We are gathering at Holy Trinity Weston this month for the birth of a new church.
Yes, a new church is being planted in Weston!! We will be praying together with them at the citywide prayer meeting on Sunday 4th June at 6.30pm.
This is indeed a historic moment and as we look at the story, it goes back a long way!
- Holy Trinity Weston was planted from Peartree Church on Trinity Sunday in 1865. Which means we are meeting on Holy Trinity’s 158th birthday!
- Peartree Church has a long history – it is the oldest Anglican church anywhere in the world. It was the first purpose-built Anglican building after the Reformation; built in 1618 and consecrated in 1620.
- The curate of Peartree, William Hulton, became the first minister of Holy Trinity in 1865 and was a good friend Lord Radstock, who was a member of the Brethren church in Woolston (Ebenezer Hall).
- Lord Radstock was an evangelist to Russia and great advocate of cross-denominational partnership, and his family also worshipped at Holy Trinity.
- The Ebenzeer Hall relocated to Weston in the 1970s and it’s where the current vicar of Weston (Daron Medway) went to a Christian club as a child.
- The Ebenezer Hall became the Hope Centre a few years back, with ongoing support from Kings Community Church, Hedge End.
- The new church we’re praying for this Trinity Sunday is a collaboration between Holy Trinity Weston and Kings Community Church.
It is wonderful to see this working together over the years and how God has brought this about.
For us in Southampton House of Prayer, it is a great encouragement because in the summer of 2019 we felt the Holy Spirit call us to go and pray in Weston. Here is an extract from our blog:
WESTON
Kathy had a very clear encounter in the prayer room earlier in July, with specific instructions about where to pray in and around Weston. Some of us met up there on Monday 15 July in the evening and were greatly encouraged by the way the Holy Spirit led us.
On the evening we were invited by one of the GPs at Weston Lane Surgery to come in and pray. The Living Well Partnership has stepped out to merge with other surgeries in the area and this is stretching all their resources in every area as they are trying to make changes to keep up with the wider changes in the NHS. We prayed for God’s grace and provision to flow. We were reminded of God’s instruction to Moses in Exodus 17 to strike the rock with his staff and then water would flow for the people.
God is speaking about doing something new in Southampton, which will start from the east. During our prayer walk we felt that God was saying that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We believe God will start something in the east that spreads out over the whole city. We have heard this from several other sources. We are pressing in to join with those already praying and listening out to ‘hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches’
You may have heard that our Prime Minister visited that same GP surgery this month to see something of the innovation and good work that has come out of the struggles of the staff there.
And now a new church is being planted too.
So we greatly rejoice. We continue to pray for God’s moving in our city and look to him to move deeply across the whole city.
Please join us on this historic day, and even if you can’t, continue in your prayers for the Holy Spirit to revive the church and rewire the culture of our city.
For more info on Citywide Prayer, see our main page.