The first anniversary of the killing of George Floyd

To mark the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd on Tuesday, 25 May, several virtual meetings and events are being organised.

Churches Together in England will be publishing prayers for racial justice written by its member-Churches daily from Sunday 23 to Sunday 30 May inclusive. Prayers will be added daily at this WEBPAGE, this FACEBOOK PAGE and this TWITTER FEED. The webpage www.cte.org.uk/justice contains further information, plus a range of resources, including a prayer written by Richard Reddie (Churches Together in Britain and Ireland) and Shermara Fletcher (Churches Together in England).

Individuals and churches are invited to come together for the #CandleOfJustice prayer initiative at 12noon on Tuesday. At midday, people are invited to pause for one minute to remember George Floyd and all who experience racism, to light a candle (or torch), pray the ‘Candle of Justice’ prayer, make a personal commitment to tackle racial injustice and upload a candle to social media, using the hashtag #CandleofJustice and tag @ChurchesEngland. More information via THIS LINK.

At 7.00pm on Tuesday 25 May, a national Service of Reflection, hosted by ‘Churches Together in Britain and Ireland,’ will be live on the CTBI YouTube Channel (Link HERE). The national service will feature contributions from the Right Revd Stephen Cottrell (Archbishop of York), Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo (Kingsway International Christian Centre), Pastor Agu Irukwu (Redeemed Christian Church of God), the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally (Bishop of London), the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin (Bishop of Dover), Revd Les Isaac (Ascension Trust) and Revd Lynn Green (Baptist Union of Great Britain). BBC Radio 4 will broadcast the service at 8.10am on Sunday 30 May. More information about the national service can be found HERE.

From 8.00pm on Tuesday, ‘The Road to Racial Justice’ will be online for 90 minutes, asking the question how far we have come during the year since George Floyd’s death and what are the next steps on the journey. Speakers include Revd Dr N T Wright (Oxford University), Professor Robert Beckford (Birmingham University), the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin (Bishop of Dover) and Pastor Agu Irukwu (Redeemed Christian Church of God). The event is being hosted by Dr Krish Kandiah. More information and registration for this free, online event can be found HERE.