Churches are being encouraged to pray for Sydney this Sunday as part of the Connect09 campaign.

The latest Connect09 video has been released to coincide with the Prayer Day on June 1, which is set to see churches praying across the diocese.

The video, available at [url=http://www.connect09.com]http://www.connect09.com[/url] and distributed on DVD to all parishes, is entitled Pray, Connect, Expect and features Archbishop Peter Jensen explaining the three keywords of the Connect09 campaign.

The campaign begins next year but already congregations have been praying for their regions and surveying local areas for what the Archbishop calls ‘tribes and deserts’, areas with different people groups or areas without any Christian connection.

Connect09 executive director Andrew Nixon is encouraging congregations to use the prayer resource on the website and also to distribute the Connect09 prayer card.

“There are many parishes which have already adopted new ways to pray for their area, including one church in which each member is praying for one street, one business, and one school,” says Mr Nixon.

Congregations are being encouraged to play the video during services either on the prayer day or the next week.

The video was shot on a suburban street to emphasise the idea that Christians form a ‘spiritual neighbourhood watch’.

The Archbishop explained that the campaign begins with prayer for people around us.

“We want to get out of our churches and bring the word of God to people - whether in spoken, print or video form. Those resources will be available to your church later in the year - including an Australian translation of the Gospel of Luke,” says Dr Jensen.

He also emphasised that ‘expect’ was a major theme of Connect09.

“Go out with expectation that God is going before you to open doors and hearts. Of course many people will not want to know us. That's their privilege. But for others, your contact will be something which God has been preparing them for.”