last three years, with particular thanks to Michael Arlington for his service to the diocese as Chair of the Finance Committee, highlighting the unique combinationof financial knowledge, wisdom and vision that he brings.
Bishop Paul emphasised that our refreshed vision is building on the work from 2015/16, and that the vision in 2015/2016 was itself a refresh of the previous vision. There is much to inspire and motivate us as a Synod and Diocese as we reflect on the outworking of prayer in the past.
Focusing on the refreshed vision, Bishop Paul shared that while nurturing prayer is just one of the 7 focus areas in terms of strategic shaping, it is a vital foundation for everything we do. He urged Synod to pursue prayer above all else, stating that the consequence of prayer is that we are transformed into God’s image, we are re-surrendered to God, and we are catapulted into the adventure of following Christ. Without prayer, all our activity becomes humanly driven.
To explore this further, Bishop Paul spoke on Colossians 4:2, ‘Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful’, and drew attention to two words. Being ‘Watchful ‘is about recognising what God is doing and how we can be led by God, while being ‘thankful’ does not neglect the awareness of our need, but is above all grateful for the gospel that we have been given to share.
“Prayer is a statement of dependence/humility, but also of longing/desire, above all for more of the presence of the Lord…it is not something that is safe and easy (like a sort of sacred avoidance strategy) – it propels us into the centre-ground of the adventure of following Jesus, which will be thrilling and scary in equal measure.”
Bishop Paul
Alongside the passage, Bishop Paul shared a helpful quote from John Wesley, ‘Prayer is where the action is.’ As we pray, we are humbling ourselves before God and drawn into His action each day, with compassion, confidence, and courage. Bishop Paul then shared this inspiring story from Nottingham’s rich history:
A year or so ago I came across the account of a daily prayer meeting hosted in the 1750’s by a Mr Matthew Bagshaw, who lived in the notorious slum district of Nottingham, known as Narrow Marsh. This was near the start of the 18th century revival, and Bagshaw had come to faith through the preaching of John Wesley on an earlier visit to the city.
His house was at the bottom of Long Stairs below High Pavement, close to St Mary’s. A diarist at the time put it like this: “The place was not very commodious, but Matthew was an ardent Methodist, and therefore possessed of an inventive genius, he resolved to counteract the defect as much as possible.
He could not enlarge his premises but he managed by an ingenious contrivance, to double the amount of available hearing space. He broke through the chamber floor, and made a large opening into the room below (so several hundred people could crowd in to join the prayer meeting). It was from this place that Matthew had the honour of being committed to the House of Correction by the Mayor of Nottingham.
The charge against him was that he encouraged a gospel prayer meeting without the consent of the authorities” – that included especially the Church of England, which was spiritually and morally asleep during most of that period. The diarist continued:
“Many of the persons who were in the habit of attending the meetings went voluntarily to prison with him. As a consequence Nottingham Gaol itself was soon turned into a gospel meeting and singing and praying went on merrily. This the Keeper of the Gaol could not bear, and he complained to the Mayor about it. Orders were given for their discharge, and returning triumphantly to Narrow Marsh they went on holding their meetings for prayer in Matthew’s house.”
Within a year a rudimentary chapel was built nearby in Hockley, to host 500. In the two decades that followed, a great number of people professed a new faith commitment, many new churches were planted and the whole city was blessed – crime was reduced and commerce flourished. By the mid-19th century it would need to happen again.
Continuing with this theme, Bishop Paul highlighted two prayer movements currently taking place in Nottingham on the second Thursday of the month:
1. Nottingham City Prayer, which recently hosted a Thy Kingdom Come gathering with 1,000 people from different churches and denominations to pray for our city and nation. Everyone is welcome to join their gatherings of prayer and worship at 7.00am on the second Thursday of the month hosted at churches across the city.
2. FUEL which is an evening gathering of prayer and worship attended by youth groups from across the diocese, hosted by Trinity Church. There are wonderful stories of young people meeting with God and growing in prayer.
Bishop Paul concluded by encouraging Synod that it would be wonderful if the story and journey of this Diocese, as we implement the refreshed vision, was about the action of God fuelled by prayer, trusting that the Lord will always lead us in his mission.
You can read a summary from the APCM and Synod here