Pray for the Parish of the Risen Lord, Preston as it discerns how best to use an old mission building to proclaim and embody the Gospel today.  St Matthew’s Mission is Victorian building from which various community groups currently operate (e.g. Street Pastors).  With support from the Church Urban Fund, it is carrying out a feasibility study to see how it can best renovate the building for new projects addressing the needs of young people, at a time of very high unemployment.  This phase of exploration and discernment will involve a practical pilot project involving a work club and a youth cafe.

In the 1920s and 1930s, St Mary’s Somers Town (now in the Parish of Old St Pancras) was home of Fr Basil Jellicoe’s ‘Magdalen College Mission’, which transformed the slums of the parish into affordable and decent housing.  Here as in Preston, Christians are discerning how a historic vision of mission applies to todays challenges.  The Contextual Theology Centre has founded the Jellicoe Community which seeks to embody Fr Jellicoe’s vision in a new generation of Christians, helping churches across north-east London engage in community organising.  Dominic Keech’s blogpost explains the work he did as a Jellicoe Intern in Somers Town last summer.  Pray for the Parish of Old St Pancras, and other churches which host Jellicoe Interns.