St. Mary’s, Pickersleigh in Malvern has recently become a parish in its own right and
didn’t have any mission partners, so their vicar, Lynne Sparkes decided to go along to
an evening about the Diocese of Morogoro held at the diocesan office.
As a result, St. Mary’s is now linked with the parish of St. Joseph’s in Msambu, with
whom they have exchanged emails and photos. St. Joseph’s is in the town of Morogoro
itself, a large town with a decent sized population in Tanzania. The church is in a
relatively poor area and has also recently become an independent parish.
Lynne said: “Our link with St. Joseph’s is a real ‘God-incident’ in many ways. Both our
churches are focussed on serving our local communities and have a vision to reach out
into them. There are lots of similarities between the two parishes and the challenges
are also comparable.”
The idea behind the link is to support each other with friendship and prayer. Both
parishes exchange news so that they are aware of what the other is doing and prayer
can be more informed. “It’s great knowing that there’s someone on the other side of
the world who knows and cares about you and is praying for you,” said Lynne.
Lynne was able to visit St. Joseph’s when she went out to Tanzania in August as part
of a diocesan trip. “I was completely overwhelmed by their welcome and hospitality,”
she said. “Everyone seems so full of love and joy about what God is doing in their lives.
I was very humbled by the experience of visiting them and it was great to be able to
bring that back to my own parish.”
Pray for all in St. Mary’s Pickersleigh and
their link parish of St. Joseph, Msambu,
Morogoro.
Stourbridge Deanery – Rural Dean:
Paul Harrison; Lay Chair: John Nicholson
Diocese of Guildford: Bishop Andrew Watson
Diocese of Viborg (Denmark):
Bishop Henrik Stubkjær
The Anglican Church of Mexico:
Archbishop Francisco Moreno
