"One more step on the journey"

Schools Service 6th July 2008

Display of work from the Schools

St Thomas the Martyr - Roby Mill - Bishop Martin

We may have been tired from the variety show the night before but there was still a lot of energy around at the Sunday morning service. The congregations of St Thomas the Martyr and Christ the Servant joined together at St Thomas church with children, staff and families from our three schools - Roby Mill, St Thomas and Bishop Martin - for a service to celebrate all that we share together.

We continued with the theme from Holy Week “in the footsteps of Jesus” as we remembered that this was “one more step on the journey”. Children from all three schools took part in the procession and led our prayers, using hoops that they had decorated to reflect our prayer themes of Schools, Community and the World. The sermon slot was led by children from Roby Mill who helped us reflect on the gift of learning. Children from St Thomas the Martyr led some music before the service and the Junior Choir sang during communion. In Holy Week we had learnt a dance in the schools as part of our last supper celebration so we used that in place of the gloria and the children danced in the aisle.

Afterwards Judith commented “The service was wonderful. There was a real buzz and people were very enthusiastic. Many commented on how lovely it was to see the children and their families and to celebrate the work in our schools. There was a mixture of generations all enjoying themselves and the dancing in the aisle was great.”

We’re hoping that this will become an annual joint celebration. Of course, this isn’t the only time we join in worship with our schools. There are other times in the year, particularly around major festivals and end of term Eucharists. Please continue to pray for our schools as we journey together and don’t forget to regularly check these pages for details of all we do together.

Prayer Hoops decorated by the children

World - Bishop Martin

Community - St Thomas the Martyr ... Schools - Roby Mill