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Praying for your child's school

SHEILA JOHNSON takes a look at the key work of the UK Schools Prayer Network

The Schools Prayer Network exists to encourage committed Christian prayer for schools throughout the UK and is overseen by CARE for Education.

But CARE are keen to emphasise that the Schools Prayer Network (SPN) is not an organisation to ‘join’ but an independent network to encourage prayer for schools in partnership with prayer groups, churches and other Christian organisations.

Cindy Crossley of CARE for Education says: "The Network is a very loose structure and CARE’s role is simply that of a facilitator for the vision which is to see that every school in the UK is supported by a prayer group."

There are four different regional co-ordinators for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as different area co-ordinators for each town or local area where there is a cluster of praying schools. To date there are just over 2,000 schools being prayed for by groups registered with the network but with over 31,000 schools in the UK, including both Middle and Special Needs schools as well as the regular Primary and Secondary schools, there is still a long way to go before every school is covered by prayer!

The Schools Prayer Network (SPN) initiative was started in Glasgow in 1993 by a teacher called Michael Philip. His school was suffering badly from vandalism until a group of young people decided to walk round the school and pray for God’s protection. As a result of their efforts, it stopped. The youngsters shared this with Michael Philip, who shared it with his colleagues in other schools, a couple of whom tried the prayer walk method themselves to find that their vandalism also ceased.

Michael Philip began to realise just how effective prayer for schools could be and he started praying for his own and other schools. After only a short time he found himself running a network of school prayer groups in Scotland and then throughout the UK. With over 1,000 groups running by the year 2000, the task had become too great for one man and he approached CARE for Education and asked for their help to oversee the work. It was about this time that the organisation divided into separate regional centres and groups.

Cheltenham in Gloucestershire is one of the biggest town networks in the UK. Since its advent in May 2000, the network has gradually grown to 31 school prayer groups who pray for 40 schools – some groups praying for more than one school.

The Cheltenham Co-ordinator, Sheila Bowden, ran a prayer group in her own school over a number of years both as a parent and a member of staff, and she was keen to share the benefits of this with other schools. In the summer of 1999 she left her job, feeling that God was giving her a vision for new work, and it was in May the following year that the Cheltenham Prayer for Schools Network was founded.

Sheila says: “As a network, we’re focusing on our primary prayer objective which is to see every school have a prayer group. We’ve got a long way to go because we’ve still got 30 schools to get started. But we hope as we continue to develop we will get a bigger picture of national prayer issues.”

The Cheltenham team help to keep in touch with national issues via regional co-ordinator for England Sue Thrush, and by hosting a bi-annual prayer meeting in conjunction the CARE for Education team.

Sheila says: “CARE are extremely helpful in both providing information for prayer and advice via their Education Update magazine and its e-mail equivalent and in providing the larger high profile meeting. It is very encouraging for the groups to be put in touch with educational needs in the UK.”

Sheila is keen to emphasise that anyone connected to a particular school can set up a prayer group, be they teacher, parent, governor, dinner lady or grandparent, but the group must have the approval and support of the head teacher, which is not always easy.

Three mothers from a local Cheltenham primary school started praying together and after a few weeks decided to ask the head teacher for permission to start a prayer group for the school. The head said: "I’ve never heard of anything like this before! I’ll need to ask the governors." Fortunately they had no objection provided the group had a teacher contact. God arranged for a newly qualified Christian teacher to join the school that term and the head asked him to be the link person. That was two years ago and the group is now thriving and have even been responsible for buying new Bibles for the school!

Another primary school teacher reports that since their school prayer group started meeting, there has been a noticeable change in the atmosphere in school assemblies. The children are really listening to the Bible stories and two mothers have asked the teacher which Bible they should buy for their sons!

Rev Canon Adrian Berry, Development Officer for the Llandass diocese says: “By our prayers we are sharing in the work of God, standing guard both to protect and provide for the children, parents, staff and all connected with the school.”

For more info and to get involved, head for www.schoolsprayernetwork.org.uk

Sheila Johnson is a freelance journalist based in Cheltenham

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		RESOURCES Praying for your child's school SHEILA JOHNSON takes a look at the key work of the UK Schools Prayer Network The Schools Prayer Network exists to encourage committed Christian prayer for schools throughout the UK and is overseen by CARE for Education. But CARE are keen to emphasise that the Schools Prayer Network (SPN) is not an organisation to ‘join’ but an independent network to encourage prayer for schools in partnership with prayer groups, churches and other Christian organisations. Cindy Crossley of CARE for Education says: "The Network is a very loose structure and CARE’s role is simply that of a facilitator for the vision which is to see that every school in the UK is supported by a prayer group." There are four different regional co-ordinators for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as well as different area co-ordinators for each town or local area where there is a cluster of praying schools. To date there are just over 2,000 schools being prayed for by groups registered with the network but with over 31,000 schools in the UK, including both Middle and Special Needs schools as well as the regular Primary and Secondary schools, there is still a long way to go before every school is covered by prayer! The Schools Prayer Network (SPN) initiative was started in Glasgow in 1993 by a teacher called Michael Philip. His school was suffering badly from vandalism until a group of young people decided to walk round the school and pray for God’s protection. As a result of their efforts, it stopped. The youngsters shared this with Michael Philip, who shared it with his colleagues in other schools, a couple of whom tried the prayer walk method themselves to find that their vandalism also ceased. Michael Philip began to realise just how effective prayer for schools could be and he started praying for his own and other schools. After only a short time he found himself running a network of school prayer groups in Scotland and then throughout the UK. With over 1,000 groups running by the year 2000, the task had become too great for one man and he approached CARE for Education and asked for their help to oversee the work. It was about this time that the organisation divided into separate regional centres and groups. Cheltenham in Gloucestershire is one of the biggest town networks in the UK. Since its advent in May 2000, the network has gradually grown to 31 school prayer groups who pray for 40 schools – some groups praying for more than one school. The Cheltenham Co-ordinator, Sheila Bowden, ran a prayer group in her own school over a number of years both as a parent and a member of staff, and she was keen to share the benefits of this with other schools. In the summer of 1999 she left her job, feeling that God was giving her a vision for new work, and it was in May the following year that the Cheltenham Prayer for Schools Network was founded. Sheila says: “As a network, we’re focusing on our primary prayer objective which is to see every school have a prayer group. We’ve got a long way to go because we’ve still got 30 schools to get started. But we hope as we continue to develop we will get a bigger picture of national prayer issues.” The Cheltenham team help to keep in touch with national issues via regional co-ordinator for England Sue Thrush, and by hosting a bi-annual prayer meeting in conjunction the CARE for Education team. Sheila says: “CARE are extremely helpful in both providing information for prayer and advice via their Education Update magazine and its e-mail equivalent and in providing the larger high profile meeting. It is very encouraging for the groups to be put in touch with educational needs in the UK.” Sheila is keen to emphasise that anyone connected to a particular school can set up a prayer group, be they teacher, parent, governor, dinner lady or grandparent, but the group must have the approval and support of the head teacher, which is not always easy. Three mothers from a local Cheltenham primary school started praying together and after a few weeks decided to ask the head teacher for permission to start a prayer group for the school. The head said: "I’ve never heard of anything like this before! I’ll need to ask the governors." Fortunately they had no objection provided the group had a teacher contact. God arranged for a newly qualified Christian teacher to join the school that term and the head asked him to be the link person. That was two years ago and the group is now thriving and have even been responsible for buying new Bibles for the school! Another primary school teacher reports that since their school prayer group started meeting, there has been a noticeable change in the atmosphere in school assemblies. The children are really listening to the Bible stories and two mothers have asked the teacher which Bible they should buy for their sons! Rev Canon Adrian Berry, Development Officer for the Llandass diocese says: “By our prayers we are sharing in the work of God, standing guard both to protect and provide for the children, parents, staff and all connected with the school.” For more info and to get involved, head for www.schoolsprayernetwork.org.uk Sheila Johnson is a freelance journalist based in Cheltenham © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.