“Come–Everything is Ready!” This invitation from Jesus also serves as the foundation for the 2019 World Day of Prayer (WDP) on Friday, March 1st, “a worldwide, ecumenical movement of Christian women of many traditions who come together to observe a common day of prayer each year.”
Celebrated by thousands of women and women’s groups, including Women of the ELCA, in over 170 countries, the World Day of Prayer seeks to facilitate “informed prayer and prayerful action” by gathering “women of different races, cultures and traditions together in fellowship, understanding and action throughout the year.”
The World Day of Prayer, officially celebrated since 1927, has its origins in the women’s mission boards of late nineteenth century America. Addressing a specific theme each year, from creation care to human rights to interfaith relations, the movement invites women to “affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and have immeasurable influence on the world” by engaging with the following values: listening, speaking, faithfulness, creativity, inclusion, giving, receiving, sisterhood, trust, learning, wisdom, action, ecumenical work and being a Christian neighbor in a multi-religious world.
This year, the World Day of Prayer will be facilitated by the WDP Slovenia Committee and will focus on the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:15-24). “At the core of the theme for WDP 2019, an invitation – Come,” writes the committee. “And to enable the response – Everything is ready. Come to praise, thank, and proclaim the kingdom of love.”
Learn more and download the World Day of Prayer resources.
Hannah Hawkinson served as intern for Gather magazine last summer. She is a master of divinity candidate at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.
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