30 May 2024
Members of the public, ministers and members of the Susanna Wesley Mission Auxiliary joined the President and Vice-President at Wesley’s Chapel near Old Street for public worship. The Vice-President gave a short sermon on Isaiah 51.1-3, 7-11 and Mark 12.28-37 and the President led prayers of Intercession. At the end of the service, the congregation gathered by John Wesley’s grave, for a time of prayer and thanksgiving. This was followed by a short break, which gave those present a chance to engage with prayer and craft activities and to view two exhibitions of art; one in John Wesley’s House by students at the Leys School, Cambridge, and the second, in the Museum, by Artbox, a local charity working with learning disabled and neurodiverse adults.
The pilgrimage then continued to Bunhill Fields for an office near the grave of Susanna Wesley. The Vice-President led prayers for the life of Susanna Wesley, and for all who work with children and young people today, so that they too may inspire them through their faith and example. A short walk later through the Barbican Estate, the pilgrimage arrived at the Flame Monument by the Museum of London, marking the site of John Wesley’s conversion by Aldersgate Street in 1738. Mrs Newton shared a prayer for the City and surrounding Community, followed by the laying of a wreath. The pilgrimage was blessed by a lovely weather and the Susanna Wesley Mission Auxiliaries singing and playing music along the way. The pilgrimage arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral for the 12.30 Eucharist in the North Garden, in which the President and Vice-President assisted along with The Revd Canon Dr Jennifer Smith.
Gracious God, as we stand in this place, as we remember that we stand in the heart of the city, a place where many work, and many live, and many visit. We thank you that this is a place that reflects something of the breadth and the depth of the diversity and the vibrancy of your creation. We pray for all those who hold positions of responsibility, authority, and leadership in this city, praying that they would lead with the values of your kingdom, praying that this city might be built on the values of your kingdom. And we pray Lord God that this might be a city where all are welcome, where all are treated with love and kindness and respect, where all may know themselves to be of value and of worth. We pray for all those people in this city who already know what it is to have their hearts strangely warmed. And we pray that they, through their witness and their example today and in all the days to come, might help others in the communities around us here and right across this city to know that Christ’s love is for all and that all may know themselves to be saved in the way that Wesley was all those years ago. In the name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
Revd Newton’s prayer at the Flame Monument