Bishop Jan, the Bishop of Repton and Acting Bishop of Derby, has called for churches to join in with five days of national prayer for unity as the deadline for Brexit approaches.
Churches will be encouraged to host informal café-style meetings over the weekend of 30th March to bring together people of all standpoints and encourage open discussion.
Backed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, resources launched this week at www.churchofengland.org/together include prayers for use in services and special gatherings.
They also include invitations for people to ‘get together and chat over a cup of tea and pray for our country and our future’.
The prayers and events will go ahead, even if the date for Brexit is delayed.
Bishop Jan said: "Friday, 29 March 2019 will be a significant day for our nation, whether or not we leave the European Union on that day.
Our church communities, like the rest of the nation, are divided over whether or nor Brexit is the right way forward.
But as Christians, our role is to promote peace and reconciliation in the places where we live and worship, and to demonstrate that we can live peacefully together even when we disagree.
Could I encourage you then to take up the invitation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to stand up for peace and Christian neighbourliness by joining in five days of prayer for our nation from Friday, 29 March 2019.
You might even be able to open up your church on Saturday, 30 March 2019 as a place where people can call in to meet their neighbours over a cup of tea and to find a place of quiet for reflection and prayer.
Or why not advertise your after-church coffee on Sunday as a time when people could congregate?
The Church of England Website contains some some excellent resources.
Let’s do all we can to live out the truth we proclaim each Sunday as we strive to love God and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
With every blessing
+Jan
God of hope,
