A dedicated prayer space for students and young people in Sheffield is helping to provide spirituality and calm in a busy context. Starting up in April 2024, each event has a guided prayer session alongside times of quiet to help enable a peaceful space for people to work in.
A key aim of the Scriptorium is to form part of the wider mission at St Matthew’s – to bring people into the church and make them feel welcome. Taking some inspiration from Pusey House, Oxford. The project was initially led by Liam Westlake before he moved to another role and was replaced by Godwin Omuya.
Godwin, who came as a student to Sheffield from Nigeria in 2023, said:
‘It’s kept building over time and is probably one of the best things I’ve seen in terms of drawing people in and making them feel valued. People come to study and socialise, and it feels fluid—like a new world for bringing people in.
‘Each week I try to include something different, so people are always asking, “What’s next?” The beauty of it is, people may come for the food at first, but eventually they mingle with other students and even start coming to church. Now we see some of the students at Sunday Mass and weekday services. It’s fantastic.’
Tom is a final-year student at Sheffield Hallam University and came to faith last year. He says it’s helped him to focus on other things:
‘This has been really good for getting my work done, especially with some of the bigger projects this year. There’s a core group of us who come every week. I’m pretty new to faith and St Matthew’s is my parish church, so when I started attending and saw this advertised I thought it sounded fantastic.
‘As a final-year student, having a day a week, 9 to 5, to really focus is so helpful. It’s not just prayer and then work—they’re integrated. Prayer and study are part of the same day, the same experience. Before, I’d sit at my desk banging my head against the wall! Now, with a bit of structure and guidance, it’s refreshing. I definitely get more work done this way.
For anyone thinking about coming to the Scriptorium, I’d urge people to just try it. It’s a great crowd and we’re all very friendly. With deadlines and dissertations coming up, it’s a great place for a bit of silent study, surrounded by people your age.’
The Scriptorium runs every Thursday term-time from 9am to 5pm at St. Matthew’s, with a free breakfast and lunch provided:
9:00am Morning Prayer
9:15am Breakfast
9:45am Study block
11:00am Coffee break
11:15am Study block
12:30pm Mass
1:00pm Lunch
1:30pm Study block
3:00pm Coffee break
3:15pm Study block
5:00pm Evening Prayer
Godwin adds he thinks the Scriptorium will grow in the future:
‘My vision is for more students, especially those who work or live near the city centre, to come into the church. St. Matthew’s is based in the city-centre, and Sheffield is a student city.
‘I’d love to see students come in and become part of the church community—joining the choir, serving, being active in the congregation. We had two people from the Scriptorium baptised this past Easter—one was baptised and one received First Communion.
‘That’s what I hope for—bringing people into faith, into community.’
The Scriptorium is funded through the Diocesan Mission Enabler Grant funded by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board of the Church of England.
The Mission Enabler Grant (M.E.G.) is available to any church wishing to develop its missional outreach and will fund a one day a week post, or equivalent, for a lay person. The initial funding is for one year but may be extended for a further year.
