From climate injustice to Black Lives Matter to violence against women, from discrimination against Dalits in India to the coronavirus pandemic; from extreme poverty in Burundi to inequality in Myanmar, Rage & Hope: 75 Prayers for a Better World is being published to mark Christian Aid’s 75th anniversary.
With a foreword by one of the world’s leading theologians – US Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann - the book also includes prayers from Bishop Rachel Treweek, Bishop Paul Butler, Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, writer Rhidian Brook, priest Winnie Varghese and theologian Robert Beckford.
Published by SPCK, Rage & Hope also includes a prayer from Dr Rowan Williams, chair of Christian Aid and the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
Christian Aid’s work began in 1945, when it was founded by British and Irish churches to help refugees following the Second World War.
Since then, the organisation has provided humanitarian relief and long-term development support for poor communities worldwide, while highlighting suffering, tackling injustice and championing people’s rights. Christian Aid’s history includes making a difference in crises such as the Biafra war, advising Martin Luther King during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, campaigning to make poverty history in the 2000s and standing together with those facing the full force of climate injustice in countries around the world today.
Amanda Khozi Mukwashi, Christian Aid’s chief executive, has contributed to the book, as well as the previous three CEOs Loretta Minghella, Daleep Mukarji and Michael Taylor – whose combined leadership of the organisation spans 30 of its 75-year history.
Christian Aid’s head of public engagement Chine McDonald, who co-edited the book with colleague Wendy Lloyd, writes in the book’s introduction: “There are not many books on prayer that straddle the line between prayers of rage and lament, and those of hope.
“In 75 years of Christian Aid’s work, we have seen the best of humanity and the worst of it; we have seen that the world is a broken place – its systems unjust and unfair – and yet through it all we have seen glimmers of hope.
“We believe that our Christian faith should compel each and every one of us to pray authentic prayers to a God who hears us; who invites us to pour out our rage and lament and have the audacity to hope that God is able to do the impossible. We understand the theme of rage and hope to be an expression of lament, a ‘protest so deep that it must become a prayer, for only God can provide the needed hope that justice will prevail and that the future will be different’."
Elizabeth Neep, Senior Commissioning Editor at SPCK says: "From the first time we heard about the likeliness of a book to mark the 75th Anniversary of Christian Aid, we knew it was something we wanted to be a part of. Not only has the work of Christian Aid been a constant source of inspiration for our team here, but a prayer book that draws together voices from across the world and provides words to process our laments and set our hearts upon hope feels like the very thing we need as we seek to live out our faith both this year and in the years to come."
Rage & Hope: 75 Prayers for a Better World is out on 18 March and available to pre-order here: https://spckpublishing.co.uk/rage-and-hope
Others who have contributed to the book include:
Global church leaders
- Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna, Nigeria
- Bishop Rachel Treweek, the Bishop of Gloucester
- Bishop Paul Butler, the Bishop of Durham
- Bishop Pat Storey, Bishop of Meath and Kildare
- Israel Olofinjana
- Duleep de Chickera is a former bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Martin Wroe
- Roy Jenkins
- Anne Muir
- John Bell
- Evie Vernon
- Professor Maggi Dawn
- Mandy Marshall
- Bekah Legg
- Sarah Corbett of the Craftivist Collective
