Pentecost breakfast celebrates ‘those making a positive change’ in Bishop’s Stortford

Community spirit was at the heart of Bishop’s Stortford’s Pentecost Prayer Breakfast, organised by Churches Together.

Visitors tucked into pastries and homemade cakes at the St Barnabas Centre, Thorley, as they learned about the Christian and secular groups supporting town residents.

They included Holy Trinity Night Shelter & Community Outreach, Stort Valley Schools Trust, Bishops Stortford Child Contact Centre, Street Pastors, Thirst Youth Café, Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Support and The YMCA.

They were joined by Puppets Galore, who regularly visit schools at Easter and Christmas to share Christian Bible stories, and by Holiday Bible Week, a summer holiday club for children which this year takes place in Herts and Essex School.

Former mayor Norma Symonds hosted a stall for Red Kite, a charity which supports all survivors of rape and sexual abuse in Hertfordshire and West Essex.

Faith communities were represented by Bishops Stortford Baptist Church and Bishops Stortford Methodist Church.

According to a new report by the Bible Society, Gen Z is leading a “Quiet Revival” in church attendance, so St James the Great, Thorley, hosted a space for leaders of children and youth groups across the town to share prayers and support as they welcome more young people to their congregations.

Other Christian organisations included the Girls Brigade, the Salvation Army and Good News For Everyone, who deliver testaments.

Hertford and Stortford MP Josh Dean said: “What a pleasure to join local charities and voluntary groups at the Churches Together Pentecost breakfast.

“It’s always such a joy to spend time with [those] making positive change in our community. Thank you for all that you do!”

The event, attended by over 120 people, ended with worship and prayer led by the Reverend Gaz Tracey.

Organiser Pippa Roy-Chowdhury said: “It was wonderful to see so many of our community groups come together for this event and for it to be so well supported.

“These voluntary organisations, Christian and secular, care passionately for people and work so hard to care for our community. There is no judgement or expectation, they genuinely want to do their very best to help others.”

Churches Together Bishops Stortford is an ecumenical group, comprising 15 local churches and nine associate organisations, working together for the community of Bishops Stortford.

To find out more, see https://ctbs.org.uk/.