My original plan was to start at Thorne and walk across to Askern but this had to be changed as we would not have enough daylight to complete our walk safely.
We caught the train from Doncaster Station to Thorne South. We being myself, Alan Murray and of course Dumble. Once at the station we prayed at the beginning of the walk, praying on the whole armour of God, for protection, for the communities we would walk through and where there was hard ground we prayed specifically that we would soften the ground in preparation for what God wanted to do.
We then walked from the station into the town. We passed a beautifully kept cemetery and prayed outside of the gates.
We then moved on to the first Church of the day that we prayed at, St Nicholas Thorne.
St Nicholas Thorne
The Church was open as they were preparing for a funeral service. We prayed inside the Church. Of the many things we prayed for we prayed in particular for the building up of the Church and the ministry of the laity. We prayed that God would impact their worship so strongly that it would "leak" out of the building and go into the community and draw people to him. There are some beautiful stained glass windows and one in particular inspired me. It was one of Jesus and children. This seemed appropriate in a Church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. We prayed for a child/family friendly services to draw people to know Jesus.
In this Church we felt the God was present. There was a positive atmosphere as there was in the area as a whole. Thorne had a distinctive feel about it. There was just one small area in the town centre that had any negative feel to it. It was on a prominent corner. There was an open message to Doncaster council for all to read. It simply said: "To Doncaster Council. Get this building sorted out!!!"
The next Church that we stopped at was Thorne Methodist Church.
Thorne Methodist Church
I had a sense that this building had been full with worshipers and so I prayed that it will once again be filled with people worshiping God. The Church is set back from the road and has lots of space in front of the building giving opportunity for open air meetings.
We knew that Thorne had a Roman Catholic Church but we didn't know where, and of course the +'s on maps do not give the denomination away. So in the grounds of the Methodist Church I prayed for Christian unity amongst the Churches in Thorne and prayed for the Roman Catholic Church in particular.
As we headed North out of Thorne we saw a Sainsburys store and bought our lunches their. A reasonably priced meal deal consisting of sandwich, crisps (I had some Snack-a-jacks) and an apple juice. We had taled about getting our lunch at Fishlake as Alan had heard that there was a very good Fish 'n' Chip shop there. As it turned out it was a good move to buy our lunches in Thorne.
Our plan was to walk on to Fishlake. We walked on past Thorne North railway station, under the motorway bridge and on to the bridge that would take us over the river Don and on to the village of Fishlake. This was where we would encounter a problem that would change our plans. The bridge was closed. We could not cross the Don at this point.
One option was to go back to Thorne North railway station and catch the train to Stainforth where we could cross the river. However, the train left Thorne North at 12:09. It was 11:59 and at least 15 minutes away. We would not make the train. So we had to walk to Stainforth remaining on the south bank of the Don.
We got close to the village of Fishlake but we were on the wrong side of the river but we still could pray as we walked past.
St Cuthbert, Fishlake
I personally was disappointed that we could not pray out side St Cuthberts' Church. This was the Southerly most point where St Cuthbert's body was carried by monks before he was reburied at Durham. In spiritual mapping terms I feel that this could be strategically important. I have seen that in the history of Doncaster it has been on the border between North and South England. It was the ice age that first divided the land and which created Doncaster Ridge - that now is marked by a line marked by Balby Road / Thorne Road. The Romans used Doncaster as a staging point for the invasion of Northern Britain. In Anglo Saxon times the Kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia met somewhere in this a area and The Pilgrimage of Grace, a protest march during the reign of Henry V111 against the dissolution of the monasteries was stopped at Doncaster and which marched under the banner of St Cuthbert.
We also prayed for the new Bishop of Doncaster who will be residing in the village and for his ministry among us.
Along this stretch we saw we saw a lot of wild life. A sparrowhawk, a kestrel; a mallard duck, swans, other ducks and geese. A large crow was seen to be chasing away a smaller bird. At one point we could hear a goose call out from somewhere. It illustrated a point. That the Spirit of God calls us on. That we have to seek him as he calls us to follow. To fully appreciate this connection you have to understand that for Celtic Christians the wild goose was seen as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
"The wind blows wherever it please. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8We walked along the river towards Stainforth. We had a late lunch on a levy near Stainforth and planned our next steps. As we had our lunch we heard the clock at the Church strike 1:30 and 1:45. After lunch we continued walking along the river. We heard another Church bell strike at 2pm. It gave us an indication that a Church was near by and a sense that we were being called to pray for it. We had walked along the river to South Bramwith where we crossed the river and walked into Kirk Bramwith. The Church of St Mary was close by. We walked around it and got a sense of the tradition it holds. We prayed for its ministry to the local community and the Church members.
We could see from the outside that the stained glass windows were all various royal coats of arms. This gave an indication that the particular history of this Church would reveal some interesting information.
St Mary Kirk Bramworth
It was while we were at this Church that I saw something of concern and gave rise to a potential sermon illustration. A wall on the south side of the Church building had been repaired at some point. At some time in recent history the wall of this Church had fallen down. The stones had been carefully put back but they had been put back with sand and cement. Traditional materials would have been better, i.e lime mortar. Lime mortar allows the stone to breath. Sand and cement keeps the stone rigid and at some point the repaired wall would collapse. If this happened then the Saxon arch over the entrance would be in danger. This led me to think of the Church as a whole. The Church is not buildings but people- living stones as Peter puts it. If we tightly control these living stones by manipulation, pastoral techniques or simly don't allow them to express their faith then it will not only damage the people but it will also damage the whole Church. (This a comment on the Church as a whole - not a particualr denomination or fellowship!)
We saw on the map that there was a + marked in the near village of Braithwaite and we decided to go. Sadly, all we found was a small closed chapel in a state of disrepair. We did notice what had become a theme for the day, more flags. Some one was flying a Skull and Cross Bones and a Halloween flag.
We then turned around and walked back through Kirk Bramworth and crossed the river back to the South bank. We walked towards what would be our final stop of this walk Barnby Dun. On the way there was even more wild life to be seen. This time a brace of pheasants. With all this nature that we walked through and the small villages It was hard to believe that we were in a metropolitan area and an area that is once again seeking city status.
Once at the Church in Barnby Dun we prayed for the vicar, Jan Foden who is also the Area Dean. We thanked God for what He was doing in and through this Church and we prayed for the ways in which they engaged with the community. As I was personally praying for the Churches connections with children and young people I felt prompted to pray that those people in the community whose marriages were under strain could find the healing needed through the ministry of this Church and meet Jesus.
St Peter and St Paul Barnby Dun
It would mean that walking around the whole of Doncaster may not happen in four stages but we would cover more ground and pray God's blessing on even more Churches.
A damaged Union Jack
As mentioned above, flags seemed to be a theme for the day. Some of the flags were in a sorry state. I could not help but think of the situation in Denmark where the flying of flags is governed by law. Flags cannot be kept up over night. They have to be taken down. This shows more respect. Respect to the flag and the nation. I suppose that people who put up flags do so because they love the country. If they love the country to put up the flag then why can't they show respect to the flag itself and not let it get into such a state of disrepair?
A Halloween Flag
Another aspect to the law in Denmark about the flying of flags is that other flags other than the national flag can be flown, including the flags of other nations. This includes the flag of Germany who of course occupied Denmark during the second world war. But if they do then the Danish flag must also be flown and always at the same height. I'm not against the Halloween flags we saw but if we had the same rule then the Union flag or the flag of St George should be flown too.
