This weekend is the perfect opportunity for our friends and supporters across religious communities to pray to see a real change in our country. 1 in 5 people in the UK continue to be in work poverty, unable to provide for their families and have the time to engage in their communities, mosques, synagogues, temples and churches. The Living Wage reaches out across faiths and communities to bring a bit of justice to hardworking people in the UK.
This prayer penned by Canon Peter Howard of St Francis Church in Norwich and approved by the Bishop of Norwich is designed to be inter-denominational and inter-faith.
Revd Dr Angus Ritchie of the Centre for Theology and Community writes "The Living Wage is a spiritual issue as well as an economic one, shown forth in the way we treat one another materially."
The roots of the Living Wage campaign brought together a diverse group of people, eager to see change happen, to spend more time with their families and have a decent standard of living. You can support the great work of over 950 employers, and pray to see more employers acting responsibly by paying their staff a Living Wage by using this prayer in your place of worship.
Living Wage Prayer
God of justice and friend of the poor,
we pray for all in our city (our communities)
who work for a wage that fails to provide sufficiently
for their welfare and their dependents.
In this Living Wage Week bless the work of Living Wage Campaigns
in challenging employers to pay their staff a living wage
so that work may be properly rewarded and poverty overcome.
May the case be heard that flourishing business,
a productive workforce and the good society
are founded upon justice in the workplace.
Strengthen the example of Living Wage employers
that they may be a beacon
that will lead others to that goal
where the fruits of labour may be justly shared.
(Through Jesus Christ our Lord.) Amen.
This Prayer was penned by Canon Peter Howard of St Francis Church in Norwich (October 2014).