Prayer News October 2022
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.” [Ps 136:1]
The quote above was the heading for last month’s prayer news, and we continue with it again this month as He is indeed good! In the past 10 years we have had many reasons to celebrate His goodness and His faithfulness, and we have cause to celebrate again, as we have recently received a large private donation towards the costs of renovating the former Manse.
As many of you know, the Macmillan family, who founded Macmillan Publishers and from whom came one of our Prime Ministers – Harold Macmillan, has a strong connection with Arran and with Sannox Church. As part of our fund-raising appeal to mark the 200th anniversary of the completion of the original Sannox Church in 1822, details of the Manse renovation project were circulated to the Macmillan family and network. Macmillan Publishers is now part of a larger group owned by a German publishing company and, quite unexpectedly, the group Chief Executive has sent a private donation of £25,000 towards the Manse renovation costs.
We know from Scripture that we worship a God who loves surprising His children, and this generous gift was a wonderful surprise. We feel blessed.
This means we now have around £85,000 raised or pledged towards the target of £282,000 for the Manse, and it comes as the Directors prepare to gather at Sannox from 30 September to 2 October where, together with the staff and the Advisors able to join us, we will worship, pray and fellowship together, including joining in the Sannox Saturday gathering on 1 October, as we seek God’s guidance for the next steps in the Sannox journey.
We are also applying to a number of grant funding agencies and so we feel it is time to start discussions on the first phase of a staged renovation of the manse. In addition, we are pleased to announce that we have obtained Planning and Listed Building consent for the changes to the Manse design and submitted revised Building Warrant drawings for the Manse. We are currently answering some questions from Building Control regarding the detailed designs. Stuart and George will be having initial discussions with a local builder regarding the building of the Manse roof as phase 1 of the restoration, making it weatherproof.
Let’s continue to press into God in prayer for His full provision for the Manse restoration!
Prayer points
Lord, we give You thanks for…….
- Your faithfulness in sustaining and providing for Sannox over the last 10 years;
- Your provision – especially the recent generous gift of £25,000 through contact with the Macmillan network;
- The granting of the amended Planning and Listed Building Consents for the Manse;
- The successful Sannox Saturday in September with Rev. Maggie Lane, with new folk continuing to attend these Sannox Saturdays;
- The continuing good number of resident guests and day visitors and the associated income;
- The faithful folk on Arran, in Scotland, the UK and overseas who support the Sannox vision in so many ways – through prayer, volunteering, hosting and financial giving;
- The faithful 10 years of voluntary service given by Jim McKay, Finance Manager, who steps down at the end of September (the end of our financial year) but will be around for a little longer for the completion of this year’s annual accounts to ensure a smooth handover.
- The many answers to prayer over the years – increasing our confidence that there are more answers to come!
Please pray for…….
- The flow of resident guests and day visitors to continue into the Autumn and Winter;
- The events programme – see below – and Andrew Clark and the staff team as they prepare a new programme for 2023;
- The Sannox Saturdays – that more new visitors will be drawn to attend;
- The staff team as they build relationships and develop fresh ways of providing services and facilities at Sannox and beyond;
- The team planning the development of our Hosting system (see details below of the Hosting Weekend in October). We are keen to build our hosting team;
- Heidi and Alistair (our Treasurer) as they take on the finance responsibilities over the next few weeks, including getting to grips with the new Xero finance software system being set up;
- God to open doors to funds from Trusts and other grant-giving bodies to provide the finances required for the Manse renovation and new regular donors to lay a solid foundation in support of the general running costs;
- The Directors (Trustees), staff team and some of our Advisors as we gather at Sannox 30 September – 2 October for a time of fellowship, worship and prayer, giving thanks for God’s goodness and faithfulness and seeking His ongoing direction for the future.
Sannox Saturdays
The monthly Sannox Saturdays – special afternoons of worship, prayer and teaching – continue on the first Saturday of each month up to the end of the year at 2 pm in Sannox Church. The programme for the rest of this year is:
Date Speaker
1 October Andy Hall
5 November Andrew Clark
3 December Andy Hall [Andy will be leading a conference on the ‘2nd Advent’ from 2 – 4 December – more details later]
Put these dates in your diary and plan to come if you can.
Hosting weekend: 28/29 October
Those who have acted as ‘Host’ for our resident guests over the years have played a valuable part in building the Sannox vision. With the recent strengthening of the staff team, it is time to review our hosting arrangements and a special ‘Hosting weekend’ is planned for Friday evening and Saturday the 28 and 29 October. If you are interested in continuing as a Host or finding out what is involved, please put these dates in your diary. Details will be sent out separately soon. In the meantime, if you wish to discuss attending, please contact Andrew Clark on andrew@sannox.org .
The Sannox Website – www.sannox.org
Our IT advisor Pete Kirkwood has been working hard with our IT team improving our website and producing a fabulous new promotional video for Sannox:
- Please visit our website to explore the content;
- We have added recordings of the talks by Andrew Clark about his calling to Sannox and Maggie Lane about her experience of dying and going to Heaven and subsequent return with her commission. These are listed under the Sannox Saturday events.
- Pete Kirkwood, our IT advisor, and Lance Canter, from YWAM West Kilbride, have produced a wonderful new video of Sannox and its surroundings using drone footage. This was a huge piece of work and is such a blessing. To view the video go to our website at www.sannox.org and the video is on the Home page with the heading – Here is the Work on Sannox So Far – please look at the video and pass the information on to your networks, encouraging people to visit the Centre.
October prayer gathering
Our next Friends of Sannox prayer gathering is at 8.00pm on Monday 3 October. We look forward to praying and worshipping together with as many of you as possible next Monday. Prayer underpins all we seek to do for the advancement of God’s Kingdom – please join us if you can.
The login details are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81941457054?pwd=VEdEM3VCUm5WVm9SaWJoK0kyOGpaUT09
Meeting ID: 819 4145 7054
Passcode: 167547
One tap mobile
+442080806592,,81941457054# United Kingdom
+443300885830,,81941457054# United Kingdom
The Sannox Prayer
“Today I choose to stand in this place you have called me to,
And I declare that You are a Mighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.
Your Kingdom shall endure and will never be shaken.
Open the windows of Heaven and pour out Your promised blessings in this generation.
Revive us, restore us and heal our land.
Thank you for going before us to open the way and remove all obstacles.
Increase our Faith, stir up Hope and keep us grounded and walking in Love.
Thank you that You are creating a dwelling place for God and man here – in Sannox, on Arran, for the nations.
Amen”
We bless you in the name of Jesus, to receive all that the Father has for you, and we thank you for your continuing support of His work at SCC. Be blessed and protected in all you do for the Kingdom, in the mighty and beautiful name of Jesus.
The Directors of Sannox Christian Centre