Together in Unity
The Rev'd Davidson Solanki, Regional Manager for Asia and the Middle East
Humanity is going through difficult and uncertain times. The world is reeling from the catastrophic impact of the pandemic, climate change, and the mass displacement of people. These issues are compounded by deeper problems such as greed, injustice and inequality. The list goes on and on.
In the midst of such challenges and crises, the Church continues to express solidarity through prayer. At the height of the Covid–19 pandemic, many churches around the world offered support to one another by organising online prayer gatherings. They followed the call St Paul gave to the church in Philippi, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’ (Philippians 4:6).
Taking inspiration from Psalm 133:1, where King David says, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity’, USPG decided to unite churches in prayer in an online day of prayer. The idea of the Anglican Communion Day of Prayer (CDP) was created with the sole purpose of uniting Christians and churches online in prayer and worship. We decided to hold a 24-hour Communion Day of Prayer on 30 November 2021, St Andrew’s Day. Planning for the event started in March 2021 with a clear focus on providing space and opportunity for churches around the Anglican Communion to offer local, diverse and contextual prayers. USPG has never organised such a global event and so it was decided that this year’s version would be a pilot, giving us an opportunity to learn and improve for future iterations.
When the concept of the CDP was shared with partner churches and other Anglican mission agencies, USPG received overwhelmingly positive responses. The idea was heralded as timely, appropriate and relevant. Enthused and inspired by such a positive response, a CDP working group started planning and preparation. We also recruited an Event Coordinator to manage the event.
All of our preparations are now completed. The countdown to the Anglican Communion Day of Prayer is reaching its final hours. We have received amazing and inspiring prayer videos and prayer material from many churches around the Communion. So many Church leaders have embraced this idea and have even sent pastoral letters to clergy and congregations commending them to observe a special day of prayer by participating in the CDP. It is truly amazing and humbling to be part of this event. We at USPG are very excited! Our team of volunteers, comprised of staff from USPG and other mission agencies, are ready to host prayer videos for 24 hours starting midnight on 29 November and finishing at midnight on 30 November. All information about the Communion Day of Prayer, including Zoom and Facebooks links are available here: https://www.uspg.org.uk/day-of-prayer.
I wholeheartedly commend this event to you and warmly invite everyone to join in this first ever 24-hour, online prayer vigil on 30 November and be part of a global wave of prayer.