Jenan Taylor
23 February 2023
A Mornington Peninsula church has embraced prayer ministry after parishioners converted their former op shop into a house of prayer.
Mornington and Mount Martha Anglican Church assistant vicar the Reverend Elizabeth Rankin said the op shop had been running for more than 10 years, but had become unsustainable.
Ms Rankin said before COVID it had been staffed largely by older volunteers many of whom were unable to resume when restrictions lifted.
She said that a long time parishioner who felt a growing call to a life of solitary prayer had proposed that the space be used for prayerful devotion.
The parishioner was discerning whether or not to take up the vocation of being an anchorite, Ms Rankin said.
An anchorite is a recluse who lives in a structure attached to the place of worship in a life of quiet prayer.
Historically, the structure was known as an anchorage and anchorites were walled in so that they could commit to solitary observance.
Read more: ‘Please pray for us as we are standing here for our land and for our roots’
Ms Rankin said although their church’s devotee lived alone and followed a prayer routine every day, he did participate in the community, including through the Bible studies and prayer groups that he conducted.
She said a prayer box was set up in the church and that parishioners and members of the public dropped anonymous, confidential prayer requests into it so that they could be prayed over in the anchorage for a period.
Ms Rankin said it was a ministry that was well patronised by the church and community.
“When we first introduced it there would be a bit of queue of people who were placing their prayers in the box. Now, it’s a steady flow and a normal part of our worship service,” Ms Rankin said.
Parish warden Christine Manktelow said the parish council had been very keen to support the prayer devotee’s proposal when it was first put to them.
“There were conversations with the clergy and parish council, and the idea seemed to sit right with us that we should be using the building for something that would feel right as far as the church and the parish as a whole goes,” Ms Manktelow said.
“We didn’t want it to be sitting unused, empty. But we also didn’t particularly just want to use it as a commercial income-generating thing. It needed to be more than that.”
She said the vicar the Reverend Helen Phillips was the person who suggested the prayer house be called The Anchorage and told them its definition.
“There is that historic sense that goes with it, but also that sense of anchorage as a safe harbor. That was very attractive to us, too, because the logo for the parish is St Peter in the boat on the water at the foot of the cliffs,” Ms Manktelow said.
“That’s very apt because that is the scenery practically adjacent to where the church is located.”
For more faith news, follow The Melbourne Anglican on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe to our weekly emails.
