Edinburgh 2010’s call for co-operation
Around 1,000 Christians from across the denominations and traditions heard the call from the Archbishop of York to the ‘be, see, think and do mission’ on Sunday night as they came together for the close of Edinburgh 2010. Christians were gathered for the conference in the Scottish capital for most of last week. The occasion celebrated the 100th anniversary of the historic World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910 and the subsequent birth of the world church. In an honest closing address, the Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, said that' too much of what the church did today amounted to nothing more than ‘re-arranging the furniture.’ ‘re-organizing the structures; arguing over words and phrases, while humanity as a whole plunges suicidally into obscurity and meaningless despair. And so often the Church’s activities and energies appear to be totally irrelevant to the needs of the world today,’ he said. (See Prayer Alert 2310) Pray: for the Holy Spirit to empower and lead the Church in its mission to reach the world in a meaningful way. (Ac.9:31)
Prayers in London for healing Britain
Global Day of Prayer London convener Jonathan Oloyede calls on Christians to prepare for a National Day of Prayer at West Ham Stadium June 13 2.pm ‘As we have asked people to gather locally in our boroughs we're also asking the whole nation to come down to West Ham Stadium June 13 to prepare the nation for what is to come. We're asking God to open up a New Britain, that it no longer is to be Broken Britain, but for it to be healed. We're inviting churches to come to West Ham and send a delegation to come down as a church family and come and join thousands of other people as we pray ‘Lord heal our land.’ Worship leaders include Graham Kendrick, Noel Robinson, Godfrey Birtil, All Souls Orchestra and Beverley Trotman. ‘We're calling for every church in the nation to take one day in the month where they will pray and fast’ Pray: for God to move across our land bringing His Church into the unity of unceasing prayer for our communities and each other. (2Ch.7:14) More: http://www.gdoplondon.com/news/gdop_pentecost_prayers_to_heal_britain.htm
Sermon for the New Parliament
The Archbishop of Canterbury preached at a Service for the New Parliament at St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey. Used the words of Jesus ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar’, he said. ‘You may or may not as an individual share the perspective of faith; but in the difficult years ahead it will be worth remembering that giving God what belongs to God is something that is not a matter of dry and unwelcome duty but a release of human possibilities that we all need to witness and in some degree to share. May this Parliament mark a new level of enthusiasm and imagination around the call to honour God-given dignities by creating strong citizens of our nation and of the world; May the work of our elected leaders be for the sake of gathering and not scattering and may the divine image in men and women, recognised or unrecognised, be the vision that directs us towards a fresh political energy and moral vision.’ Pray: for the Government and Opposition that they will honour God in their work for this nation. (1Ki.3:9)
Disappointment over nuclear disarmament
An alliance of nine UK churches has expressed disappointment at the failure of nuclear weapons states to agree deadlines for actions on nuclear disarmament. While the churches welcomed progress made on discussions on the Middle East and a declaration by the UK on number of warheads, they were highly critical of the refusal of the nuclear powers to agree timeframes for future discussions at the end-May conference in New York. Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading, said, ‘Nuclear weapons are a legacy of the cold war era and have little relevance to the threats that we face today’. There is a growing recognition that having one set of rules for some nations, and a different set of rules for others is unsustainable. The nine churches' campaign, entitled Now is the Time, calls on the British Government to make a commitment to achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, creating a safer future for all. Pray: that world governments will work positively to remove all nuclear weapons in the near future. (Mi.4:3) More: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.newsDetail&newsid=443
