Millions of Christians worldwide prepare to join ecumenical prayers + video

A wave of prayer, galvanising Christians of all denominations and across the traditions, in more than 85 countries worldwide is set to launch this week. Now in its third year, Thy Kingdom Comes calls on Christians to pray for more people to come to faith from Ascension to Pentecost which falls from 10-20 May this year.

Both nationally and internationally - churches, families and individuals will be gearing up pray for more people to come to faith.

In the UK, thousands of churches will be organising activities for the 11 days of prayer - ranging from prayer stations to continuous prayer, prayer walking to Messy church services for families.

Internationally, countries as diverse as South Africa, Malaysia and Pakistan will be taking part adapting Thy Kingdom Come activities to their own cultural contexts. For example, more than 2,000 booklets will be produced in Urdu to be distributed to churches in Pakistan and in Malaysia, Thy Kingdom Come will be part of their year prayer - with a particularly intensive prayer period during Ascension to Pentecost that will include a range of activities and a Bible reading marathon.

A number of new elements have been introduced to Thy Kingdom Come this year, including the launch of an app, development of new resources and partnerships, a new theme song and several new countries getting on board.

For the first time countries such as Hawaii, North Fiji and Finland will be involved. Similarly, although all the major denominations are involved this year, Thy Kingdom Come have worked particularly closely with the Methodist Church of Great Britain, the Baptist Union of GB and the Catholic Church of England and Wales to produce a beautiful sets of bespoke resources.

This includes the 'Journey with Mary' podcast and devotional, Morning, Evening and Night Prayer of the Church booklets created with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and a Methodist art collection-based Novena and stunning short video with Reverend Gareth Powell visiting John Wesley's New Room in Bristol, in partnership with the Methodist Church.

The initiative have also just launched a brand new app for people to access the devotional materials for the 11 days. Available in seven languages, it will include daily video reflections, podcasts, Novena and the ability to put in the names of five people to pray for with personalised alarms as a reminder to pray for them.

During the 11 days, daily devotionals will go out from a range of high profile speakers representing the main denominations, including Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Justin Welby.

A number of other highlights during this period include Archbishop Justin Welby doing a Facebook live with Activist and Author, Shane Claiborne on May 14th.

Beacon events will be held in the UK and abroad including nations such as Australia, Canada and Bermuda. In the UK, events will be held in most of the major cities in England and there will also be two beacon events in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

On the 19th May, the same day as the FA Cup final and the Royal Wedding which Archbishop Justin Welby will be officiating, he will later preach at a special Beacon event in St Albans' for hundreds of young people which will include contributions from Coptic Archbishop Angaelos and Mike Pilavachi, Soul Survivor.

For the finale of Thy Kingdom Come on Pentecost Sunday, after preaching at Canterbury Cathedral, Archbishop Justin will attend the Methodist Central Hall beacon event. This will be alongside Reverend Gareth Powell (Methodist Church); Pastor Agu Iruwku (Jesus House) and worship led by by Pete James who wrote the song Your Kingdom Come for this year.

Both events will be livestreamed from Archbishop Justin Welby's Facebook account.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said: "I am very pleased to invite you to join in this time of prayer as part of Thy Kingdom Come from 10-20 May. We do this, with a deep realisation that our world is not right. But we do it with a profound hope, profound trust in the promises of Jesus, that His Kingdom will come and in that trust and hope we pray."

Bishop Angaelos - Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London commented: "This initiative Thy Kingdom Come is something I am so blessed to have been part of for two years and it is really a time for us to stand together and pray together to put into words, into chant, into hymns - into whatever means we desire - our petitions before God - for ourselves, for our churches, for our communities and our world."

To find out more visit www.Thykingdomcome.global

Watch Cardinal Vincent with Archbishop Justin speaking about when we pray Thy Kingdom Come: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgjwBUBm7K8