Episcopalians are invited to join with other Anglicans in prayer from May 21st to May 31st. 2020. Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray from Ascension to Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. A letter of invitation follows:
To the Diocesan Bishops of the Anglican Communion
from the Thy Kingdom Come team at Lambeth Palace
Dear Bishop,
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, our rock and our redeemer. I am writing to you following the recent launch by His Grace, the Archbishop of Canterbury, of Thy Kingdom Come 2020 to assure you that this great worldwide wave of prayer that, in God’s grace, has grown across the world into 172 countries and spread through over 60 denominations is going ahead this year. I want also to express the hope that you will be leading your diocese in praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ between Ascension and Pentecost so that as many people as possible, across our worldwide communion, will be focused on seeing friends, families, communities and countries come to know the saving love of God in Jesus Christ and become channels of renewal in a suffering world.
At the international launch at Lambeth Archbishop Justin said:
“As we come together to pray for people to be filled with the Spirit so that they come to know and love Jesus Christ, to repent of their sins, to turn away from all that is wrong and find the love of Christ filling their hearts, we are praying for the transformation of our world.”
The Archbishop noted the huge issues we are facing including Covid-19, climate change, poverty and selfish apathy. All those things bring into sharp focus the world’s need of Jesus and the urgency of the call of God on us to pray as they did in Acts 1:14. This prayer broke down cultural barriers, it was this prayer that prepared for them to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, it was this prayer that gave birth to worldwide evangelism. Against the background of this pandemic God calls all those who have received his saving love for themselves to be agents of his Kingdom in the world. To be men and women who channel God’s transforming love that we may bring real change to the lives of those in greatest need.
Thy Kingdom Come is rooted in the example of prayers in the Acts of the Apostles. We see there that as the Good News is preached the sick are healed, the hungry are fed, communities are renewed and the world is turned upside-down with the love of God. Please join us this year as we pray for that to happen again.
Resources to help with Thy Kingdom Come are at www.thykingdomcome.global, but the simplest thing you can do is encourage clergy and congregations to “Pray for Five”. This wonderful way of being involved in Thy Kingdom Come has spread round the world from New Zealand to Canada, from Bangladesh to Burundi, from Hong Kong to Chile. Christians simply think of five people who are not yet following Christ and pray for them from Ascension to Pentecost. Anyone can do it and the prayer can change the world.
If there is anything I can do to help Thy Kingdom Come grow in your diocese then please do be in touch with me and if there are stories of how things work out in your diocese we would love to hear them so we can rejoice in all that the Lord is doing.
May our gracious God bless your leadership of his mission in your diocese,
Yours in Christ,
The Very Revd Robert Key
Anglican Communion Lead for Thy Kingdom Come
thykingdomcome@lambethpalace.org.uk