CHURCH members will be hitting the streets of Kingswinford on Ash Wednesday (March 5) - offering to say a prayer for the people they meet.

Archdeacons of Worcester and Dudley, Roger Morris and Nikki Groarke, and other clergy and lay people, will be out and about to ask the public for their prayer requests - which will be written on prayer cards to be prayed later at Ash Wednesday services.

They will be in Kingswinford town centre from 11.30am to 12.30pm as part of the 'Pray One For Me' national initiative - which originated in the Diocese of Worcester.

The team will also be out and about in Broadway, Malvern and Stourport - where they will be joined by the Bishop of Worcester, Dr John Inge, He said: “Each Ash Wednesday for the last five years we have been out on the streets of the diocese offering to pray for individuals and we’ve always found that people have really appreciated somebody taking the time and interest to pray for them and any problems or concerns that they’re currently experiencing.

"Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, which is an important time in the Christian calendar and it’s a good time to focus on the difference that prayer can make.”

The 'Pray One For Me' initiative began after Bishop John collected prayers outside the Job Centre in Redditch on Ash Wednesday in 2009 to help those most badly affected by the economic downturn.

In 2010 it became a national initiative and many Church of England bishops now collect prayer requests in towns and cities across the country.

People can also post prayer requests on website www.prayoneforme.org which is supported by church groups and prayer communities across the Church of England who will pray the prayers.