Women’s World Day of Prayer 2008
It was a great joy for St. Mary's to be able to host this year's Women's World Day of Prayer service on Friday 6th March. The Service was prepared by the Christian women of Guyana to be used in churches worldwide. St. Mary's Ewell has been twinned with St. Mary's, Corriverton, Guyana, for over twenty years, where Father Simon is the incumbent. Our 2007 Lent Project had been to raise funds for a brick-built church in Corriverton, so the occasion was very special.
The theme of the Service was "God's wisdom provides New Understanding", and we acknowledged the wisdom of God in the marvellous works of creation thinking especially of Guyana, whose name means "land of many waters". We were guided by Theresa Baker, our church representative, through a time of praise, prayer, Bible readings from Job, and the story of Mary and Martha, which is close to many women's hearts. A special treat was a circle dance to the anthem "Sophia, Hokmah, Sapientia [wisdom].
The Vicar, Canon Hanford, gave the Address, focussing on some appropriate "pairings". We heard more about our experiences from being twinned with the Corriverton church.. The next pairing was of two wisdom churches; Santa Sophia at Istanbul, now a museum, but built as a cathedral dedicated to the Second Person of the Trinity called Hagia Sophia [Sacred Wisdom} and a small church locally at Kingswood known as The Church of the Wisdom of God. The final "pairing" was that of the sisters Mary and Martha, whose relationship with Jesus we had heard about in the reading, highlighting that the practical outworking of our faith starts with a devotional life.
We were pleased to have the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of Epsom and Ewell, David Wood and his sister with us in the congregation. Theresa expressed our thanks to the local committee the flower arrangers and to the refreshment ladies, and concluded by welcoming everyone to the Hall for afternoon tea.
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