Ascension Day to Pentecost
Thy Kingdom Come
11 Days to pray for more people around the world to come to know Jesus
Today's Reflection - Sunday 31st May
READING
Acts 2.1-8
REFLECTION
On the Day of Pentecost, God sent His Holy Spirit, as Helper and Comforter, and enabled the disciples to proclaim – in different languages – the wonders of God so that people from all nations could understand.
This shows us that the Spirit of God is present for every situation. When we share our faith with our friends, we can ask the Spirit to help us ‘translate’ the good news of God’s love so that they can understand how it affects them in their situation.
At Pentecost we remember that the Holy Spirit is living in us. Let’s not get too used to that amazing fact! What a privilege we have. The Spirit awakens us to the love God has for us and helps us to love others.
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, thank You that You are living in me, showing me God’s love and helping me share that love with others.
ACTION
The next time you have an opportunity to share your faith and talk about the love of Jesus, consciously remind yourself that the Holy Spirit lives within you.
The Upper Room - Programme
9 am on Saturday 30th May to 9 am on Sunday 31st May
9 am - Bishop David and Bishop Debbie
An introduction to 24 hours of continuous prayer for Thy Kingdom Come
10 am - Gary Philbrick
Saturday Conversation: a weekly interview between one of the staff Team and Canon Michael Anderson and Jeremy Houghton-Brown, reflecting on pilgrimage and prayer in the Holy Land. That will be followed by a time of scripture, music and prayer.
11 am - Sarah Yetman
Bible readings, times of quiet and reflection, and moments for more open prayer for people to join in with.
12 noon - Michael Smith
Taize chant, silent and led prayer and meditation.
1 pm - Marion de Quidt
Prayer for children, young people and young adults.
2 pm - Nicky Davies and Jo Heath
Mothers’ Union prayers and Wave of Prayer, a Bible reading (focusing on Jesus in prayer) as well as some quiet reflective space.
3 pm - Ben Kautzer and Angus Patterson
In the parish of Oakley with Wootton St Lawrence we have been running a prayer cluster ministry for many years. The parish community is divided into thirteen neighbourhoods and Christians all backgrounds and denominations gather together each month to pray over the area in which they live. This commitment to praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ over a specific place year-upon-year has been transformative in our context. For this hour of prayer, different prayer clusters will guide us into a time of listening to God and praying over the streets and neighbourhoods in which we live.
4 pm - Adrian Thomas
An imagined Prayer Walk through North Southampton, from Hospital to Airport taking in the university, care homes, closed shops, church buildings and many residential streets. This will be an opportunity to pray at each location and for those praying with us from across the diocese, to imagine and pray for similar situations in their own locality as we go.
We will also make an impromptu visit to Zambia/Zimbabwe and pray for situations known to us in those nations.
5 pm - Sarah & Cliff McClelland
A focus on parish and prison ministries.
6 pm - Lee Davies
Sung worship to lead us into God’s presence, followed by reading a psalm. There will be three or four led segments including some suggestions for prayer points with time for waiting on/listening to God and for others to pray as led. We will close with the Lord's Prayer.
7 pm - David Potterton
Taize in the Garden - Reflective Taize style' service
Please download the chants here.
8 pm - Tom Young
An hour of 'creative prayer' led by a few of the youth in our church. There will be some drawing, writing and crafts.
If you'd like to join this session you may want to bring some paper, scissors, colouring pencils, pen and pencil so you can join in with the activity.
9 pm - Andy Trenier
Compline
10 pm - Heather Leppard
Taize hour' with music, readings, silence, and prayers, inspired by the worship of the Taize Community in France.
11 pm - Mike Griffiths
Reading psalms and praying through them with drums.
12 midnight - Christopher Durrant
Prayers or poems much loved or valued by members of our congregation for me to read aloud during our portion of the vigil.
1 am - Rachel Noel
An hour of prayer and silence. The hour will begin and end by saying Hopeweavers Night Prayer together and the lighting of a candle. There will be a simple centering prayer/relaxation exercise into a time of shared silence together.
There will be a few prompts on-screen and for creative activity with pencil and paper to encourage prayer and reflection.
2 am - Thomas Wharton
Listening on the Way is a prayer resource using art images, scripture, reflection and prayer which we hope will encourage prayer and reflection.
3 am - Jono Harvey
Praying with Creation - Jesus seemed to spend a lot of time in prayer outdoors. We are going out and about on the new housing development of North Stoneham Park. Hopefully exploring what it means to pray outside amongst the rocks, trees and birds!
4 am - Peter Rouch
Praying for each benefice in the southern archdeaconry.
5 am - Mark Collinson
Prayer for the ministry of the cathedral, and linking in with the TKC theme. We will be thinking about the impact on mission organisations around the world, the effect of the virus on other countries that have more fragile care systems than our own with a focus also on Rwanda and Burundi as mission partners.
6am - Richard Brand
Praying for each benefice in the northern archdeaconry.
7 am - Clare Carson
Prayer and Preparation on Pentecost morning.
8am - Bishop David & Bishop Debbie
Join us for the final hour of The Upper Room.
#ThyKingdomCome under Lockdown: Resources for Families
The Digital Family Prayer Adventure Map & App
Created with Missional Generation, the map is packed with activities based on the daily themes of Thy Kingdom Come and through the augmented reality app, comes to life with bonus digital content including videos and games.
This includes animations of well-known Bible stories and also reflections from Archbishop Justin Welby, Guvna B, CBBC's Gemma Hunt, Jonathan Bryan (Eye Can Talk), Philip Glassborow and Sally Lloyd-Jones - Author of the Jesus Storybook Bible.
Check out the video with Archbishop Justin Welby and CBBC's Gemma Hunt as they try out the map and app!
The map is available in two formats:
- An A2 printed version which can be ordered separately or included as an item in the Family Prayer and Care packs.
- An A4 print at home version, created in response to COVID-19.
The augmented reality app is free to download and works on both versions and is available on Google store and Apple store.
The Digital Family Prayer Adventure Map and App is also available to download. Find out more here.
#ThyKingdomCome at home -5 more ideas for Families to do
Here are five simple ways to be involved!
#ThyKingdomCome for Individuals
1. The Prayer Journal*
Why not download this year’s prayer journal featuring Charlie Mackesy’s beautiful illustration of ‘the Prodigal Son’
on the front cover? Full of beautiful reflections, Bible readings & prayers, it also includes an ‘action’ section – with ideas of how to care for those you are praying for.
2. Prayer and Care
Order this prayer and care pack filled with prayer resources, goodies and creative ways to pray during the 11 days.
It also includes a number of ideas of how you can demonstrate the love and care of Christ for those you are praying for during Thy Kingdom Come, or even as a witness to your wider community.
3. Journey with Mary*
Download this beautiful devotional journeying with Mary, from the Ascension to Pentecost, praying for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
4. Pray for 5!
Praying for 5 people to come to know the love of Christ, is at the heart of Thy Kingdom Come. Which five people will you be praying for?
Praying for five people to come to know the love of Christ is at the heart of #ThyKingdomCome and particularly important at this time (Watch this wonderful interview with Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London reflecting on the importance of praying for others, particularly those on the frontline re. the Coronavirus pandemic.)
There are many ways you can do this, whether as an individual, as a family or encouraging your congregations to be involved. For example, the Diocese of Coventry in England, have created this great little video re. their commitment to encourage churches to 'Pray4Five'. Or maybe, if you are at home with the family and want to be reminded to pray for 5, you could create your own 'pray for 5' bands or order some here.
Or if you like to drink hot beverages throughout the day, you could remember to pray Catherine's way. And if you need further inspiration, watch Archbishop Dr John Sentamu's testimony from last year re. praying for his five friends, with amazing results!
5. The App
The #ThyKingdomCome App is available now to download from Google Store and I-Tunes!
The award-winning app is full of the daily videos, Bible readings, reflections, podcasts from Professor NT Wright and a special section for your 'Pray for 5'.
Download the Apple version here and the Android version here.
New song for this year's Thy Kingdom Come from worship leader, Pete James
This year we are pleased to announce a new anthem for Thy Kingdom Come, sung by worship leader, Pete James, who gave us the beautiful song - Your Kingdom Come in 2018.
The new song, Thy Kingdom Come, is set to the melody of Tell Out My Soul and we pray this song is a blessing
to churches in this season.
To download the lyric video video or the music score visit here.
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. Visit the website for more information.