On the first Sunday of most months, St Mary's Upton holds an in-depth interview with a prominent Christian who has a story about how God has been at work in their life. The event is very popular, often attracting nearly 200 people regularly.
Sunday's @ 7 began 20 years ago when parishioner Mark Mitchell wanted to find a way to attract people outside the church community into the church. He came up with the idea of creating a series of monthly interviews and persuaded the Vicar and PCC to try the idea for three months. It proved to be hugely popular and has been going on ever since.
Members of the audience might be mistaken for thinking that Sundays @ 7 is some kind of TV production, as everything looks and feels like you're in a TV show. Two cameramen and a small army of production crew operating a bank of electronics are there to ensure the evening runs smoothly, and to record the video footage for uploading to the Sundays @ 7 YouTube Channel.
This year, being the 20th anniversary of Sundays @ 7, the church decided that this year's guests will all be people who were there previously, during the last 20 years. The guest on Sunday 3 March was Gee Walker, who was first interviewed at St Mary's 18 years ago following the murder of her son Anthony.
Since then Gee has established the Anthony Walker Foundation and has dedicated her life to tackling racism. She was awarded the MBE in 2023 for her life's work. During the evening Gee explained how she was brought up as a Christian, by her Mother, who she described as being very 'Fire and Brimstone'. Supported by her adult children, in the audience, Gee told the story of Anthony, how he was a good son, a Christian with good values, hopes and aspirations, but at the age of 18, was murdered in Liverpool in a racially motivated attack.
In a moving testimony, Gee spoke of how she had been able to forgive those who were involved, quoting an excerpt from the Lord's Prayer, "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."
Gee was interviewed by David Roberts, who hosts all of the Sundays @ 7 evenings. He has been described by one of his interviewees as being 'like Parkinson', and it's easy to see why. David can draw out the best from his guests, which he does by asking good questions and letting others do the talking. "I release people to tell their story." He says.
More information about Sundays @ 7 can be found on St Mary's Website.