Strategic prayer

  • The move of the Holy Spirit in the last decades changed Ireland from rigid Catholicism to a spiritually dynamic land where new fellowships are rapidly forming. Many of these are Pentecostal or charismatic in orientation, and a large number are either formed of immigrants or are multi-ethnic in composition.These immigrant groups bring new life and passion to the traditional denominations, which were previously in decline.
  • The Catholic Church was, for centuries, the preserver and defender of the Irish. Catalyzed by secularism, the rapid onset of modernity and a series of high-profile scandals and cover-ups in the priesthood, the nation is rapidly losing the deep Catholic sensibilities that once tied it together. Once an exporter of trained priests, the Catholic Church today ordains few.Weekly church attendance, once 85% nationally, is now less than 50%, and as low as 5% in parts of Dublin – and there are more non-religious Irish than ever before. Despite this, there is a vibrant charismatic renewal movement within the Catholic Church and unprecedented collaboration with other expressions of the Christian faith. Pray for the Irish nation to rediscover its ancient heritage of deep and profound faith in Christ.
  • Continued growth. Ireland still has the lowest percentage of evangelicals of any English-speaking nation, but they have shifted from a huddled and marginalized minority to a confident and dynamic movement.
  • Good Bible-trained leadership to be raised up.The Irish Bible Institute launched in 2000 as a merger of two Bible colleges and subsequently merged with the Global University-based ministry of the AoG.