Lindisfarne Part of Invercargill Prayer Initiative

The  Soaking our City in Prayer initiative was borne out of a response to a spike in suicides in the Southland region some years ago. Revived in 2023, this  year the initiative started in May and over 20 weeks, 20 churches responded to the collective call for prayer. Each church was scheduled a weeklong period for intentional prayers. At the conclusion of their devotions, each church passed on to the next church scheduled to pray, a lamp and a journal where the parish recorded what they did for the week.

Lindisfarne Methodist Church took a novel approach that involved the congregation and grabbed the attention of many passing non-church goers. Rev Tania Shackleton says, “We started our intentional week with our Sunday Service, taking our prayers for our city written onto fabric and tying the fabric prayers onto our fence. This was a fabulous conversation starter as folk asked what the significance of the fabric was. We could share, and people really liked the thought that we were praying.”

During a week of lunchtime services, members of the congregation gathered to reflect and pray. Tania says the parish was motivated to participate in the programme by their willingness to be involved in the community beyond their church. “I really want us to be part of our city. We joined the initiative with no expectations - I am always surprised by where these things lead us.” 

Central Baptist Church Pastor and Churches Together Coordinator  Keith Harrington distributed a prayer guide to each of the participating churches, inviting them to pray for:

• Those in leadership

• Salvation

• The Church

• Young People

• Those who are vulnerable

Serving the City

At the conclusion of Soaking our City in Prayer, some of the churches – including Lindisfarne – were motivated to take church to the community in a practical display of caring for God’s creation. On Sunday 15 September, 200 volunteers from five churches embarked on 14 projects ranging from planting trees, to clearing up untidy public sites, overhauling pre-loved cycles, cleaning windows and numerous other gestures of generosity.

Lindisfarne parishioners chose ‘South Alive’ for their working bee and in lieu of attending the Sunday Service, a troupe from the congregation grabbed bins, bags, paint and brushes and devoted their morning to picking up rubbish and revamping fencing in local  parks and laneways.

Tania says, “Going forward, we are looking forward to being in community praying and serving and sharing. “