Prayer Spaces in Schools Attract Media AttentionPhil Togwell - 12 Jun 2013

There have now been over 500 Prayer Spaces in Schools. Most of these have happened in the UK although there have been Spaces in Canada, South Africa, Australia, Germany and Uganda. Back in the UK, the sudden explosion of these 'classrooms-turned-Prayer Rooms' has even attracted media attention with two of the largest media companies in the UK; BBC and ITV reporting on Prayer Spaces in Schools.

We constantly hear amazing stories from teachers and youth workers who undertake a Prayer Space, here is one of my recent favourites from Alex Clark; a schools-worker in Maidstone (UK) - complete with a report on the Prayer Space from the local Radio Station.

"I’m a pretty sceptical person by nature. I know it’s one of my flaws and I try not to be, but I just can’t help it. So when I read some of the fantastic testimonies of Prayer Spaces in schools up and down the country, I struggle to believe them or revert to the all too common line of ‘well that’s great for them there, but it would never work here!’. The idea that we could run a successful Prayer Space in a school in Maidstone seemed like a fantastic idea, but one that I wasn’t sure would work in practice.

Anyway, I finally bit the bullet in November and approached one of the schools well known to us. Working closely with staff in the school, the action plan was born.

Fast forward to the beginning of May, and our team of volunteers from local churches are in the school setting up the room we had been given to turn into a Prayer Space for a week. To make a classroom look unrecognisable as a classroom is a challenge, but one we enjoyed very much! Our prayer space looked amazing, full of lights, colour and creative activities. We were grateful for the generosity of borrowed resources, lights, material, trussing and so much more. The key to success here was having good working relationships with local churches & other Christian organisations in the area.

It’s not just about looks of course, the atmosphere was incredible, the peace ..... hard to describe. There was just something about it, something wonderful, someone we knew and recognised as our wonderful God was in that. Everyone who came into the room, students, teachers, parents, all commented on how peaceful the room ‘felt’. They all ‘felt’ something, whether they recognised it was God or not. This proved to me if I needed it (ever the sceptic), that when you create space and invite God to fill it, God is there.

We opened up the prayer space for as much time as possible, with over half of the school visiting at some point and the response from the young people was overwhelming. They engaged with the activities on a profoundly deep level. At one activity they could ask God one question – anything they liked. Reading their responses brought most of the team to tears;
“Why doesn’t my dad love me?”
“Why am I so quiet in class?”
“If you have the time, will you tell granddad I love him and look after him for me?”
...and more.

A further thing that we found out afterwards was that the classroom we used doubles up as the isolation room. There is something very wonderful about a room that they would have associated with times of trouble, being transformed into a place of peace. One student said that he felt God’s presence in the room for the first time in his life and as a result, at one station titled ‘What does God mean to you?’ he carved the word ‘YES’ into a slab of modelling clay as a symbol of his response… ‘YES, God is real!’

The response from students and staff was incredible to witness and the impact will continue beyond our one week. The new principal has put a prayer and reflection space as a permanent feature in his school development plan having seen the impact on the students. We are privileged to have been a part of this prayer space in this school and excited to see all that will happen in the future.

If you’re reading this and are still on the fence about running a Prayer Space, can I encourage you to go for it in faith and allow God to do the rest! I did, and it proved to be the best week in my 6 years so far as a Youth Worker."

Here's a video of their prayer space, with narration from Radio Kent:

St.Augustine Academy Prayer Roon from St.Augustine Academy on Vimeo.

If you are interested in hearing more stories about Prayer Spaces in Schools, or are keen to run your own Prayer Space, then check out the Prayer Spaces in Schools website where you can find a whole host of resources.