Over 750 Christians from across the Diocese gathered on the eve of Pentecost for an evening of prayer, worship and celebration as part of a national movement of prayer across the UK.

The Bishop of Selby, the Rt. Revd. Dr. John Thomson, joined the Revd. Ben Doolan and Freya Loftus in opening the service at St Michael le Belfrey, which celebrated how prayer can change the lives of ourselves, and others.

During the evening, Fusion’s Miriam Swaffield celebrated the beginning of the church with a 750-strong chorus of ‘Happy Birthday to Church’, and brought the story of Pentecost to life; the coming of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, and the start of the Church’s mission to the world.

Prayers and intercessions were led by James Fletcher from St Cuthbert’s House of Prayer and the Revd. Matthew Porter, during which attendees each committed to ‘pray for five’, an initiative of Thy Kingdom Come to pray for five others to find Jesus Christ, and share the story of their faith.

The music was led by Tom Holmes and included ‘This is Amazing Grace’, ‘Our Father’, ‘10,000 Reasons’ and ‘In Christ Alone’.

The Archbishop of Canterbury appeared in a short film in which he spoke of unexpected answers to prayer and how evangelism can be brought about through prayer.

The service was one of six Beacon Events taking place across the country, marking the culmination of a nine day national ‘wave of prayer’. The movement, known as Thy Kingdom Come, is a national initiative by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to encourage Christians to spend focused and dedicated time in prayer in the run-up to Pentecost.

In the Diocese of York, the response to the call has been strong. Individual parishes have marked the week with everything from a 24 Hour Prayer Vigil at St Timothy, Hemlington, a 24-hour mobile prayer room at the Hillside Parishes, to an exhibition of ‘Art as Prayer’ at St Margaret, Millington.

Thank you to Matt Parkins for sharing your brilliant photos! See more here.