Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and BBC Radio 4 have announced a new partnership for Lent 2008 called "Pathways of Prayer".

During the period of Lent, BBC Radio 4's Sunday Worship and Daily Service will take up themes of Pathways of Prayer with a study guide and complementary materials available on both the CTBI and BBC websites.

Recent research from Tearfund suggests that around 20 million people pray in the UK. The aim of Pathways of Prayer is to provide opportunities for people to explore Christian spirituality and to deepen their prayer life. The initiative is also intended to be a useful research for individuals and groups.

BBC Local Radio stations will be offering parallel features about prayer that will be tied in to local initiatives and events.

The additional resource materials for individuals and groups on the CTBI and BBC websites will offer pointers to enable further exploration of the theme for each week.

Each week the preacher on the Sunday Worship programme will focus on a particular Pathway of Prayer. The six Pathways will be:

The Path of Holiness
The Path of Social Justice
The Devotional Path
The Sacramental Path
The Contemplative Path
The Charismatic Path

Preachers will include Commissioner Betty Matear (Moderator of the Free Churches), the Rev Canon Bob Fyffe (General Secretary of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland), the Rt Rev Carl Cooper (Bishop of St Davids), Nick Buxton, an Ordinand specialising in spirituality from the BBC TV programme The Monastery, and Bishop Joe Aldred (Secretary for Minority Ethnic Christian Affairs, Churches Together in England).