Waffles and prayers the best way to start the school day

Six years ago a Prayer Group was formed at our local primary school in Holyport. It was made up of four Christian parents and one Christian teacher. We met about once every three weeks to pray for our school and local community. Often it was only two or three of us who gathered in the Lord's name.

With the support of this group, our then Headteacher, Theresa Gregory, decided to host a Prayer Breakfast in the school for all staff, parents, pupils and their families.   Only a handful of people came along to that first Prayer Breakfast but the atmosphere was wonderful; I remember that we prayed in a Prayer Chain and shared a fantastic breakfast.  From this start, the Prayer Group decided to host a Prayer Breakfast once a term. Attendance steadily rose to a group of 20 - 30 people, many of them children from non-church attending families. We encouraged family members to come, but equally we encouraged parents to bring their children and leave them with us, if they needed to get off to work.

A couple of years ago, Prayer Breakfasts became Fellowship Breakfasts with a slightly wider focus than prayer alone. Some 40 - 50 people now attend.

Examples of some of the breakfasts we have done in the past are: Fairtrade Breakfasts in Fairtrade fortnight;   Christingle Breakfast in December is always popular; Wednesday Worship with Waffles was great when our numbers were smaller than they are now; a French Breakfast around the time of Bastille Day (or perhaps an American breakfast on 4 July) guarantees a good response.

Our most recent French Breakfast, was attended by around 80 people, all of whom came to share a hearty meal and hear Scripture Union's Wayne Dixon speak.

So how does one go about organising such an event?  First select your three or four committed people and have the enthusiastic backing of your Headteacher! As our breakfasts have become larger (and therefore more expensive) we have had to draw on a wider pool of people to fund them (e.g. Governors).  All this has been achieved, and it is still only three or four of us who meet to pray in the Lord's name!

Bridget Tracy is a member of the governing body of Holyport CE aided school, Berks