Across the Diocese more than 500 people gathered at five hubs on the first Sunday in May to pray for the growth of the gospel.

Encouraged to gather in person by Archbishop Kanishka Raffel, the annual diocesan day of prayer saw Sydney Anglican churches assigned partner prayer parishes to pray for during regular services, and gatherings in the afternoon at the hubs across the Diocese.

People gathered at St Andrew’s Cathedral in the city, St John’s Cathedral in Parramatta, St Alban’s in Epping, and Hoxton Park and Dapto churches, travelling up to an hour to sit shoulder to shoulder with fellow saints before the Lord.

Bishops from each region led the gatherings in a reflection on the purpose and privilege of prayer before extended time to pray in small groups.

“Prayer gives us access to God himself,” said Bishop Gary Koo of the Western Region to the saints gathered at St John’s, Parramatta. “He’s made that access possible through Jesus, his son. And given who it is that we’re praying to, given what he’s like and the way we relate to him, while he won’t always say ‘Yes’ to the things we ask, we should still come to him with confidence as we pray.”

At the city gathering, Bishop Michael Stead reminded those present that all things should drive us first and foremost to pray.

“We can pray about anything and everything to God,” he said. “If anything matters to you, certainly if it matters enough to make you anxious, then certainly that is a reason not to drive you to activism or drive you to avoidance, but to drive you to your knees in prayer.”

Archbishop Raffel added: “It’s a great thing to get together with everyday Sydney Anglicans. They’ve been to church this morning, they’ve come along this afternoon to pray for their communities, their friends, their neighbours who don’t know Christ.”

If you weren’t able to gather in person to pray, the Archbishop asked that all Anglicans joined in prayer for four specific areas:

• somebody you know who doesn’t know Christ
• a member of your family who doesn’t know Christ
• someone who used to come to church who you haven’t seen in a while
• a neighbouring church as well your own, for efforts to bring the gospel to friends and neighbours