Micah Sunday: UK churches to press Government on poverty promises

This weekend, churches in the UK will send the Government a clear message: keep your promises to help the poor.

At least 150 churches in the UK and thousands more around the world are expected to hold Micah Sunday 08 services.

Micah Sunday is an annual event which aims to galvanise the international church family to act on behalf of the world's poorest people. Micah Challenge UK is providing UK churches with sermon themes, creative prayer and worship ideas and practical ways to engage with issues.

The theme of Micah Sunday 08 in the UK is climate change. Ahead of December's UN climate talks in Poland, UK Christians will specifically call on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to secure a global deal that helps poor communities adapt to climate change.

Andy Clasper, Micah Challenge UK Executive Director, said: "To my mind the interconnectedness of our world that the current financial crisis demonstrates makes it more important, not less, for us to keep our promises to the world's poor.

"The test is whether we will be courageous enough to see those far away from us and different to us as brothers and help them even when it hurts. I call on Christians right around the world to stand with us this autumn as part of Micah Sunday to send a message to government that our promises to the poor must be kept."

Some churches are also taking part in Global Call to Action against Poverty's Stand Up initiative by literally standing up in Micah Sunday services to have their voice counted. Last year, 43.7 million people joined Stand Up worldwide, setting a new world record, and they are hoping to break that record this year.

The official Micah Sunday date is 19 October, but churches can hold events at any time this autumn.

Visit www.micahchallenge.org.uk/micahsunday/ to find out more.