WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: United Kingdom and Ireland

As I wrote about in a recent post, part of my vicarage at Saint Peter's Church this year is providing a supplemental paragraph about countries in the weekly Ecumenical Prayer Cycle created by the World Council of Churches. We pray for each country listed in the prayer cycle during the Intercessory Prayers at Saint Peter's on Sundays and the paragraph is included in our bulletin insert to provide context for those intercessions.

This week's countries (2/3 - 2/9) are the United Kingdom and Ireland. While the paragraph below provides some basic information, check out their WCC page for additional prayer resources.

We pray for the United Kingdom as it discerns its future relationship with the European Union ahead of a recently announced referendum on EU in 2017.  We pray as well for UK Prime Minister David Cameron as he co-chairs the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.  We pray for the people of Ireland as they continue to navigate austerity measures and a weak economy.  We give thanks for continued peace and stability in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin is currently a vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice building in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.