Diocesan News03 Jan 14

Diocese of Down and Dromore embarks on a year of uninterrupted prayer

The Diocese of Down and Dromore has launched a Year of 24–7 Prayer from the slipway at Titanic Belfast.

At midnight on 31 December, Bishop Harold Miller and about 70 others welcomed 2014 with prayer and, to the sound of ships’ horns, a rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

At the same time, back in the Dock Café Prayer Garden, others took up the prayer mantle, and so began an unbroken chain that will thread throughout the diocese during 2014 and lay the foundations for a Year of Mission in 2015.

Bishop Harold Miller formally handed over the 24–7 prayer scroll to Revd Chris Bennett, Chaplain to the Titanic Quarter, as a symbol of their commitment to sustain prayer until 4 January. The scroll will then pass to Ballymacarrett where it will remain for 7 days.

As well as its symbolic value, the scroll documents the prayer journey through the diocese.

Between 1 January and 6 March the prayer scroll will travel between 17 parishes in the area from Titanic to Helen’s Bay. Every parish will take part over the year ensuring that night and day throughout 2014, at least one person will be interceding in a prayer room in the diocese.

You can follow 24–7 prayer journey via Twitter at hashtag #DDYOP and on the diocesan website www.downanddromore.org.