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Forty Days of Prayer – A Call to Pray for the forthcoming Scottish Referendum

An invitation and opportunity to engage in a significant issue for Scotland and the United Kingdom

Scotland — indeed, the United Kingdom — stands at a crossroads: on 18 September this year, Scotland will vote on whether to remain in the UK or become an independent country once more.

The ancient kingdom of Northumbria once stretched from the Forth to the Humber so, as the Northumbria Community, we are cross-border in our DNA. We believe that last year’s peace and reconciliation pilgrimage to Flodden and our prayer initiative at Bannockburn in June this year have been part of God’s preparation for Scotland’s momentous decision, and we sense that we have a role to play in holding the nation, the referendum campaign and the vote itself before God.

To this end, we are preparing a prayer diary to cover 9 August to 19 September: the 40 days up to and including the day of the vote, plus the day following it. This will be designed to help Community Companions and Friends pray in an informed and impartial way about the campaign, the referendum and Scotland’s future.

We also feel that it is important to be on the ground as the vote takes place, so we hope to gather a small group of people from either side of the border to pray in Linlithgow on 17-19 September, probably connecting with other prayer initiatives in Edinburgh.

Please contact the office to receive the referendum prayer diary or for more information on the prayer gathering in Linlithgow.

Andrew Philip and Roy Searle