Mission month is every month: new prayer resource invites us to pray and act

A new 30-day prayer resource from Anglican Missions is helping parishes, small groups, whānau and individuals explore what mission looks like in everyday life, during Mission Month and throughout the year.

September has often been marked as a month of prayer for mission, but a new resource from Anglican Missions carries a wider invitation: “Mission month is every month.”

The Thirty Days of Prayer Resource.pdf offers a month of short daily prayers, Scripture readings, moments of silence and simple actions. Rather than limiting mission to a particular programme, appeal or time of year, it invites us to notice the people, places and needs already in front of us.

“We created it for Mission Month when parishes pray for mission activity near and far. Many parishes choose to donate their month’s giving towards mission organisations,” says Jen Lun, Operations and Projects Officer for Anglican Missions.

“We haven’t made it day-numbered, so that it is a resource that can be used all year round. We believe that though it is mission month, mission of course is all year round and, at Anglican Missions, we will still be doing the mahi.”

The booklet is built around the five marks of mission: Proclaim, Serve, Heal, Reconcile and Sustain. Together, they open up a broad understanding of mission. Proclaim focuses on telling and showing the good news. Serve turns attention to work, food, water, learning and rest. Heal holds bodies, minds, grief and communities affected by disaster in prayer. Reconcile looks towards welcome, justice and peace. Sustain focuses on creation, rising seas and what we hand on to future generations. 1

“The prayers cover mission in its proclamation and also include prayers for the earth, climate crisis, voting, young people and more” Jen says.

Across the 30 days, people are invited to pray for mission partners, teachers, health workers, aid workers, refugees, people living with illness and grief, communities affected by war and natural disasters, and those responding to the climate crisis. Some prayers turn the focus closer to home, asking us to consider who may be missing from our gatherings, whose work goes unnoticed, or where reconciliation might be needed within our own families, churches and communities.

Each day follows a simple pattern: a Bible verse, a prayer, a period of silence, a collect and one small thing to do. There is also a short prompt for tamariki, making the resource suitable for prayer around the table or as part of family and church life.

The daily actions keep prayer connected with the world beyond the page. One day asks people to check in with someone and listen without offering advice. Others suggest thanking an unnoticed volunteer, writing to a mission partner, praying for a neighbourhood school, checking an emergency kit, welcoming someone new, changing an environmental habit or learning where political parties stand on an issue that matters.

Jen says the booklet can be used in small groups, churches, or individually. She’s using it for daily prayers with her own flatmates in Newtown.

Parishes can adapt the resource to their own setting. It includes a Mission Sunday liturgy of sending, weekly suggestions for parish action, a closing thanksgiving, prompts for home groups and children’s ministry, and ideas for involving people who cannot attend church in person.

The Thirty Days of Prayer resource reminds us that mission is a way of being, not a way of doing. It’s how we live our lives beyond a specific time, date or campaign. Use this booklet whenever you feel led to think about mission. Every month is mission month!