LONDON, UK (ANS) -- A 70-day Prayer Relay, which has tracked the route of the Olympic Torch Relay, will have its final stop at Westminster today (Thursday, July 26th), bringing it to the heart of British political life.

The Prayer Baton in Scotland (Photo: More Than Gold)

The historic UK-wide Prayer Relay, which began on May 18th at Land’s End, has travelled between the 70 cities and towns where the Olympic torch made an overnight stop.

According to a news release from More than Gold (www.morethangold.org.uk), it has involved the exchange between communities of a prayer baton containing prayers and a specially written prayer of blessing. In each location church leaders have received prayers from the previous place and prayed for their communities, the nations and the Games.

The final day of the Prayer Relay takes it first to the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street, London, SW1P 3DW for a public event. This will involve representatives from local churches and agencies, the City of London, Christians in Government and those working or living in the area.

This will be followed by a short private prayer session next to the Palace of Westminster, hosted by Christian groups that serve in Parliament.

The Prayer Relay has been organized by More Than Gold, the agency helping churches make the most of the 2012 Games. Jane Holloway, chair of More Than Gold’s Prayer Team says: “The past 70 days have truly been historic as we have never seen such a season of praise and prayer that has united Christians across the whole of the British Isles.

The final Baton exchange (Photo: More Than Gold)

“This Prayer Relay has celebrated both the diversity and unity of the Church. Prayers have been written in different styles, handed over in a variety of locations and in each town or city Christians have committed to praying together. We believe God wants to bless this nation in this significant year.”

Among church leaders who have been involved in the Prayer Relay are the Bishops of Truro, Durham, Newcastle and Whitby.

The final resting place for the prayer baton is Stratford, where it will be welcomed at a community prayer service at St John’s Church, Broadway, Stratford, London, E15 1NG, organized by 15 churches in the borough. Here the prayers of blessing from Westminster for East London, the nation and the world, will be said.

About More Than Gold

Since the 1996 Atlanta Games the Christian community’s involvement with the world’s major sporting events has been under the banner “More Than Gold”. This provides a flag for united faith-based outreach, hospitality and service, and also an interface between the event’s organising committee and the churches.

To get ready for the 2012 Games, More Than Gold was established as a charitable trust in 2008 under the chairmanship of Lord Brian Mawhinney. It has the support of all main denominations and over sixty Christian organisations and mission agencies.

The banner ‘More Than Gold’ has been used for the Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games, All-Africa Games, Indian Ocean Games and Summer and Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics.

To contact the More Than Gold Media Centre:
Tel: +44 (0)207 316 1333 media@morethangold.org.uk 

Dan Wooding, 71, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 49 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. Dan recently received two top media awards -- the “Passion for the Persecuted” award from Open Doors US, and as one of the top “Newsmakers of 2011” from Plain Truth magazine. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is “Caped Crusader: Rick Wakeman in the 1970s.” To order a copy, go to: http://www.amazon.com/CAPED-CRUSADER-Rick-Wakeman-1970s/dp/1908728302/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335474883&sr=1-1 .