A family looks at an apartment block destroyed by a missile strike on Jalaa Street, Gaza City, 21 February 2024. (Credit: Christian Aid/Omar Al-Qattaa)
Churches and Christian charities from multiple denominations are joining together to pray for an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Believers and churches are being called to show solidarity by those affected by the ongoing violence, especially for Palestinian Christians, to pray for peace and to increase calls for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and a “meaningful peace process”.
The planned events begin on Sunday, when churches will hold a minute’s silence and say a prayer written by the Most Rev Dr Hosam E. Naoum, Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem.
Part of the prayer reads, “By the power of your Spirit, bring a speedy end to this cruel war, the release of all captives, care for the sick and wounded, comfort for those who have lost loved-ones, and the opening of a pathway for a just and lasting peace here in the very homeland where your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, ministered during his earthly life; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
Sunday 21 September is also the UN’s World Peace Day and coincides with a similar call to prayer issued by the World Council of Churches.
On 24 and 25 September church leaders will take part in “Red Lines vigils” at the Senedd in Cardiff and Parliament Square in London.
A spokesperson for the organisations involved said. “There is a clear and urgent need for churches in the UK to respond to the escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. The gravity of the situation demands a united Christian witness for peace, justice, and reconciliation.
“We hope as many churches as possible will join us in these actions. We believe that by standing together, in solidarity with those affected by violence and injustice, we can amplify the call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, for a dramatic scaling up of the amount of aid being let in, and for a meaningful peace process.”
In a separate Fast for Gaza initiative, Christians are voluntarily going without food for a set period of time as a symbolic act of solidarity with the people of Gaza experiencing famine.
All the plans are being supported by, among others, Churches Together England, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, the Church of England, Methodist Church GB, Catholic Bishops Conference of England, Cytun: Churches Together in Wales, Quaker in Britain and the charities CAFOD, Christian Aid, Embrace the Middle East, and Tearfund.
One church leader taking part is Rev Helen Burnett, Vicar at St Peter and St Paul’s, in Chaldon, Surrey.
She said: “As the world watches in horror the deliberate decimations of an entire population – its fabric, its institutions, its people – a sense of despair prevails and sucks away our energy, threatening our capacity for empathy.
“For each of us, the red line was crossed at a different moment but here, on the other side of the line, it is incumbent upon us, as people of faith, to stand in solidarity with the suffering of the people of Palestine and in particular Gaza and the West Bank.
“Jesus prayed and acted for the oppressed, now we must pray and act for the people of Gaza and cry out for justice and peace, kneeling on that red line, and remembering the innocents are names, not numbers – they are our sisters, our brothers and our neighbours.”
Churches unite in prayer, fasting and protest for peace in Gaza
