Earlier this year, a service was held at Bentley Pentecostal Church to celebrate 40 years of the St John Ambulance in the villages of Arksey and Bentley near Doncaster. The St John Ambulance group was started originally in Arksey 40 years ago and then moved to Bentley Pentecostal Church around three years ago.

Stephen Anderson, Elder at the Church and Vice Chairman of the Gideons Doncaster Branch says, “We were delighted to be able to help our friends at St John with the use of our Church Community Centre and have enjoyed a good relationship with them which has included joint services together at Christmas and Easter. At the request of the St John Officers, the service included hymns, prayer and modern worship songs led by members of the church worship team.

Gideons have presented Bibles at previous awards ceremonies and were asked if Bibles could be presented at this very special celebration. Thanks to the great help of the team at the Gideons National Office and the kind permission from St John HQ, we were able to provide special celebration New Testaments. These were green to match the St John uniform with their crest printed in gold on the front and the Brigade prayer inside.

The Cadets and Officers received awards from St John for their progress and achievements and Stephen presented Bibles to each one. He was also asked to give a short message focused on the first line of the St John Oath of Chivalry taken by all Officers and Cadets which states, ‘To Serve God’.

Janet Havenhand, the Officer in charge of the St John group was there at the very beginning 40 years ago and received a special Presentation Bible also with the St John Ambulance crest on the front. A second Presentation Bible was sent to be on display in the St John Museum to commemorate the event. The Gideons in Doncaster, along with the Bentley Pentecostal Church, look forward to continuing this relationship with St John Ambulance in the coming months and years.

Submitted by Stephen and Ann Anderson, Doncaster Branch of The Gideons