Members joined in our Wave of Prayer in different ways across Suffolk. Many members joined in from their homes, including Linda Ginn (picture above). But some branches managed to meet up in person, with careful adherance to the rules. Here are two accounts.
Christine Ward, Shotley Peninsula branch reported: we met for Wave of Prayer in a shelter in my garden on Thursday at 2 pm and on Friday at 11 am, so that numbers were low. We met outside under a garden shelter with a gazebo alongside for extra room. There were 3 sides in place of a possible 8 so plenty of fresh air. We sat 2mtrs apart and folk were guided in and offered sanitiser before taking a seat. They brought their own printed sheet and I had spares printed the day before. We chatted for 25 mins and then listened to ‘The Ipswich Blessing on Wednesday and then ‘Bless the Lord O my soul’ by Matt Redford as we prayed our personal prayer and quieted ourselves. I led the WoP but we shared the Readings round the circle. Both times it was well received. To hear other voices around you praying was moving. As I opened the prayers first time I got a lump in my throat which took a lot of swallowing. There was juice and water on a table with a safe route worked out. It lasted for 1 hour. A Risk Assessment was done!!
Anne Wright from Woodbridge branch said: At St. Mary’s in Woodbridge we were not able to have our usual meeting beginning with a church service and going on to St. Mary’s Church Centre to have tea and cake and a chance for a chat. We decided we could meet outside in three groups of about six people, two groups met at members homes and the third in the churchyard; all members would be able to get to one of the meetings as they were spread around the town. We each worked through the service provided by Diocese and talked about our links. Afterwards we had tea and an opportunity to chat; members felt it was lovely to see each other face to face having only communicated over the telephone. We are now thinking that we could meet in a similar way for Mary Sumner Day.