'A Gift from God to All Peoples'

Tuesday May 17 2022

Jean Kerr, part of the team behind Thy Kingdom Come, says the success of the prayer movement 'can only be the work of God's holy spirit'.

Next Thursday (May 26), Ascension Day, is the first day of the annual global prayer movement Thy Kingdom Come.

For 11 days until Pentecost (June 5), Christians around the world will be praying for five people they know to come to know the love of God for themselves in Jesus Christ.

“I see it as a gift from God to all peoples, crossing boundaries and divisions,” says Jean Kerr (right), the National Diocesan Co-ordinator and lead trainer for Thy Kingdom Come. “We know that TKC is active in over 90% of countries and oversea territories and the over 80 denominations and traditions are taking part. It can only be the work of God’s Holy Spirit (because) TKC is a tiny team that can in no way affect this kind of impact.”

Jean visits Scotland this weekend at the invitation of one of her former students, Richard Lloyd, a Church of Scotland elder and member of the Faith Nurture Forum. She is hoping to visit the General Assembly, which opens on Saturday, and will lead worship at Queensferry Parish Church on Sunday evening.

Jean and her husband Paul are both ordained in the Anglican church and spent over 50 years leading churches around the UK. She has also been Warden of Evangelists, Diocesan lay training advisor and latterly Director of Mission and Community Engagement in the Diocese of Rochester. The TKC role came about unexpectedly after her retirement from Rochester.

“When I retired six years ago I seriously thought that the adventure with God in mission was over for me,” she says. “How foolish I was, because within three weeks I was asked to join the Thy Kingdom Come core team for two days a week promoting Thy Kingdom Come across the Dioceses of England. Very soon that expanded to also include anywhere and any denomination in the UK and the Channel Islands that wanted face to face presentations and support in getting congregations involved in Thy Kingdom Come.”

Prior to Covid-19 that involved travel throughout the UK, from Jersey to Aberdeen (a planned trip to Shetland was cancelled due to the pandemic). Switching to virtual presentations during lockdown, she began reaching ‘huge numbers’ nationally and internationally through Zoom.

“To know that so many millions of Christians have a hunger for prayer and a deep desire that those they care about would be able to experience God’s love for themselves is an encouragement to all of us,” she says. “It is clear to me that we have many faithful pray-ers in our churches but also that many people are looking for help in how to pray. One thing TKC has given me is the opportunity to be creative in helping people to pray as they can, and not as they can’t, and to help people find their own prayer style.”

www.thykingdomcome.global

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