Churches to collect prayer points again
Posted: 02 Nov 2006 @ 00:00
THE Prayer Box Society, which placed boxes in supermarkets and invited the
customers to submit requests for prayer, is to resume its work after a
four-year interval.
The society, set up in 1998, ceased operations in 2001; but it had
successfully run boxes in Morrisons and Co-op supermarkets in south-east
London. Now the society has a new headquarters in Bristol, and will aim again
at targeting supermarkets. The idea is that a group of churches in the area
agree to pray for a week for each of the intentions placed in the box.
The society has now set itself up as a registered company, and is applying
for charitable status. Jenny James of the society said: "It is really good
after so long to be able to get the Prayer Box Society going again, which has
previously been such a support to the community."
One of its first new projects is an outdoor prayer cairn in Cootywell,
Inverness-shire, next to a holy well. The Forestry Commission has approved
plans to erect the cairn next to St Boniface's Well.
"We were contacted by a lady who felt that what was needed was a prayer
outlet, as visitors were using the well to dip cloths into, and they were then
left hanging on trees. The Forestry Commission has agreed to clear up the area,
and the prayer cairn will be put up later this year," said Mrs James.
Just a fantasy
A "Praystation" concept designed by a Scottish art student, Douglas
Maitland, has won him an RSA Design Directions award. The concept looks forward
to 2018, when, Mr Maitland says, "the Church has turned to technology as a
means of revolutionising Christianity."
A soundproof cubicle complete with "e-priest" could be used in shopping
precincts, stations, offices, and even strip clubs, Mr Maitland said. "It is
opened by the iCross, which stores the user's soul, recording their life and
sins, emotions, problems, health, interactions, and movements. These are
uploaded to the e-priest, who advises and finally downloads absolution and
forgiveness."
www.rsa.org.uk
The Prayer Box Society can be contacted c/o 53 Pursey Drive, Bradley
Stoke, Bristol.