Prayer Calendar: Autumn 2024

CVE Scotland is so grateful for your prayerful support and concern for the young people of Scotland, schools and adults who work in them. The theme of the newsletter this quarter is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of CVE Scotland, Back to School with God and RSHP resources and UNCRC incorporation into Scots Law.

There are 31 prayer points in total – one for each day in October – and we would be so encouraged if you could remember these points in your own quiet time or in corporate church prayer sessions.

Please pray for school staff, school visitors and pupils:

1. With gratitude, thank God for the summer break and the opportunity for school workers, chaplains and volunteers to spend precious time with their families.
2. Pray that the time away from school will have been refreshing and that staff and pupils have returned refreshed and ready to face the challenges in the new academic year.
3. Pray for pupils who have found the start of term to be a cause of anxiety, and for those pupils who have enrolled in new schools. Pray that they will form new and healthy friendships.
4. Pray for Christian teachers and educators that they may feel His power and direction in their varied job roles whether early years, primary, secondary or in Further/Higher Education. May they be ambassadors for Christ and display His love to those around them in class lessons and through one-to-one conversations.
5. Please pray for existing Christian lunchtime and afterschool groups that they may flourish and be places of fun and fellowship for pupils.
6. Pray that formal requests to run a new group will be positively encouraged by school Senior Management and all obstacles will be removed to allow this to happen.
7. Pray for church volunteers who help out in schools with a variety of activities meeting many needs e.g. reading help, uniform banks, sports clubs, before/after school clubs, foodbanks, breakfast clubs, homework clubs.
8. Pray that positive relationships can be formed with the children and young people, and connections made to local places of worship.
9. Give thanks for all the children and young people who attended holiday clubs and residential Christian camps across Scotland. Pray that these relationships and connections will continue. Pray that support, encouragement and discipleship will be available either within school or in a local church group as we move into the autumn and winter months.

Please pray for the following newsletter themes:

10. Pray that the SU Scotland, SU Northern Ireland and CVE Scotland Back to School with God resources will have been used effectively in local churches. Pray that the 2024 theme – Spot the Difference – will have helped young people see how Zaccheaus and the blind man’s meeting with Jesus changed them in a way that others could see.
11. Pray that direction, creativity and vision will be afforded to the team who start this month to prepare next year’s Back to School with God resources.
12. Give thanks for the CVE Scotland Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) resources that were launched earlier this year for Third, Fourth Levels and Senior Phase.
13. Pray the RSHP resources may be widely used and that staff may feel suitably equipped to make use of the material in lessons.
14. Pray for the forthcoming release of First and Second Level RSHP materials and for those involved in finalising these resources.
15. Pray that school staff, volunteers, parents and chaplains will feel empowered by the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 becoming law in July 2024. Pray that Article 14 – the right of the child to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and for parents to provide direction to exercise this right – will be upheld by individual schools, local authorities and national Government.
16. Pray for the issues behind the recent publication ‘Where have all the children gone’ from the Centre for Social Justice Foundation regarding the increase in absenteeism. Pray that parents and carers may value the importance of education and encourage their children to develop resilience when it comes to school attendance.

Please pray for CVE Scotland:-

17. Give thanks to God for His faithfulness to those involved in the work of CVE Scotland since it started back in 2014.
18. Pray that the support on offer from CVE Scotland, and its aim to ensure Christian values remain in Scottish schools, is more widely known.
19. Pray that the plans for a promotional video will go smoothly and that it will be impactful in how it shares the charity aims further afield.
20. Pray for the CVE Scotland Management Committee as we consider how to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the charity.
21. Give thanks to the members of musical ensemble Trio 56 who have agreed to host a charity classical concert as a fundraising event for CVE Scotland. Pray that their rehearsals go smoothly and for a good turnout at the event on 5 October 2024 7.00pm at Harper Church, Glasgow (https://www.trybooking.com/uk/DVAL).
22. Pray that newsletter subscribers and followers on social media will be encouraged by the content and find it useful.
23. Pray that those who create content for the website will keep close to God and be guided by Him.
24. Please continue to pray for the Management Committee and other volunteers. Pray for Megan Patterson (Chair), Steve McLeister (Vice-Chair) and Iain Macleod (Treasurer) in their roles and as they balance their other work demands and family life.
25. Pray for Kirsty Moffat and the specific role she has filled over the last year with the RSHP project.
26. Pray that the new Senior Administrator (Lynn MacMillan) will be efficient and effective in her new role.
27. Pray for Steve Younger as he leads the work of the CVE Scotland School Chaplaincy project. Pray that God may be stirring in the hearts of active or interested school chaplains to enrol in the Time for Reflection module at the Scottish Baptist College next year.
28. Pray for the planning taking place for the Church of Scotland Schools Ministry Training Conference on 6 November that Steve is involved with.
29. Give grateful thanks for all the CVE Scotland volunteers who give their time and skills for the work of the charity and its aims.
30. Give thanks for the provision of financial resources to ensure the work of CVE Scotland continues.
31. Pray that new and engaging ways to raise funds may be introduced and wise decisions will be taken by the Management Committee on how to best utilise the donations received.

We would also love to pray for you. If you would like to raise specific prayer requests please email Lynn MacMillan at cve@cve-scotland.org.uk.

Thank you very much for being part of the CVE Scotland prayer support.