Each week, a small group of
Christians meet to walk up the
Malvern Hills and pray for the
town. This kind of corporate
prayer was suggested by a
speaker at an ecumenical day in
2001 and a small, but dedicated,
group have been going ever since.
“Although sometimes the weather or other circumstances defeats us, we do try to
go each Thursday evening throughout the year,” says Joan McNamee. “We pray for
whatever we can see – the churches, schools, emergency services and any particular
community needs that we’re aware of.”
The group walks up to the Beacon from the Wyche cutting. Half way up, they stop to
pray for Herefordshire and then they pray for Malvern near the top of the hill.
“It’s important to us that the area is prayed for regularly,” says Nick Fane. “We put before
the Lord, everything that’s currently happening in the town and finish with a declaration
that Jesus is Lord over the town and the hills – loudly declaring where we are and what
we believe.” Another group go up early one morning for the same purpose.
The group tries to go at least some of the way up into the hills in all weathers. Nick
continues: “One evening we went up in quite thick fog. All of a sudden, it kept clearing
in such a way that we could see different parts of the town – it felt like God way saying,
pray for this part…now this part!” Val Fane adds that on dark winter nights the lights
below remind us that every Christian in the town is a light in their community.
Others are welcome to join the group, members of which can be found at St Andrew’s
Church in Poolbook, Malvern. They usually head up onto the hills around 7.30pm on
a Thursday evening.
Please pray for this small group of prayer-walkers and for other similar ideas around
the Diocese.
Kidderminster Deanery – Rural Dean: Hugh Burton; Lay Chair: June Thomas
Diocese of Jerusalem: Bishop Suheil Dawani
Diocese of Uppsala (Sweden): Archbishop Antje Jackelén with Bishop Ragnar Persenius
Diocese of Llandaff (Wales): Archbishop Barry Morgan with Bishop David Wilbourne
