Banbury churches invite people to mark World Day of Prayer with them

The event, organised by women members of a number of different Christian churches across the globe, will be held at seven churches in the Banbury area.

At 2pm congregations will gather at Banbury Salvation Army and Adderbury’s Methodist Church to pray and share sympathetic thoughts for people experiencing problems in other countries.

Hornton Parish Church and King’s Sutton Baptist Church will gather at 2.30pm and St Mary the Virgin Church in Cropredy will mark the event at 4pm.

St John the Baptist church in Bodicote and St Mary Magdelene in Duns Tew will both hold their events at 7pm.

A spokesperson for the event said: “From early in the morning, a great wave of prayer makes its way around the world. Starting in Samoa and sweeping across the Pacific, passing through Asia, the countries of Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, It moves across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, North and South America, and back to the Pacific and American Samoa for the last services of the day.

"As agreed by the International Committee in 2017, this year’s service was prepared by Christian women in Palestine and is especially poignant at this time. Their chosen theme is: I beg you... bear with one another in love."

World Day of Prayer was founded in the USA in 1887 and unites Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, the Church of England, and Quaker women from 146 countries in prayer.