Uniting in Prayer: your community

We are so excited for Uniting in Prayer to begin this Sunday 28 May, Pentecost Sunday. For 26 days across the national Uniting Church, we'll be upholding in prayer our communities, our life and future as the Uniting Church, and our world.

Born out of the national Act2 Project, Uniting in Prayer is an opportunity for all who call the Uniting Church home to gather in thanksgiving and hope to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit for the years ahead of us.

In these days of prayer we’ll give thanks to God for our past, reflect on our present, and listen with hope to God’s call and each other. We pray this will be a time of refreshment, renewal and connection.

Here are six ways for you and your community to be involved.

1. Use the President's video this Pentecost Sunday

President Rev Sharon Hollis has offered this video message for communities to use to mark Pentecost Sunday and the launch of Uniting in Prayer. Read more here and download it directly from Vimeo.

2. Host a worship service or prayer gathering in your community

Mark Uniting in Prayer locally! This might be a worship service involving your whole community or even other churches in your area, your prayer or Bible study group, or simply ‘two or three’ faithfully gathered to pray. It could be as simple as praying for our Church in your Prayers of the People.

The Act2 Project Unit in partnership with the Assembly Transforming Worship Circle has provided some rich resources, including a full service of worship, prayers, intergenerational activities and creative worship ideas. Biblical reflections are also available to aid your reflection or preaching.

3. Find out who you're praying for through the national prayer chain

Through Uniting in Prayer different parts of the Uniting Church will be connected to each other through a national prayer chain. Your home community will be invited to pray for other communities and there will be Uniting Church communities praying for you.

The prayer chain has been sent by email to Uniting Church communities and is now available in full on the Act2 website. If your community didn't receive it or you're not on the list, please email the Act2 team.

4. Pray and share together at home

The Act2 Project Unit has offered an intergenerational resource written for young children and families to take part. Each day has a short reflection, question for sharing and a prayer. This is a great conversation starter around the dinner table, in the garden, heading to school, or wherever you spend time together! Although aimed at a younger age range, it’s easy to tweak for whoever is around your table.

5. Pray with us daily

We'll be sharing daily prayers over the 26 days drawn from people across the breadth of the Uniting Church and our faith tradition. Sign up on the website to receive them each day by email, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.

6. Join us online for a national time of prayer

One week before the 46th Uniting Church Anniversary we’ll be hosting a national online time of prayer, open to all. This will be a wonderful expression in real time of what we dream will happen across the country during Uniting in Prayer - people gathering to seek the Spirit and pray for each other, our Church and our life.

Join us on Zoom on Thursday 15 June, 8pm AEST. Register for the Zoom here and more information will follow.

Let us know what you do!

We would love to see and hear how people mark Uniting in Prayer. You may like to share: photos from a gathering or your own prayer time, a story about something that happened during this time or your own prayer for the Uniting Church.

• Make sure you use #UnitinginPrayer on social media and post publicly where you can
• Send us photos and feedback directly: comms@nat.uca.org.au
• Let us know if you'd like your community to be featured in the stories we tell from around the Church at the end of Uniting in Prayer

Let's join together as we seek the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us and the Uniting Church, and dream dreams for the future.