Originally published by Churches Together in England.
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HE Cardinal Vincent Nichols, one of the six Presidents of CTE, invites all Christians in England to share in prayer for Proclaim ’15.
In 2015 a significant evangelisation initiative called Proclaim ’15 is being launched to support, inspire and encourage new expressions of parish evangelisation. A project of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, it is designed to affirm the good work that is already being done by the Catholic community, and to provide resources and events to profile and develop new expressions of Catholic joy and missionary outreach.
This is the first event of its kind in a generation and will bring together an extraordinary group of speakers, workshop leaders and representatives from every diocese in England and Wales to celebrate joyfully and confidently their Catholic Faith, and to explore how better to share it.
850 evangelisation representatives will be in attendance, with a quota of day passes having been assigned, equally, to each diocese. The event is primarily offered for members of diocesan evangelisation teams and commissions, as well as to a wider group of co-workers directly working in support of existing diocesan strategies and plans.
At the invitation of Proclaim ’15, the CTE co-ordinating group The Churches Group for Evangelisation, has arranged that 10 ecumenical guests will be present at Proclaim ’15 to share in the event, pray, and reflect afterwards. The United Reformed Church has financially supported the attendance of the guests, who represent a variety of traditions and networks involved in evangelisation.
The following prayer is for Proclaim ’15. Christians are invited to pray regualarly and especially on July 11th, in all traditions, for the conference and for the Holy Spirit ‘to go out to the whole world to proclaim’.
You are welcome to reproduce the initiative prayer in print and use it on electronic platforms.
Loving Father,
You so loved the world that you sent us your only Son,
that we might believe in him and have eternal life.
May we encounter Jesus Christ anew this day
and live the Good News with joy.
Through the power of your Holy Spirit,
help us to “go out to the whole world and proclaim”
our faith with confidence.
Give us the courage to witness to the Joy of the Gospel
by our words and actions.
Help our parish to become more welcoming and missionary,
so that you may be known and loved by all people.
We make this prayer through Our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever,
Amen.
catholicnews.org.uk/proclaim
For resources, and introduction video re Proclaim ’15
