On 30th January 2020, the World Health Organisation declared the Corona Virus outbreak as a global health emergency. To mark the anniversary of this, members of St Olaf’s organised a Prayer Vigil and invited 12 churches, representing a variety of denominations and Orkney locations, to contribute.
We were overwhelmed by the response and support. To avoid technical issues, the bulk of the vigil was in pre-recorded 5-minute sections, each focusing on a particular group or issue. Each church sent a sound or video file and suggested some prayer points, and these were then compiled and edited by Mike Robertson. The vigil began with a short introduction from Stuart Little, during which we were invited to light a candle, and Linda Broadley (Church of Scotland) led a short act of worship at the end.
We were joined on the night by about 70 people – mainly from Orkney, but we also had people joining us from Shetland, Scotland, England and even as far afield as New York – and we’ve had some very positive and encouraging feedback.
The vigil was recorded and is available on Youtube.
