A former gardener's shed is being converted into a 24-hour prayer space at St Mary's Church in Frome. It is part of overall plans to establish a prayerful community around the and in the old vicarage of St Mary’s Church in Frome. Revd Liz Dudley, Vicar St Mary’s Frome, is working with the Frome Pioneers, Elizabeth and Andrew Alden, to establish the community. The vicarage is a beautiful Arts and Crafts building, joined to the hall and then the church. A growing community meets fortnightly to explore different approaches to prayer - Ignatian, Taize, Centering, Northumbrian and others. Additionally, a dedicated group has been meeting to discern a shared rule of life and values for the community.
Frome Pioneer, Andrew Alden says, “It’s hoped to establish both a dispersed community and a residential expression of four people living together - all following the same pattern of prayer and rule of life. We have visited the brothers at Hilfield and travelled to St Anselm at Lambeth Palace to learn more about community living, prayer and life.”
Central to the work taking place at St Mary’s is prayer. The community has already begun work transforming an old stone building, thought to be a former gardener’s shed, into a dedicated prayer space. The structure, once derelict with no roof, broken walls and a smashed window, is being restored.
Andrew says,
“It is exciting to see something derelict being rebuilt and for such an important work as prayer. Somehow there is something truly biblical about praying in a gardener's shed. Adam and Eve began their rest and work with the Lord in the garden of Eden and the Bible ends in the glorious garden city of the new Jerusalem, where trees grow by the river of life and their leaves give healing to the nations. Mary bumped into the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane, mistaking him for the gardener. Mary’s House Community hopes that in the prayer shed people will meet Jesus as Mary did on that resurrection morning.”
So far, the shed has been cleared of overgrowth, the walls stabilised and raised and the missing third wall added with the space for the door. There is further to go, but the work has created much excitement in Frome where the community hopes the space will be a resource for prayer available 24 hours of the day, 7 days of the week.
The ‘Prayer Shed’, as it will be known, will be launched as part of the Diocesan Wave of Prayer on 6-7 September. The community hopes Archbishop Justin will take time to pray in the space when he visits Frome as part of his visit to Bath and Wells during the 24-hour Wave of prayer.
You can find out more about the Diocesan Wave of Prayer https://www.bathandwells.org.uk/faith/diocesan-wave-prayer/
If you would like to know more about Mary's House please visit the Mary's House website which has regular updates added. To get involved in the developing Mary’s House Community in Frome and the prayer shed email info@maryshouse.org and perhaps you could be part of enabling this 24-7 prayer shed to get restored and up and running.