Shropshire Prayer Breakfast 2012

Despite being in Shrewsbury since 2004 ,I had never got along to the Shropshire Prayer Breakfast before.
I went along to this and it was good to be there.
Arriving in jeans I initially felt a little underdressed as there were lots of people in suits arriving at the same time as me at the Lord Hill Hotel

The breakfast the hotel offered was superb and seated at large round tables ,there was plenty of chance to meet other people

Mark about to tuck in!

Once the plates had been cleared ,we sang a couple of songs and then settled back to hear Ian Coffey ,now at Moorlands College speak

It was a highly relevant message on the good Samaritan
Pointing out that the Good Samaritan
Came to where the man was
Saw him
Made a practical response

we were encouraged to do the same

Ian also came up with some excellent quotes
For example "we are welcomed as the prodigal son and sent out as The good Samaritan"
And " if the 1950's come back the church is ready!" perahps most tellingly
"do you want to lead a successful or a significant life?"

Following the talk we heard from 3 people about the excellent local projects they are involved in .these were good to hear about but I did wonder if they could have been slightly shorter, because if I had a small concern about what was, all in all ,an excellent morning we were left with only about 15 minutes of prayer together,before a final song and an encouraging  blessing from the Bishop of Shrewsbury

The day was organised by the amazingly energetic Stephen Derges who did a great job in pulling it all together.
It was good to be there!