Thy Kingdom Come is a global ecumenical prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for the 11 days from Ascension to Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus.
What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer, taken up by 85 denominations and traditions across 90% of the countries of the world.
This year you can get involved in three ways:
- Partner with Bishop Ric as he conducts prayer journeys around the Diocese
- Use central resources from Thy Kingdom Come in your own church
- Partner with an ecumenical prayer movement for London – Thy Kingdom come here
1. Join with the Bishop of Islington
Each day of this Ascensiontide, Bishop Ric Thorpe will be joining in with other Christians in London who are prayer journeying around our parishes and our city. Prayer journeying simply involves walking around your community and praying ‘Thy Kingdom come here.’ It is a way of seeing, with new eyes, how God is already at work in these places and asking him to reveal himself to those who live and work in them even more.
Over 9-18 May, Bishop Ric will be posting videos of his own prayer journeys to his instagram and twitter accounts, and is inviting everyone to join him by using the prayer journeying practice developed with our Confident Disciples team or the ecumenical resources below.
“I would like to invite you to join in, by going on your own prayer journeys, and maybe also posting them to your social media accounts. My hope is that together we can see our city transformed by praying for God’s Kingdom to come.” – Bishop Ric
2. Thy Kingdom Come national resources
Plans for this year can be found on the Thy Kingdom Come website.
Excellent free resources (you just pay postage) are available including:
- a Workplace Prayer Diary from ‘transform work’
- The Novena: reflections by Bishop Anthony Pogo, General Secretary of the Anglican Communion
- videos for children made in collaboration with the Jesus storybook bible and featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury
- an event for youth groups is planned for Pentecost Sunday
Bishop Sarah features on one of 11 short films that will be available on the TKC App and YouTube by the end of April.
3. Ecumenical resources for London
Thy kingdom come here is an invitation to pray for your whole parish street-by-street by collaborating with Christians from your church or other local churches in ecumenical partnership. In Barnet, Tower Hamlets and Newham we have an app available to help you track your prayer-journeys. In 2025 this app will be available for the whole of London. (see https://thykingdomcomehere.london for more info.)
Walk: Turn an existing journey into a prayer-journey by being prayerfully present as you go. It is as simple as taking your existing commute or walk to the shops and make it a prayer by asking for God’s Kingdom to come. (Note – there is also a virtual prayer journey guide that those who are not able to walk can use to participate.)
Pray: Pray as you journey by noticing, listening, and asking for God’s Kingdom to come where you are.
Bless: Speak blessing over the people and places you pass – eg. for businesses and schools to thrive