International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church
Also calledIDOP
Liturgical colorRed
TypeChristian
ObservancesChurch services, prayer, fundraising for persecuted Christians
DateFirst Sunday of November[1]
2023 dateNovember 5
2024 dateNovember 3
2025 dateNovember 2
2026 dateNovember 1
Frequencyannual
Related to

The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (often abbreviated as IDOP) is an observance within the Christian calendar in which congregations pray for Christians who are persecuted for their faith.[1] It falls on the first Sunday of November, within the liturgical period of Allhallowtide, which is dedicated to remembering the martyrs and saints of Christianity.[3][4][5] The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is observed by many Christian denominations, with over 100,000 congregations honoring the holiday worldwide.[1] Congregations focus on "praying for individuals, families, churches, or countries where Christians are facing hard situations."[6][7] Additionally, many congregations donate funds from their collection of tithes and offerings on the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church to NGOs that support human rights of persecuted Christians, such as Voice of the Martyrs, International Christian Concern, and Open Doors.[8][3]

  1. ^ a b c Gryboski, Michael (4 November 2018). "'Listen to Their Cry': Churches Worldwide Take Part in Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians". The Christian Post. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Bishop Michael Leads Pilgrimage to Holy Sites of Russia" (PDF). Orthodox Church in America. 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2019. Over the course of the thirteen-day pilgrimage, His Grace – along with Fr. Ilya and 38 pilgrims from America, Germany, England, and Australia – witnessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Russia, which has experienced a miraculous resurrection following the fall of the Soviet regime and its official state atheism. ... Outside of Moscow, the pilgrims had a profound experience visiting the killing fields of Butovo, one of perhaps a hundred such execution sites around Moscow where thousands of dissidents – including many Orthodox Christians – were murdered during the height of the Soviet purges.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference CT2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Henry-Crowe, Susan (1 November 2018). "International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church". General Board of Church and Society. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  5. ^ Dyroff, Denny (October 28, 2022). "The spookiest weekend of the year". The Unionville Times. Allhallowtide is the Western Christian season encompassing the triduum of All Saints' Eve (Halloween), All Saints' Day (All Hallows') and All Souls' Day, as well as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (observed on the first Sunday of November).
  6. ^ Sadiq, Yousaf (25 March 2019). "How should we respond to the persecution of Christians?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  7. ^ Godwin, Rachel (4 November 2018). "Two secret churches in North Korea show how powerful the Bible really is". Fox News. Retrieved 17 October 2019. Today, Nov. 4, is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Christians in America and across the world will dedicate time in their services and personally to pray for those who are suffering persecution because of their faith.
  8. ^ Kumar, Anugrah (5 November 2017). "Christians Called to Take Action on International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Church". The Christian Post. Retrieved 17 October 2019.