Prayer, Beauty and Restoration at St Leonards
In recent months we have been planting, growing, installing raised beds and clearing an area for a new lawn. We have also installed new benches and bins, which have created new social areas in the park for local people to hang out. It may surprise you to know that ‘gardening’ is really only a small part of what is actually going at St Leonard’s.
Making friends with the local people who use the space every day is a really important part of what we’ve been doing so far. Larry has made friends with a group of local young men who are becoming particularly interested in what we’re doing and invite their community to our bi-monthly events. Though these guys may not have a particular interest in gardening, they share our vision to make the space more attractive and safer for everyone to enjoy. We are currently discussing with them the possibility of installing an outdoor gym, which would make a really positive impact on physical and mental health of those who use it.
Our Vision
We are so thankful for the opportunity to make a difference in that space but we don't just want to make it pretty. We want to establish something with a lasting vision and impact in partnership with the local community.
So what is the vision? Well we would like everything we do at St Leonard’s to be centred around three things:
Prayer, Beauty and Restoration.
Prayer
Prayer changes things. Before the village of Bow emerged the area was marshland and forest and a group of nuns were praying at St Leonard’s and growing vegetables. Everything else grew up around it and it shaped what is now known as Bow physically, spiritually, culturally. We want to build on this spiritual and horticultural heritage and underpin everything we do there with prayer. We’ve started regularly praying at St Leonard’s every Saturday at midday and would love to create a community of prayer where people can go on a journey towards knowing Jesus. Everyone is welcome whether they want to pray or don’t.
Beauty
It is part of our mandate as Christians on this earth to care for creation and we dream of seeing the land look even more beautiful. A large number of people in our parish live in flats without their own green space so St Leonard’s is a valuable place for people to enjoy and use for exercise. We are introducing wildflowers and woodland perennials that will provide colour throughout the year as well as plenty of new greenery and trees. We have noticed that as we continue to make the space more beautiful there is amazingly less littering and fly-tipping happening.
Restoration
St Leonard’s has not always been a happy place in recent years and despite great efforts from council and community groups it has often fallen into disrepair and suffered from antisocial behaviour and neglect.
So firstly, we’re restoring the physical space, making it more beautiful and we’re going to keep the weekly gardening and maintenance of the space going forward.
Secondly, we’re excited to see people’s lives restored, physically, mentally and spiritually. It would be fantastic to see the same people who currently use the park for anti-social behaviour experience God’s love and see restoration in their lives as they become part of what’s happening there. It’s widely known that gardening has a real benefit on mental health and we’re also excited to see many people experience restoration through the activities and sharing the space as a community.
What’s next?
God is so generous to us and Tim encouraged us recently to think about banquets with the idea of living at the centre of the party and the edge of the village.
That’s what we’re trying to do at St Leonard’s: creating a party and inviting those at the edge of the village to join in. Next year we’re going to try out some new things, perhaps such as hosting monthly feasts there, and linking in with Foodbank clients and local young people to create a monthly celebration. Watch this space…
How to get involved:
You could join our Saturday team. If you are interested in what we are doing at St Leonard’s there are plenty of ways to get involved. You could join the team that meets on Saturdays (11am-1pm) where we garden and have conversations with people. Jesus is Lord of the harvest and at the moment our workers are a faithful few, so there is space for more workers to join the team.
Please pray! We believe that God loves to answer prayers so if you are someone who prays please ask God to bless the people who use the park day to day. Pray for relationships to be built and opportunities for the team to share the love of Jesus. As we complete some of the landscaping plans for this year please pray for God’s provision of all we need at the right times e.g tools, turf, workers, finances. Please pray that God would move powerfully in the community through this project to bring more beauty and lives restored!
Lulu and Larry
Lulu and Larry lead the project at St Leonard’s with Chrystabel. Lulu oversees the vision and strategy and Larry coordinates the project management as well as leading the gardening on Saturdays.
To find out more about St Leonard’s click here