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Prayer Newsletter for Freedom Church Mereside
by Rev Linda Tomkinson
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Welcome to the second prayer letter for Freedom Church Mereside. You are receiving this email because we thought you might be interested in knowing what is going on with our church but you can unsubscribe from this list at any time using the link at the bottom of this email and you won't receive any more. 

Here's what's been happening since the last newsletter

We were delighted to host an 'Open House' on Friday 20th May, offering bacon sandwiches to raise money for Christian Aid. We served nearly 60 sandwiches to over 40 people and raised £150 for Christian Aid over the space of three hours. It was lovely to welcome so many people from the estate as well as folk from St Paul's and friends from other churches. Pete was a brilliant chef and keep the food flowing! 
Our new dining room was the busiest room that day - probably because that's where the brews were!
It was with great joy we celebrated our first church service in our own living room on Pentecost Sunday. It was a relaxed, informal, interactive service of Holy Communion at the end of which we anointed all 5 who were part of our first ever service.
Numbers are growing steadily and we now have a regular group of 7 who have been attending faithfully over the last few weeks.
Services are at 4pm on Sunday afternoons - please feel free to join us if you are ever in the area.
We have refreshments after the service and we serve the 'good' biscuits - the individually wrapped ones!
It was a real blessing to get away on retreat at the end of May. We went to St Beuno's in North Wales. It was a beautiful setting and the hosts there were wonderful. It was Pete's first retreat and one of his first questions after the silence ended was. 'Why do people look so miserable when they eat meals in silence?!'
We each had some special moments and came back feeling refreshed and blessed. 
Whilst on retreat, we got the fabulous news that Pete has been accepted to train as a Church Army Evangelist. It's a four year course starting in September and he's really looking forward to it!
Click on the logo to see the Church Army Website for more information about their work. 
The Whyndyke Car Boot sale (across the main road from the estate) attracts thousands of people every Sunday morning. As this is the largest gathering of people in Blackpool on a Sunday morning, we thought we would take church to them!
The tent was purchased from a bequest made in memory of Betty Avery, one of the first residents of Mereside. 
Inside the tent, people can light candles in memory of someone, or for healing. There are a few chairs where they can sit and pray or just sit and be still. There is always someone on hand if visitors need to talk or have someone pray with them, or if they just want information about their nearest church, or have questions about wedding baptisms or funerals. We were amazed at how popular this tent has been. We started on 29th May and each of the three times we have been there, between 40 and 60 people have accessed this tent!! 
Mereside Community Gospel Choir had it's first rehearsal on Monday 6th June in Tarnside Community Centre on Mereside. There is a wonderful committee who have been very supportive in getting it off the ground, helping with advertising, refreshments, marvellous singing abilities and great general support and I'm very grateful to each and every one of them.
Choir rehearsals are a relaxed and friendly affair with a small 'pause for thought' at the end where we take a little bit of time to think about the words we have been singing that evening. We already have two bookings - August and November so practice will continue all through the summer, but we are already making a joyful noise! 
Pray for our Church
Please continue to hold us in your prayers. Below are a few specifics.
  • Please pray that the projects we have already started, (services, choir and prayer tent) will continue to grow in numbers and in maturity as people are challenged to explore what faith could mean to them. 
  • Pete is still planning to start his bushcraft church in the summer. Please pray for him as he seeks to plan this and to seek God's direction with it.
  • We have settled in well to our new home now. It's got a lovely 'feel' and we want to continue to pray that it will be used for hospitality and ministry. 
  • We are still in talks with the Medical Centre on the estate about offering Christian meditation classes to people who live here who struggle with depression and anxiety. Please pray - God's will be done. 
  • Please also continue pray that we may gather a team of people around us who will support us in the work we are doing here. There are a few possibilities but we are trying to listen hard for God's direction in this. Pray that we may discern the gifts of others and facilitate their growth in faith and in confidence in God's calling in their lives! 
Pray for us
If you also want to pray for us then these are our personal prayer requests
  • Pete is going into hospital on Friday 17th June for an operation to re-attach a tendon in his shoulder. Please pray that all goes well with his operation, and that he has a speedy and painless recovery.
  • In light of that, Pete will be out of action for a little while after his operation so we are putting a call out for people to help us - specifically with the car boot prayer tent as it takes two people to set it up and take it down and Pete won't be able to do this for a while. Please pray for helpers to be forthcoming. 
  • Please pray for protection for us - both physically and spiritually, as individuals and as a couple. 
  • We have a weekend off coming up early in July - please pray for rest and refreshment. 
Thank you for taking the time to read this prayer letter. 
With blessings from
Rev Linda & Pete Tomkinson

For more information on our work you can email
revlindat@hotmail.co.uk

or phone
07784 325537

or come visit us at
Freedom House, 8 Langdale Road, Mereside, Blackpool, FY4 4RT

or follow us on Facebook using the link below
 
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Freedom Church Mereside · Freedom House · 8 Langdale Road · Blackpool, Bpl FY4 4RT · United Kingdom

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