House of Prayer opening in Norwich
 The House of Prayer in Fishergate, Norwich was officially opened by Bishop Graham on March 28. Tania Barnett reports on the event.
By Tania Barnett
Recently I was sent a friendly e-mail from the Call to Prayer team, to invite me to their Inaugural service to celebrate the official opening of ‘House of Prayer, Fishergate, Norwich’, with the added enticement of coffee and cakes after the service!
Well, what a fantastic occasion and an exciting fruition of a long time of praying and organising for this special facility to emerge. The place was packed out on the morning of 28th March, 2011.
The service was a welcome mixture of worship, talks and, of course, prayer. I’m sure the community around Fishergate heard the joyous singing and happy buzz of chatter afterwards.
A moving part of the service for me was that it was truly ‘ecumenical’ – the team had carefully chosen traditional style hymns, as well as modern songs, and prayers. The speakers were the Bishop of Norwich, the Lord Mayor and other local church and city leaders.
It is to Call to Prayer’s credit that they have friends and supporters from many different churches as well as outside the church, and their ethos is truly ecumenical.
Bishop Graham spoke of the fundamental human need to pray, as evidenced in a Tear Fund survey, and Pastor Trevor Pimlott spoke of the ongoing vision of Call to Prayer and its importance to the church in this region.
Informally, I met old and new friends, brothers and sisters in Christ: a lady from a stone’s throw away – a magistrate at the Norwich Courts, a friend from Aylsham who worships in Norwich and a couple who worship in Cromer! From afar I saw a friend from Lowestoft (but never reached her, across the throng – never mind). And of course it was the warm and enthusiastic team members who convinced me to stay for another cuppa, just as I was leaving…and then I ate one too many pieces of cake too – in celebration of course!
Throughout, I felt an awesome sense of belonging and deep excitement in this mission. I was delighted by the use of this beautiful old church, so lovingly and obediently rejuvenated by ‘Call to prayer’ disciples. Thank you to Jill and her dedicated team.
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry and He shall say Here I am (Hinai ni). If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,…..And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.” (Isaiah 58: 9-10)
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