In nearly every city stands a beautiful cathedral, huge ornate structures which once stood as a beacon to an entire community - places of pilgrimage that even those with little or no faith see as a reminder of the great achievements of previous generations.
Sadly, to many people today, these great cathedrals are nothing more than tourist attractions, monuments to a meaningless religious ideal and their tradition of worship - viewed as quaint and irrelevant.
But imagine every cathedral across our nation simultaneously filled with the light of life and songs of hope.
Our vision is to do this, and the most appropriate night is October 31st - known as Halloween. Why this night?
For two reasons:
That on a night associated with darkness and fear, what better message can we bring than one of light in the darkness and hope in the face of fear?
This night is not Halloween but All Hallows Eve, the night before All Saints Day, a day to celebrate the fact that God can take ordinary human beings and use them in extraordinary ways.
The vision is becoming reality. In 2000 we started in Canterbury Cathedral and slowly more and more events are taking place around the nation; this year there are events in Canterbury, Guildford, Manchester (0161 962 2414), Carlisle (01228 548 151) and Rochester (01634 315 135) - that we know about!
Our vision is of beacons in the darkness - fires being lit across the nation. Signs that even in our darkest moments, communities and nations have a reason to hope.
All Saints Praise - Lights in the Darkness
All Saints Praise 2008
Lights in the Darkness
The vision is becoming a reality!
We dream of all 44 cathedrals in England being filled with praise on All Hallows Eve and this year our dream came a step closer with events being held in five Cathedrals across the length of the country!
Canterbury At Canterbury we started with a fire alarm, which led to the congregation being evacuated. We returned to worship , led by Helen Gallagher, Leigh Barnard, and the People Without Limits Band, to pray and to listen in a place where people have been doing these things for over 1,400 years!
The guest speaker, Patrick Regan of XLP, reminded us of God's people to go and "love the hell out of people"!
If you would like a brief taste of the event take a look at the short video below:
Carlisle "Lightfest" Carlisle's event was organised by Michael Manley the Cathedral's Missioner. There was an afternoon event when about thirty kids - dressed up as princesses and warriors - had a star wars themed party. They had a great fun time and at least one child made a commitment to Jesus! Eric Delve spoke to around sixty folk at the evening adult service and around twenty came forward for ministry.
Ben Mattinson and a young band - who were brilliant - led worship and the Bishop of Carlisle, Graham Dow, was in active attendance during both the afternoon and evening which gave further encouragement.
Guildford Jeremy Taylor from St Mary's Church West Horsley who co-ordinated the event reports:
An estimated one thousand people attended this contemporary service. Guest speaker Adrian Plass was on great form and amused the congregation with his wit and greatly challenged the throughout his talk.
The excellent Stilltime band led a selection of popular songs which had a broad appeal and the staff from Sound by Design ensured the cathedral was filled with the joyous sounds of uplifting worship.
Intercessors from Millmead and St Saviours, together with Steve Locke of St Mary's prayed for the nation with emphasis on the church, on our government, on children and families. Tom Henner also of St Mary's, read from the book of Acts 9:10-20 on which Adrian based his talk.
Part of the offering is to go to the Ugandan Mothers Union Project, called 'Feeding of the Lambs'.
The team, which consisted of leaders, car parking attendants, welcomers and ushers all did a splendid job.
Rochester Over 300 people gathered in Rochester Cathedral for a time of worship, celebration and prayer organised by Churches Together in Medway.
Worship was led by Worship Jam, a collection of musicians and singers drawn from across the Medway churches. In addition they were joined by a steel band from St Francis church in Strood, which brought a different feel to some of the times of worship. We had invited Wes Sutton to speak and he challenged the churches in Medway to be the light that Jesus calls us to be.
So the people present went out singing 'When the Saints'. Jesus was certainly praised that night, a brilliant contrast to what is normally seen on Halloween.
Manchester All Saints Praise in Manchester Cathedral was a day earlier on the 30th (which wasn't a mistake it was just that the cathedral was not available on the 31st). But it did mean that Eric could speak at two ASP events in one year! Arnold Muwonge and his team at NDE organised this event which drew leaders from across the city to encourage prayers for the region. The 350 or so strong congregation enjoyed lively worship led by a great young band and responded enthusiastically to the four sessions of the prayer focussing on different aspects of ministry in the city.
Future Events All the organisers of this years events seemed very keen to hold similar ones next year and we thank God for his goodness and pray that even more catch the vision for All Saints Praise next year.
If you are planning to hold an ASP event in your local Cathedral in 2009 please do let us know or, if you would like to and are not sure how to start please contact us - we'd like to help. Email admin@peoplewithoutlimits.org.uk
