JERSEY anthem composer Gerard Le Feuvre is helping to organise an Islandwide prayer meeting with worship led by the King’s Chamber Orchestra.
The event, ‘Heart for Jersey’, is being held at St Helier Methodist Centre this weekend, and Mr Le Feuvre is inviting any Christians to come and pray at the event. He will be conducting the London-based King’s Chamber Orchestra, who will stay on an extra day after their concerts in Jersey tonight and tomorrow, to take part in the service.
‘Many people may not realise that, although we are a London-based professional chamber orchestra, we are also a Christian organisation,’ said Mr Le Feuvre. ‘Many of our 40 concerts throughout the year support Christian charities such as Aids orphans in Uganda, and the whole organisation is run on extremely sacrificial principles in order to achieve this.
‘The Islandwide event is called Heart for Jersey and we are calling all the Island’s Christians to pray as a response to all that’s happening across Jersey and in the world today. I have invited a wonderful man who has been a father figure in my life to come and speak at the meeting. He is Michael Ross-Watson, a man of great humility and love, who doesn’t describe himself as a preacher but rather as a storyteller. He travels the world with his message of love, forgiveness and reconciliation, drawing from his extraordinary life experiences.’
Mr Le Feuvre wanted to set up the event to lift people’s spirits ‘as the credit crunch starts to bite’ and after a devastating year for many in the Island in other ways. About 20 years ago the composer tried to set up an Islandwide Christian festival but abandoned ship when he realised that there was not sufficient unity to achieve it.
‘Today I face a wholly different and more unified picture, with a plethora of Christian activities across the Island, involving all denominations and the broad range of ordinary people who make up Jersey’s Christian community.
‘Examples of this include vital Christian charities such as ACET (working in sexual health), the Grace Trust (ministering to the needy and marginalised across the Island), Ecce Homo and Mustard Seed (supporting Romania through hard times) and many groups supporting African and Indian communities.’
• Heart for Jersey will be staged at St Helier Methodist Centre on Sunday 16 November from 7 pm.
