Spiritual renewal through prayer is on the agenda at St Paul’s Menai, where congregation members are leading the way in adopting the 40 day diocesan prayer program, The Ephesus Code.
St Paul's lay minister, Tim Hudson has made a Bible study booklet to accompany The Ephesus Code prayer journal by Bishop of Wollongong Reg Piper.
"I wanted to encourage our church family to stick at it for 40 days,” Mr Hudson says.
“I thought it was important for people to engage with the material in small groups."
The Ephesus Code is a Christ-centred allusion to the bestseller The Da Vinci Code, linking the spiritual renewal in the church of Ephesus with mission today.
It covers the 40 day period from Easter Sunday 16 April to Ascension, 26 May.
The program is the major focus this year under Policy One of the Diocesan Mission and follows on from the 40 Days with the Risen Lord in 2005.
"Our senior high school small groups, young adults, adults and staff are all keen to participate in the program," Mr Hudson says.
"It's a challenge to us to focus on prayer. Our desire to be effective witnesses as God's people and the journal and studies are useful tools to assist that."
Rector of St Paul's, the Rev Rob Barrie says prayer is instrumental in setting the agenda of a church.
"If you want direction and want God to lead the community in a particular direction, you need opportunities where the whole church comes together and prays," he says.
The Rector of Thornleigh-Pennant Hills, the Rev Neil Flower believes The Ephesus Code will be the next step in promoting regular prayer and Bible reading by members of his congregation.
"We're very glad that Reg has come out with a second publication that promotes concentrated prayer," he says.
"The publication is theologically good. It gives you half a chapter rather than just one verse a day and it doesn't jump from translation to translation."
"The Ephesus Code is getting people to read the Bible, use prayer notes and meet in small groups," he says.
Bishop Piper hopes The Ephesus Code will unite Sydney Anglicans in praying for mission across the Diocese and throughout the world.
"[It] links what happened in the church of Ephesus and the way that great revival occurred around that church to our particular mission this century," he says.
"We ought to think in terms of expanding our churches and planting new churches, how we think about training people for ministry and how we think about reforming the culture."
