Dementia Action Week (18–24 May 2026) invites us to challenge stigma, deepen understanding and walk more compassionately with people living with dementia. This year’s Diocese of Lichfield prayer, written by Jeremy Stretton, Dementia Coordinator at St Mary’s Church, Ellesmere, supports us all in doing just this. It has grown out of his relationships over the years with individuals, his church family and the wider community. This is the story behind the prayer.
Journeying as a family
Jeremy’s father‑in‑law lived with Alzheimer’s disease for ten years. There were brief windows of normality, as Jeremy recalls, when everything connected, before slipping away again. Yet the sense remained that memories were still there – waiting to resurface. Reflections have continued through conversations with Jeremy’s wife Carole and her family, as together they continue to integrate her father’s journey through dementia.
There are also connections for Jeremy in his own life story. When he was 17, in an era where it wasn’t compulsory to wear crash helmets, he was involved in a motorcycle accident. He suffered a broken skull. His father, a GP, warned that there could be complications later in life. This experience has shaped Jeremy’s awareness that none of us is immune from dementia: whatever our circumstances, we are all fellow children of God.
Journeying alongside individuals
Alongside this, Jeremy has had many conversations through his role as an Age UK volunteer and as he has walked with members of the St Mary’s congregation affected by dementia.
He speaks of unlocking a door with someone, without holding the key himself. Sometimes conversations and shared moments unlock new perspectives, allowing people to see the world in a slightly different way. This image captures Jeremy’s conviction that people living with dementia still carry deep meaning within them – even when others find it difficult to reach.
For one man whose wife had been diagnosed with dementia some years earlier, a profound moment came when Jeremy shared the image of 'crossing the bridge' to meet his wife where she was, in her world. The man described this shift in perspective as life‑changing, both for his wife and for himself.
Jeremy is also open to quiet continuing conversations, recognising that there are moments when people are able to take a small step forward. As he reflects simply, “It’s all about love at the end of the day.”
Journeying together as a church
This spring, St Mary’s Church, Ellesmere, agreed actions for the year ahead in its seventh Dementia-Friendly Church Certificate. With supportive leadership from the vicar, Revd Pat Hawkins, there is strong engagement and lived experience of dementia across the church family.
'Simply Celebrate' is a Churches Together initiative in Ellesmere, led jointly by St Mary’s and the Methodist Church. Held every other month from 2–4pm on a Saturday and alternating between the two churches, the service attracts people who may not attend other services. It is dementia‑friendly and also accessible to people across the neurodiversity spectrum.
Each service includes prayers, a short reflection and traditional hymns, alongside something practical, such as Lego or colouring. The next Simply Celebrate service will be on Saturday 23 May, during Dementia Action Week, and all are welcome. Following the service, there will be a dementia awareness session.
There are many other ways dementia is named and addressed together. A monthly article in the parish magazine raises awareness in an accessible and engaging way. The PCC regularly discusses dementia, agreeing the actions needed for certificate renewal. And the diocesan Dementia‑Friendly Church Newsletter is also shared across the whole congregation.
What impact has this had? Above all, it has helped to dispel stigma. Across churches in the diocesan dementia‑friendly network, we’re noticing that the impact is both practical and cultural. People are speaking more openly about dementia, feeling less anxious about 'getting it wrong' and becoming more confident about staying connected as needs change. So, incrementally, dementia is becoming less something whispered about and more something shared.
As Jeremy reflects:
“We’re moving dementia from being something fearful to being something understandable. If we’re doing that, we simply need to keep going.”
Journeying into the community
Dementia‑Friendly Ellesmere is a local group raising awareness and building connections across the town. Jeremy is actively involved in this group, which is led by Dr Mike Grierson from Our Space, a community hub which hosts the local Memory Café. Jeremy supports and encourages active regular participants in the Memory Café, including people both from St Mary’s Church and from the wider community. This involvement gives a welcome opportunity to take the church into the community.
Dementia-Friendly Ellesmere is active in offering a whole range of support. Alongside groups and opportunities that are offered year-round in Ellesmere, over time, it has promoted:
- Awareness raising sessions;
- A series of films called the “Three Amigos”, involving George Rook and two of his friends sharing conversations about some aspects of real-life dementia experiences – George lives locally with dementia and is a highly active figurehead in Shropshire and far beyond, pushing hard for measurable improvement in the awareness and treatment of dementia;
- A course called, “A Good Life with Dementia in Shropshire”; and
- A series of articles on dementia in 'Mere News' which has wide local circulation.
As Dr Grierson says:
“Everyone has a part to play in ensuring that a community like Ellesmere is a dementia-friendly place and that’s what we want to encourage. People affected by dementia still have much to offer. If supported well and their confidence is boosted, they can play an active and valuable role many years after diagnosis.”
Writing the prayer
Jeremy is clear that the prayer is 'given words' rather than his own words: it arrived unexpectedly. Recognising that it’s impossible to put yourself into someone else’s mind, Jeremy sees the prayer as expressing his conviction that people living with dementia still have so much held within them. It hasn’t disappeared, it has simply gone into hiding.
Bishop Michael’s endorsement
The Rt Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield, endorses this year’s Dementia Action Week Prayer, saying:
"Praying for one another is the foundation of our life together before God, and it is something that transcends any limitations of words. As the work of the Holy Spirit within us, prayer reaches from and to the deepest parts of our souls, beyond all that we know of ourselves. I commend this simple prayer which reminds us of this mysterious and gracious reality in our lives."
The prayer
God of love,
I am not muddled, forgetful or angry
really inside:
that’s just how people may see me
sometimes.
I am still a traveller like others but
on a new unseen path,
holding a hand out to You.
I thank You for holding it.
And I am thankful for others’ help,
even touching my fingertips
or simply
connecting in their thoughts and prayers.
Your love holds, touches
and connects us all.
Amen
Find the prayer and read the latest Dementia-Friendly Schools & Churches blog at http://www.lichfield.anglican.org/hidden-away-not...