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Weekly Prayer Focus: Countess Free Church

Week 26

Located in the centre of the beautiful cathedral city of Ely for over 200 years is Countess Free Church. The church has been led for the past twelve years by Rev Karl Relton but he is moving on in July to a new pioneering opportunity in Leicestershire.

In addition to a busy and regular church programme on Sundays and weekdays, there are a lot of community activities taking place such as Foodbank, CAP, Recovery from Drugs and Alcohol, and chaplaincy in secondary schools.

A new addition to the team is Cate Allen as a Minister in Training. Cate is a member of the church and is now placed with Countess Free for training purposes. Her part-time placement role is to further the pioneering work of the Rich Tea Community, enabling the church to reach out and work with adults with learning disabilities.

Countess Free is very involved with events organized by the local Churches Together group and hopes to build on the success of the recent Coronation street parties to develop ongoing opportunities for community outreach.

The church has about 80 members. There have been quite a lot of new members recently as people move to Ely from London and Cambridge and the large new housing developments surrounding the city. And there has been a steady number of baptisms taking place too.

The church became a member of the EBA a few years ago. The elders and deacons are now preparing for a time of pastoral vacancy.

Please pray for:

Karl as he concludes his ministry at Countess Free and takes up his new role.
For the church and the deacons as they move into a period of pastoral vacancy.
For MIT Cate and her pioneering work among adults with learning disabilities.
For all the different outreach activities of the church into the local community.