Portsmouth churches unite for new 'Pray Up Pompey' initiative

Now, a new app called Pray up Pompey is being launched to connect the people of Portsmouth through faith.

The concept of the app is to encourage people to walk around Portsmouth and pray for every street they pass.

As people walk past a street, they are encouraged to take a moment and pray for those living there before recording it on the app.

The goal is to have people praying for every street in Portsmouth by the end of this year.

Revered Tracey Ansell of North End Baptist Church is one of those behind the scheme.

She said: ‘It’s an opportunity to cover our city in prayer. It’s a great city and we want it to be even greater.’

‘It’s a great blessing and a chance to join in with other Christians without breaking lockdown restrictions.’

Funding for the app was given by Jesus Loves Portsmouth, a charity that supports and funds projects that unite churches in the area.

The app has been in development since last summer and launched earlier this week.

The original idea came about thanks to a House of Prayer Portsmouth movement.

Mark Macey of House of Prayer said: ‘Since the start of the pandemic we’ve been praying twice daily for our city; for those who are unwell and for the NHS.’

Determined to take this further, House of Prayer got in touch with many churches across the city.

They were all eager to be part of a collective effort to unite the people of Portsmouth with the help of technology.

Mark said that more than churches have been involved in this effort.

There is also an event on Good Friday where people are being encouraged to walk the boundary of Portsmouth to pray at Easter-time.

People are invited to ‘prayer-walk’ as much of the outskirts of the city as they would like, and at midday will be invited to stop and pray for five minutes for Portsmouth.

Because of coronavirus restrictions, walkers are encouraged to walk in their own time instead of groups and stop and ‘pray at the same time knowing there are others in the city praying with them’, Mark added.

To download the app go to prayuppompey.co.uk.

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