Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement inviting Christians to pray during the nine days between Ascension Day and Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus Christ. We are invited to pray for God’s Spirit to move within the Church, equipping us to share God’s love with others and to pay attention to how God is speaking to us today.
This year 2019 the Starbeck group of Churches ( Christ Church C of E, St. Andrew’s C of E, Woodlands Methodist, Starbeck Methodist and St. Aelred’s Catholic Church) met each morning for 5 days for prayer and breakfast, praying and eating together in fellowship in our 5 different churches. In this way, we were also celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in the lead up to Pentecost.
Both Anglican churches focused on a theme of invitation: Jesus invites us into his life, for us to come to him , to seek him and his Kingdom that he may be the centre and source of our life, We prayed that his Kingdom may come with the Spirit of Pentecost and renew our lives and the face of the earth. The Methodist Church produced its’ own booklet of readings and prayer for the nine days. With the world’s problems of violence and terrorism in mind, their focus was on new ways of listening to ourselves and to others which will bring fresh insight into how we might take a step closer to being able to love our enemies and, most importantly, discover the God who listens to us with profound attention. At St. Aelred’s, we were reminded that there was conflict and division from the earliest times, we only have to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians to understand that. The message was that, with the Spirit of Jesus at the centre of our lives, divisions could be healed in the issues of our time.
Excellent breakfasts were provided at each church, and conversation and fellowship developed across the breakfast table as the week progressed. Thank you to all who provided such nourishing fare!
Father, pour out your Spirit on your children gathered here today,
And grant us a new vision of your glory,
A new experience of your power,
A new faithfulness to your word,
And a new consecration to your service,
So that your love may grow among us and your Kingdom come.
Christine Jack ( Churches Together in Harrogate)
