A prayer for blessing on the people of Ukraine

God of peace and justice,
send your blessing on the people of Ukraine and Russia.
Sustain them in their courage,
hold them in their fear,
protect them from all danger
and be for them the hope they desire;
for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen

A prayer for the Ukraine crisis

Lord God of hosts,
we pray for those who choose war this day,
taking the blood of others.
You set before us the day 
when swords will be turned into ploughshares,
so direct the leaders of the world 
to seek the peace and courage 
of the one who made peace, 
not by blood taken, but by blood given,
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.

A prayer for compassion, strength and wisdom (A prayer from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)

Loving God,
We pray for the People of Ukraine.
For all those suffering or afraid,
That you will be close to them and protect them.
We pray for world leaders,
For compassion, strength and wisdom to guide their choices.
We pray for the world that in this moment of crisis,
We may reach out in solidarity
To our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your ways
So that peace and justice become a reality for the people of Ukraine
And for all the world 
Amen

A prayer for wisdom and reconciliation (Churches Together)

Change the hearts of those set on violence
Fill leaders with the wisdom that leads to peace.
Kindle again in us a love of our neighbour,
And a passion for justice to prevail
and a renewed recognition that we all play a part in peace.
Creator of all hear our prayer
And bring us peace and make us whole. 
Amen.

A prayer for the uncertainties in the world today (Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)

We pray for the world
that in this moment of crisis,
we may reach out in solidarity
to our brothers and sisters in need.
May we walk in your waysso that peace and justice
become a reality for the people of Ukraine
and for all the world.
Amen.

A prayer for the Lord of peace to reign on those suffering due to the Ukraine crisis (World Vision)

Lord God, we ask for you to be with all
especially children who are suffering as the crisis in Ukraine continues. 
Lord for those who are anxious and fearful. 
For those who are bereaved, injured or who have lost their lives. 
And for those who have lost loved ones. 
Lord hear our prayer. 
Amen.

"These people are our Brothers and Sisters" - Bishop Robert has launched his Lent and Easter Appeal to support our efforts with USPG. The appeal will help to get aid to people in Ukraine and the people who have fled from the war. Read more about the appeal here.

A briefing was held for all chaplaincies who were interested in hearing more about the appeal. The meeting included:

• Introduction to the Appeal from Bishop Robert
• Updates on projects and partnerships
• Information from the Clewer Initiative who are the experts in the Church of England about incidents of People Trafficking in a refugee crisis
• How chaplaincies can support or initiate projects via the appeal
• Q and A

Recordings of this event can be found below:

• Watch the full briefing
   
• Watch the Q&A's
   
• Signs of Modern Slavery in Refugees

The diocesan service of ‘Prayers Across Europe for Peace in Ukraine’ was viewed more than 12,500 times, which means we would have filled St Paul’s Cathedral 4 times over. Thank you again to all who attended.

From 16 March until the end of Lent 2022 we held weekly prayer vigals for Ukraine on Zoom. These simple 30 minute services included prayers, music, readings and a reflection or some information from a part of the diocese directly affected by the crisis. 

Services are available to watch by clicking the links below: 

• 14 April: Address by Revd Dr Duncan Dormor, General Secretary of USPG
   
• 1 April: Address by Archdeacon Leslie Nathaniel
   
• 23 March: Address by Fr Frank Hegedűs, Chaplain, St Margaret's Budapest
   
• 18 March: Bishop David prays for Ukraine
   
• 16 March: Address by Archdeacon David Waller
   
• 2 March: Address by The Revd Canon Malcolm Rogers, Chaplain at St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow

The support for our online vigils during Lent was remarkable. Many thousands joined us over those weeks. As we moved from Lent to Easter 2022, the need for constant prayer for Ukraine remained, and therefore we started a social media hashtag #LightForUkraine, a prayer initiative, so we could continue praying, in a different mode, for our Ukrainian Sisters and Brothers, those in Moscow and all who are suffering in this war.

Every Wednesday we asked our communities to take a moment at 1800 CET, to light a candle and say a prayer.

Individuals shared their moments of reflection by tagging us on social media in a photograph of their candles.