Global Day of Prayer 2007 & into 2008

Following the success of the Global Day of Prayer London held at West Ham United FC on May 27th 2007, Britain’s Christian community are being encouraged to book their place for next year’s event scheduled for May 2008. Over 20,000 Christians from across the denominational and cultural spectrum braved the rain to attend the four hour ecumenical prayer extravaganza which celebrated Pentecost.

The service kicked off with worship led by Tim Hughes. His repertoire included ‘How Great Thou Art’ and the hit song ‘Here I Am To Worship’.

Other artists that performed for the crowds of Christians from diverse background, cultures and streams were Patti Boulaye, the Royal Holloway Choir and All Souls Orchestra, Geraldine Latty and Graham Kendrick.

Using the Lord’s Prayer as the key theme for the event, there were readings and reflections from Monsignor John Armitage; an international prayer for the world in different languages; Elizabeth Bartha of Christian Solidarity Worldwide led a special prayer for persecuted Christians across the world and there was a prayer of repentance for the transatlantic slave trade and a plea for reconciliation.

Pastor Nims Obunge of the Peace Alliance led prayers for an end to violence across Britain and Rev Nancy Onwudu, gave a poignant call for peace as she shared how her son was stabbed to death last year.

There was a general sense that the service, the congregational mix of different races, the use of different styles of church worship traditions and the spirit behind the Global Day of Prayer London event reflected the Spirit of Pentecost which ushered in the birth of the church over 2000 years ago.

The Bishop of Barking, the Rt Rev David Hawkins, Chair of the Global day of Prayer London Steering Group, and Pastor Jonathan Oloyede, the visionary behind the event, were pleased with the strong support churches across the UK gave this groundbreaking ecumenical prayer initiative.

Rev Hawkins was thrilled by the wide range of Christian traditions represented at the event. He said, “One of my main interests in chairing the steering committee for the London Global Day of Prayer was around encouraging a new expression of ecumenism… It was exciting and very productive to work with such a dynamic group of mixed ethnicity and denomination - the leaders of many of our black majority churches collaborated across the whole range of church life from Roman Catholic to Independent churches.”

He continued, “This broad-based collaboration worked well for the Global Day of Prayer - we all worked hard to ensure the West Ham event was representative of a wide variety of worship and prayer styles - and it may provide a model for achieving much more together in the future – not least a united and influential engagement with the 2012 Olympics and much else besides. “I see this as a hopeful ‘new look’ ecumenism, which seems to be reaching parts that our traditional ecumenical instruments have often failed to reach.”

Pastor Jonathan hopes that the Global day of Prayer has encouraged believers to get involved in other Christian initiatives. “There’s a number of worthwhile initiatives that deserve the support of the Christian community such as Stop the Traffick, Soul in the City as well as A Year for London, where churches are being invited to spend 24 hours praying for the needs of London.

“I hope Global Day of Prayer 2007 has encouraged churches to work more closely with other churches and strengthen their relationships with each other. This event has proven it is possible for Christians of different races and traditions to unite together with a common aim. We now want that sense of faith and commitment shown by churches in their support of the Global Day of Prayer to be demonstrated by churches working to transform their communities with acts of kindness and social action.”

The organisers hope that following the success of this year’s event, they’ll be able to host a Global day of Prayer event at the new Wembley Stadium by 2010.