Church, community and school children came together in the Launde Minster Community to celebrate World Day of Prayer 2025 earlier this month.
The church of St Michael and All Angels in Hallaton was packed to the rafters for a ‘joyful’ service on Friday 7 March which, this year, was prepared by the Christian women of the Cook Islands in the Pacific. It reflected their culture, experiences, joy, and deep faith.
Based on Psalm 139, the theme was ‘I made you wonderful’ - God created us, God knows us, God is with us.
This ‘wonderful message’ was shared in church with around 70 adults and 65 children from the Hallaton Church of England Primary School, who took part in reading the experiences of a young woman in the Cook Islands and singing the theme song ‘Wonderfully Made’.
Talking about the relationship between church, school and community, Headteacher of Hallaton Primary, Claire Stevens, said: “We are very lucky to have our school located right next to a church, which we value as an important part of our community.
“Joining with members of our parish and surrounding villagers for services is a really important aspect of our children’s experience at Hallaton.”
She added: “We jumped at the chance to join in with the World Day of Prayer celebration because it helped our children understand and reach a global community, outside our small village. The service was a vibrant and lively celebration of 'How Wonderful' we all are!”
Deepening connections through conversation and extending hospitality to all who attended, refreshments were served after the service.
Revd Jayne Lewis, Co-Area Dean, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed being in the congregation for a change. It was an inspiring and memorable service powerfully led by the volunteers from the Hallaton and Coplow Benefices’ parishes and Hallaton Primary School.”
On the following Sunday, the Launde Parishes Zoom Service extended the celebrations further and used the liturgy and music from the World Day of Prayer service to include and make accessible this worship to those who were unable to attend the service in church.
Already a popular, regular, online service for members of the Minster Community and its own online worshipping community, 30 people joined in on this occasion.
