London, England (ANS) – During the first week of April, many key UK and Ireland church and denominational leaders have been deliberating on a united and corporate expression during the Covid-19 lockdown and over Easter. Firstly, to pray together about the ongoing pandemic and secondly to publicly express the Christian faith.
Two key things have emerged from this time of joint reflection;
- A united 24-hour prayer chain across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.
- A Good Friday public expression of Prayer and Unity for the Healing of society.
In response to this decision UK Christian leaders have released this joint statement:
“All through April, May and into June, churches will unite in an ongoing daily prayer chain for the United Kingdom and Ireland. All Christian denominations, churches and networks are invited to contribute whatever minutes, hours or days of prayer they can provide. Nothing is too small or too much. The key factor is participation and our joint collaboration.
Some weeks ago, an initiative for the whole country was encouraged to stop and applaud the NHS frontline workers at 8pm. People came out of their homes to clap for these amazing people.
The statement added: “In the same spirit of unity, Christians are being encouraged to come out of their homes at 3pm on Friday 10th April as an expression of faith and identification with our Christ on the Cross when He cried out “IT IS FINISHED!”
“We are asking believers to come out, sing the well-known hymn Amazing Grace, pray the Lord’s Prayer and like Jesus said ‘it is finished’ as we hope and believe for an end to this epidemic.
“As Christians who believe in the power of prayer, we can only imagine the impact of millions of believers praying at the same time across Northern Ireland, Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.
“This simple concept of continuous prayer along with the public expression of faith on Good Friday has been agreed and accepted by practically all sections of the churches within the United Kingdom and Ireland.
“May the Grace and Peace of Christ be with us all during these challenging times and may we see the answer to our prayers with an end to Covid-19 and the lockdown.”
