What is the Tree of Hope?
As a church we celebrate the Hope we have in salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ. That hope extends beyond our own personal relationship with God and salvation to looking forward to a new heaven and earth, a renewed creation where justice, peace, joy, freedom and wholeness are promised, and where mourning and tears are wiped away.
We pray as Jesus taught us for God’s good kingdom to come in some measure on earth as it will be fully found in the heavenly kingdom. We stand among the pain, suffering and loss of our world, and we reach out in hope for that better world to come among us and change circumstances and lives in our community, town, nation and world. In the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22, there is a picture of that new heaven and earth. A river flows from the God’s throne into the city. Beside it grows the Tree of Life. We are told the leaves of that tree are for the healing of the nations.
Since late 2019 we have been pondering that picture, praying that a river of life would flow out from us to bring life, hope and healing in our town. The direct impact of Covid19 on many in our community, the strains on us and our community from months of lockdown, and the economic impact of lockdown on our community are very real in Luton. Never has the promise of that Tree of Life been more needed.
Additionally, the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis USA has raised again the challenge to properly deal with the discrimination and racism that many black, Asian and other ethnic minority people experience as a regular part of their lives. As a church we have long experienced a call to work for the unity of all in our community.
We have chosen a tree in St. Mary’s Churchyard opposite the Mall to be a symbol of that tree in Revelation. Luton’s Tree of Hope. We invite members of our own church community at St. Mary’s, our sisters and brothers from churches across our town and all Lutonians, whatever their creed or colour, to bring their hopes and dreams, their sorrows and pain to the tree. Ribbons on the tree signify the heart cry of us all. We will extend the presence of the tree into the virtual world of social media.
We use the language of hopes and dreams, sadness and pain, for it is the language of all. As Christians we are learning to bring our sadness and pain to God, to lament in our broken world. We learn to bring our hopes and dreams in prayer. However we want the Tree to be available to all in our town. We will over the course of the Tree of Hope seek to bring the heart cry of Luton people to God in prayer on their behalf.
Events at the Tree of Hope
November 2021 - Remembrance & Remembering
Red ribbons are available to tie on the tree as an act of remembrance or as a way of remembering a loved one.
Good Friday, 2nd April 2021 - Church Open 10am - 1pm
Yellow ribbons will be available from the church to tie on the tree as a symbol of hope and resurrection.
Sunday 28th March 2021 - Re-opening of The Tree of Hope
We will be re-opening the Tree of Hope from Sunday 28th March. There will be no formal service this year, but ribbons will again be available at various services.
Wednesday 2nd September 2020, 12.15pm - SOUL SPACE from The Tree of Hope
Our monthly service of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation will be held beside the Tree, as well as streamed online. We invite people of all faiths and none in Luton to attend the service, or come to place a ribbon on the tree between 12.00 and 2.00.
Wednesday 26th August 2020, 12.15pm - SOUL SPACE from The Tree of Hope
With a focus on young people and the difficulties they have been through, our regular Wednesday Soul Space will be streamed from the Tree of Hope.
Join us online or why not come down and hang your prayers on the tree.
Come and visit the tree any time
Express your prayers - your laments and sadnesses, as well as your hopes - by hanging a ribbon on the tree.