The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, plans to teach the Lord’s Prayer across the North of England throughout 2025, a priority of his vision for Faith in the North.
Archbishop Stephen will visit dioceses in the Northern Province of the Church of England, where he will speak about the importance and relevance of the Lord’s Prayer in our world today, encouraging people to pray and live by it as part of their missionary discipleship.
Working alongside others, Archbishop Stephen is encouraging prayer, storytelling, and church planting, inspired by the Northern Saints such as Hild, Cuthbert, Bede, and Paulinus. The aim is to foster deeper connections with the Christian faith across the north and renew the Church’s missionary purpose to share God’s love with all.
Archbishop Stephen said, “In less than 70 words, Jesus gives us a prayer to learn by heart and a prayer that gets inside our hearts, shaping the way we live. The Lord’s Prayer surely is the best place to start. It is said in just about every church service, from the coronation of the King to the christening of a child. It’s a challenging prayer, and when we say this prayer together, we become part of God’s movement of change, of bringing God’s heaven to earth. It teaches us how to pray. But it also teaches us how to live”.
In addition to teaching people how to say the Lord’s Prayer and how it can show us a pattern for living, there will also be a collective gathering on 10 October 2025. This will be an invitation to all churches, schools, and individuals across the North of England to come together to say the Lord’s Prayer as one.
Dates for the Lord’s Prayer 2025 are shared below, and more have been added for 2026.
Large churches and cathedrals will be hosting the events, many of which will be livestreamed to enable the widest participation. It is hoped that many people will gain a deeper understanding of the Lord’s Prayer and see their lives shaped by the vision it presents.
Archbishop Stephen has authored ‘Praying by Heart: The Lord’s Prayer for Everyone’ and ‘The Lord’s Prayer: A Beginner’s Guide’ for children and young people, to be published next year by Hodder. Video extracts of the book and suggestions for home study resources will be available online in 2025.
Faith in the North is a movement of prayer and strategic resourcing for churches, schools and individuals to foster deeper connections with the Christian faith and renew missionary purpose. A suite of resources for schools will be released in early 2025 for children and young people to know and engage with the Lord’s Prayer as a pathway to faith as well as resources for churches. Faith in the North aims to help recapture the missional energy and commitment to prayer of the Anglo-Saxon saints, leading towards 2027, with the celebration of the 1400th anniversary of the establishment of the Church of Saint Peter in York and the baptism of King Edwin by Paulinus in 627.
Dates of the Lord’s Prayer tour:
- Friday 7 March 2025 - York Minster
- Friday 28 March 2025 - Hull Minster
- Tuesday 17 June 2025 - Carlisle Cathedral
- Wednesday 25 June 2025 - Sheffield Cathedral
- Sunday 6 July 2025 - Cathedral Isle of Man
- Friday 10 October 2025 - Blackburn Cathedral
- Thursday 19 March 2026 - Manchester Cathedral
- Sunday 26 April 2026 - Durham Cathedral
- Tuesday 28 April 2026 - Wakefield Cathedral
- Tuesday 2 June 2026 - Chester Cathedral
- Monday 5 October 2026 - Liverpool Cathedral
To learn more about Faith in the North, visit faithinthenorth.org.
Praying by Heart: The Lord’s Prayer for Everyone was published on 10 October 2024 (ISBN 9781399805308), and a fully illustrated picture book The Lord’s Prayer: A Beginner’s Guide was published in March 2025 (ISBN 9781399819428).
