Christians to gather for World Day of Prayer event in Oamaru

The event will take place in the St Joseph’s Church hall on Oamaru at 7pm on March 7.

The World Day of Prayer is an international movement of Christian people in many different traditions that have a continuing relationship of prayer and service.

People from various denominations gather in one another’s churches to celebrate, using a worship service prepared by women from a different country each year.

The celebration takes place on the first Friday in March each year.

The theme for the 2025 World Day of Prayer is “I Made You Wonderfully”, based on Psalm 139:1-18.

This year’s programme was put together by the WDP Committee of the Cook Islands. It has been adapted for use in New Zealand by World Day of Prayer Aotearoa New Zealand.

“They began preparing the service five years ago and have assembled a beautiful and colourful service based on the Cook Island(s) culture, crafts, music and faith,” World Day of Prayer Oamaru secretary Neroli Cottam said.

The 2025 programme “invites us into the knowledge that each one of us was made with care and love by God”, stated the World Day of Prayer Aotearoa New Zealand website.

“When we can receive this profound truth, everything in our life changes and we begin to radiate and shine from within. We also learn how to treat every other person as made wonderful by God.

“The Worship Service invites us to notice aspects of our divinely created bodies that we often take for granted.”

Proceeds from an offering to be taken up on March 7 will go to support Christian World Service (Tonga Community Development Trust), The Bible Society (Healing the wounds of trauma in the South Pacific), and the Interchurch Council for Hospital Chaplaincy in New Zealand.

The World Day of Prayer was started by a group of women in the United States in 1887, and it has grown to be celebrated in more than 180 countries and regions worldwide.

FULL STORY

Churches uniting for World Day of Prayer | Otago Daily Times Online News (By Brendon McMahon/APL/Otago Daily Times)

WDP 2025 – World Day of Prayer World Day of Prayer Aotearoa New Zealand