Sunday 'Pursuit' Nights

Every Sunday night we gather Christians from many local churches together to seek God in worship and prayer

8 years+

Churches involved so far

Weekly prayer and worship and regular days and weeks of prayer

20+

Every Sunday 7.30-9pm

Sunday evening is our main weekly worship and prayer gathering. Our heart is to be an expression of the wider church in the Taunton area praying, worshipping and wholeheartedly pursuing God together

Our evenings are led by different teams of musicians and singers and prayer leaders from local churches and guests each week. We love, we support and we believe in the local church and we have good relationships with many of the church leaders in Taunton and other local towns. The local church is God’s primary plan for community but we also believe that God has called us to express a dimension of life and community together as the wider church. In Psalm 133 we see the blessing that God releases upon unity. Our vision is beyond meeting together: it is to learn to love one another across our various churches in our area, and to stand together to pray for our communities and world.

What do we do?

The worship style may vary each week but we do place an emphasis on corporate prayer, on quite a ‘spontaneous’ style of worship and having space for prophetic words to be shared so that we can listen to what God is saying during our times together. As the churches come together we represent a wide breadth of traditions and styles of worship and prayer. We sometimes wait on the leading of the Holy Spirit and we occasionally use liturgy but we don't want to hold back when the mission is this important. This can be healthy! Different styles of worship help us engage with God is different ways.

What we do at Pursuit may not be how you particularly like to worship but we hope that what Jesus prayed in John 17 that the church would ‘be one’, would challenge us and impart a grace to love one another and lay down our preferences for the sake of unity and love and the kingdom. However if what we do is confusing then please come along to a vision night or just get in touch as we’d love to chat more about why we do what we do and why we have chosen this particular format and structure for our meetings.

FAQs

How long is it?

• Usually 7.30-9pm but we sometimes run over. You're welcome to leave at any time

Evening format?

• We usually start with a time of sung worship, and then invite people to pray in various ways in between other songs. We sometimes do something called quick-fire prayer when anyone is invited to pray short prayers on the mic at the front. Sometimes we all pray at the same time or are invited to pray for different topics in different corners of the room. There is no pressure to join in or pray out loud at any time although you will certainly be invited and encouraged to.

I'm not a Christian or don't go to church, can I come along?

• Yes, of course. Anyone is welcome to pop in and see what we do. We believe in a God of love who desires relationship with us. And that following the teaching and example of Jesus is the best life changing thing anyone can do. If you're interested in finding out more do come and join us. We also recommend finding a local Alpha course which provides an opportunity to meet other people who are also asking questions about faith, and the course usually involve free food! https://alpha.org.uk/

Why is it so loud?

• On a Sunday night we usually aim for 85-90dB as our loudest volume. It may be louder/quieter than you are used to but this is a safe and reasonable volume for a bigger church event like this and significantly quieter than a concert or gig, worship night or Summer event like New Wine or David's Tent. We do however have ear plugs you are welcome to use if this is an issue. We may occasionally get this wrong but please be patient with us as we are in the process of training up sound and tech volunteers. Do encourage and be kind to them as this is a tricky and technically demanding role.

Are you a church?

The Somerset House Of Prayer is not a church, but we are a place for Christians from many churches to gather together to pray. We have a great relationship and blessing from the B1 network of Taunton churches and two local church leaders are part of our core leadership team. It may be your only access to church at the moment but we'd love to recommend joining a local church community which can provide community, teaching, and support in ways we as a prayer room don't.

Local church?

These are some local churches we love and recommend that work and relate to us:

• Taunton Vineyard Church

• New Creation Church

• Living Light Christian Church (Taunton, Wellington & Bridgwater)

• Oakwood Church

• St George's, Wilton

• Taunton Baptist Church

• Creech Baptist Church (Creech St Michael)

• Life Central (Wellington)

• Wiviliscombe Community Church

• Yeovil Community Church

“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance but laying hold of God’s willingness.”

– Martin Luther