A prayer meeting that has continued for nearly 180 years.
It began in January 1847—one of the first initiatives of the newly founded Evangelical Alliance.
The idea was simple:
For one week each January, evangelicals everywhere would pause and pray together. Different buildings. Different languages. The same week. The same God. The same cry for the nations.
The Week of Prayer has continued every year since. It endured empires rising and falling and two world wars. In 1944, while bombs were still falling on Britain, the Alliance distributed 150,000 prayer programmes.
Nearly 180 years later, evangelicals around the world still observe the Week of Prayer.
Before WEA was a network, an advocate or a platform, it was a people on their knees.
Will you join us in prayer?
Sources
Howard, David M. The Dream That Wouldn't Die. The Birth and Growth of the World Evangelical Fellowship 1846-1986 Vol. 1 : Yearbook for Evangelical Theology, Volume 1, 1987.
Randall, Ian and David Hilborn. One Body in Christ. The History and Significance of the Evangelical Alliance. Great Britain: Paternoster Press, 2001.
Parker, David. Discerning The Obedience of Faith. A Short History of the World Evangelical Alliance. Theological Commission. Bangalore: Theological Book Trust, 2005.
Ewing, John W. Goodly Fellowship. A Centenary Tribute to the Life and Work of the World's Evangelical Alliance 1846–1946. World of Theology Series 23. Theological Commission. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft 2022.
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