What happened at the Arise:March Launch Evening?
New Ariser Michelle Brown shares her experience of the Arise:March Launch Evening, in which hundreds of Christians gathered from across Sheffield and beyond at Sheffield Cathedral to launch their citywide month of prayer-walking.
Watch the video above for a glimpse of what happened on the night, or watch the full video recording here.
Missed out on the Launch? We’d love to see you at the Arise Celebration, taking place on Thursday 30 March, 7pm at the Wilson Carlile Centre. Tickets are free but places at limited: secure your seat today.
As a new Christian, this is the first year I became aware of the Arise prayer-walking initiative. So attending the launch event at Sheffield Cathedral and seeing Christians of all stripes and denominations come together to share inspiration, ideas and talk so passionately about why this matters was a very special and singular experience.
For anyone unfamiliar, the idea is that for the month of March, Christians across our great city will walk its streets and cover them with our prayers. There’s an app where prayer-walks can be logged and you can watch the city light up in real time, glowing a little brighter with each new Christian who takes the time to walk and talk to God about the needs of their community and the future of Sheffield. It’s a beautiful, magical thing, one that not only strengthens faith in God, but I feel restores faith in our fellow humans when the world sorely tests it.
I attended the launch with my spiritual mentor Reverend Michelle Deans, who was also my gateway to Arise through attending an emPower service together. It was immediately heartening to see how many Sheffield Christians had ventured out on this cold February night to come together to praise God and plan for the prayer needs of our various communities. To this end, tables were arranged by postcode; as a resident of Hillsborough, I was on the S6 table.
Inspiration and resources were immediately abundant! Over delicious canapes and non-alcoholic prosecco, I chatted to my S6 tablemates while perusing Arise! magazine. Harpist Hannah Sandoval serenaded us with music so otherworldly and beautiful, you could almost feel yourself lifted among the proverbial choir of angels.
The evening proper began with a real treat, more heavenly music courtesy of songs of praise from Creative Community Choir. The beautiful voices of these young people lifted us all, and what better way to prepare our hearts and minds to petition God and hear his answers? Their hard work and dedication were also an immediate, tangible example of why the future of Sheffield is looking bright. I have to give a special mention to the smallest chorister, a little girl who sang and praised her heart out with the most beautiful fierceness and sincerity.
Sheffield is my adopted city, but from the moment I came here in 2017, it has felt like home, and I’m filled with love and pride for that home. (On our S6 table, at least, the same common themes came up of why we love it so: the friendly, caring people and the many beautiful green spaces, both beautiful blessings of God). So that pride and love was ignited anew by the array of dedicated, inspiring speakers.
One of my personal highlights was the prayer-walking panel, hosted by Ben Woollard. Kinder Kalsi, Margaret Howells and Alan Lamb all spoke movingly about their experience of prayer walking. I was particularly struck by Margaret’s powerful exhortation not to fall for the great Satanic lie that prayer-walking doesn’t make any difference. In my few days of prayer-walking thus far, I already know in my heart, soul and bones that she is right and it makes all the difference in the world. Alan also shared a wonderful story of conversation and prayer with a knowledgeable and even somewhat belligerent builder, only for the Holy Spirit to overcome said builder as they prayed together.
Ben Woollard, in his keynote speech, shared a haunting history of Japanese Christians, one I’d been unaware of; how they had been persecuted to renounce their faith, forced to either deface an image of Jesus or be killed; a powerful reminder of how blessed we are to be able to practise our faith openly and without fear. It’s our responsibility to take full advantage of this privilege to fulfill God’s purpose for us and step out in faith to serve others.
Jordan Betts and Rachel Longbottom’s co-written spoken word piece was deeply powerful, heartfelt and moving, and the S17 panel (Roger Hoye, Anne-Marie Fletcher, Catherine Gavins) shared their beautiful story of how God had commissioned them to move in their own community, bringing prayer and friendship to their neighbours.
Then it was our turn! Hosts Giles Holloway and Rachel Hall commissioned us, in our postcode groups, to discuss the most urgent prayer needs of our area and then to make a personal prayer-walking plan, with the aid of the abundant resources provided by Arise: a personal prayer-walk planner, details of group prayer-walks and prayer zooms, a prayer ideas card and the beautiful blessing from Numbers: ‘The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face toward you and bring you peace.’ The blessing has proved incredibly helpful for me personally, helping me get started when I felt self conscious and didn’t know what to say - I say the blessing a few times and the words just start to flow!
Among the S6 prayer needs we identified are the cost of living crisis, loneliness and isolation, litter and general stewardship of nature, and my personal addition was praying for all the animals, whether wild or domestic, in the area; I’m a passionate animal advocate and great fan of St Francis! It’s so heartening to note that we all shared our phone numbers and immediately after the evening, the WhatsApp S6 prayer and friendship group was born, organising group prayer meetings and walks, and sharing inspiration and words of encouragement.
I think it’s safe to say that despite the non-alcoholic beverages, we were all drunk on the Spirit by the time Anglican bishop Sophie Jelley, Catholic bishop Ralph Heskett, Pastor Musa Bako of the Black and African Pastors Network and Peter Dunn of the Baptist Church took the stage for the commissioning prayer, sending us out into the night with a sacred charge and commitment to our beautiful task of walking and praying the streets of Sheffield.
I’m writing this on the 5th of March, not yet a week into the month, and already the app is glowing with Sheffield Christians lighting up the map. The idea that as I write this, someone could be on my street praying for me and my neighbours, as I have done on other streets unbeknownst to those dwelling within, fills my heart with joy, praise and above all hope: hope for our great city and God’s plan for us all.
Michelle Brown has lived in Sheffield since 2017 and attends Hillsborough Methodist Church, but also loves to seek God in nature. She enjoys running, reading horror novels, photography, embroidery, yoga and spending time with her family and three rescue cats. You can find her on Instagram at @worldofstarrymb.
Grow citywide prayer and mission in Sheffield
During the Launch Evening, Arise team member Ben Woollard shared that we need 150 people to give regularly in order to keep on Arising together for citywide prayer and mission. We still need 100 Arisers to commit to a monthly gift in order to Arise again in 2024.
Could you enable Arisers across Sheffield to keep on praying together and reaching out to their communities into 2024 and beyond? Just £10 a month helps to fund the Arise:March Prayer app and resources to help you and your church pray for your area, and encourages nearly 2,000 believers across Sheffield to rise up in prayer and mission.
