UK Churches urged to create a ‘Wave of Prayer’ this Advent for their Christmas Services and Outreach
Churches across the UK have been asked to launch a ‘Wave of Prayer’ from Advent Sunday, through to Christmas Day, to cover all their Christmas services and events in prayer.
At the busiest time of the year for most churches, and certainly most church leaders, the founder of Shine Your Light – an initiative which is to see 1000 churches take their carol service and events out onto the streets this year – is urging pastors and vicars to prioritise prayer for their events, as well as the many detailed arrangements that will be made behind the scenes, including publicity and catering.
Pastor Dr Jonathan Oloyede, Convenor of the National Day of Prayer and Worship, which administrates Shine Your Light said: “As a church leader myself, I know just how busy the season we are about to embark upon can be. Sermon preparation, churches to be cleaned, decorated, publicity to be designed and distributed, volunteer teams to be co-ordinated, the list is endless between Advent Sunday and Christmas Day. But all too often we can forget that the most fundamental thing we need to do is to cover all our events in fervent prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us, to lead us to people to invite and, that all that is said, sung and done will bring glory and honour to Jesus.”
To aid church leaders launch this prayer initiative, Shine Your Light has produced a free downloadable video from Bishops Jill Duff and Matthew Porter from the Church of England, sharing a message for the UK, and former MP and No 10 Special Envoy to Persecuted Christians, Fiona Bruce, who will encourage churches to pray for their brothers and sisters globally who cannot meet in public this year to celebrate Christmas for fear of persecution.
The Shine Your light website (www.shineyourlight.org.uk) also offers a range of free resources for church leaders who register their church’s Christmas event outside the church walls, including:-
- a professionally designed and printed Carol sheet for events (P+P costs only)
- music backing tracks to accompany the carols, or
- a music score for each carol, and
- resources for churches to follow up contacts made at events
And in a new development, international evangelist and apologist, Dr Amy Orr-Ewing has provided an adaptable 8-minute evangelistic talk/template which church leaders can use if they are not used to speaking evangelistically to non-church audiences.
Last year, when Shine Your Light was piloted, over 78,000 Christians from 700 churches in 68 denominations, streams and groups took their Carol Services and Christmas events onto the streets. This year’s goal is 1,000 churches, and 100,000 Christians reaching 1-million UK residents and visitors.
Further information on these, and other resources to follow, together with programme ideas and how to sign up can be found on the Shine Your Light website at www.shineyourlight.org.uk
A video to show in churches and to share on social media, sharing the vision to bring a message of hope and joy to communities this December can be found at Shine Your Light 2024 – you are invited! – YouTube
ENDS
Editor’s Notes
[1] See Explore the latest church attendance statistics in 2024 and discover surprising insights into the changing landscape of church attendance. | ChurchTrac Blog
[2] See the Talking Jesus research Talking Jesus – Evangelical Alliance (eauk.org)
Shine Your Light Partner Organisations includes: The National Day of Prayer & Worship, Churches Together In England, Churches Together in Britain & Ireland, The Redeemed Church of God, The Salvation Army, United Reformed Church, Pray For Scotland, Try Praying, World Prayer Centre, Assemblies of God, Baptists Together, Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Church of England, Church of God of Prophecy Trust, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of London, Elim Church, Congregational Federation, Evangelical Alliance, Gather Movement, Ground Level Network, Ichthus Christian Fellowship, Manchester Evangelicals Together, The Methodist Church, Neighbourhood Prayer Network, New Covenant Church, New Testament Church of God, ACUK, Bible Society, CFAN, Crown Jesus Ministries, The Gregory Centre For Church Multiplication, Hope Together, Isaiah 61 Movement, Kingdom Impact Vision International, Leading The Way, London City Mission, London Mission Collective, Mission 24, Sports Chaplaincy, SSJ, Street Pastors, TransformWork, CPO, God TV, Premier Media, Revelation TV, UCB and the UK Christian Chart.
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