Pastor Rick and Kay Warren of Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, California, will be hosting an unprecedented digital Global Easter Pastor Prayer Gathering of church leaders worldwide on Monday, April 6, ahead of this year’s Easter observations.
During the 90-minute online event, which will be simulcast in 12 languages, faith leaders representing each continent will lead others from various denominations in guided prayer for families, churches, communities, and their nations at the beginning of Holy Week in preparation for Easter.
“The global pandemic of COVID-19 has changed so much about how our churches will experience Easter this year,” noted Warren in a message to participants. “This is the first time many of us will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus outside of church buildings. No matter what the circumstances are or how we gather together, the message of Easter remains the same: Jesus is the hope of the world.
“As leaders of churches, this is a new challenge, but it is also a new opportunity to reach our hurting world as never before,” he added.
More than 30 years ago, Warren began an annual Pastor’s Easter Prayer Breakfast at Saddleback Church for all pastors in Southern California. It has since expanded via simulcast to five other Southern California counties, with plans to include all 58 counties across the state this year, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The upcoming prayer event will be streamed live on April 6 at 8:00 a.m. PT/10:00 a.m. CT/11:00 a.m. ET at www.EasterPastorPrayer.com and on Warren’s Facebook and YouTube pages. It will feature T.D. Jakes & Serita Jakes (USA), who will pray for people with anxiety and fear; Carlito & Leila Paes (Brazil), who will pray for all health workers; Tony & Mei Yeo (Singapore), who will pray for people and churches in financial hardship; Brian & Bobbie Houston (Australia), who will pray that churches will be a light in these dark days; Nicky & Pippa Gumbel (United Kingdom), who will pray for all pastors as they prepare their Easter messages; Laurent & Chantal Mbanda (Rwanda), who will pray for an outbreak of spiritual revival; and Rick & Kay Warren (USA), who will pray for humble dependence on the Lord in this crisis.
Translation languages for the simulcast include English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, French, Italian, German, Korean, and American Sign Language.
Worship artists for the event will include Brooke Ligertwood, Chris Tomlin, and Matt Redman.
