2024 - year of unbroken prayer
24-7 Prayer is hosting a Year of Unbroken Prayer. More than fifty prayer communities across North America have committed to pray non-stop for a week from January 1 to December 31 this year! Imagine, every moment of every day, someone within the 24-7 Prayer community in North America is praying!
Now … and now … and now! Amazing!
GOHOP is partnering with other prayer communities across Canada to be part of this important initiative. Our friends at the Quebec House of Prayer (Sherbrooke), Many Rooms Prayer Room (Winnipeg), Salvation Army Church - Bloor Central (Toronto) and McMaster University students are working together to pray without ceasing from November 25 to December 1!
GOHOP’s days are Friday, November 29 to Sunday, December 1.
We will be praying at Trinity Lutheran, 1907 King St E in Rosedale.
On Friday, November 29, from noon until 3 p.m., we will focus on praying about homelessness in partnership with Micah House, Open Homes and Indwell.
We will have 12 hours of worship from noon until midnight Saturday, November 30.
We are also supporting McMaster students in their 28 hours of Prayer for, by and with Students.
Students are praying at Lift Church in West Hamilton near the McMaster Campus.
Students will be praying from 8 p.m. on Monday, November 25 to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, November 26.
This event will start with four hours of worship.
We will have a dedicated prayer space and at least one person there hosting the space at all times. There will be creative prayer stations set up to help focus your prayers if you wish to use them.
We have found that God consistently shows up in powerful and beautiful and surprising ways when we set aside our regular schedule of busyness to make lots of space for Him. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to be part of what God is doing in our city!
GOHOP Celebration
We had such an amazing time celebrating God’s goodness to the GOHOP community at our gathering at Trinity Lutheran on October 24. We spent time thanking Andy, our director, for the countless ways he has enriched our community. We blessed and released him into a new season. We took the opportunity to look forward to what God is inviting GOHOP into in the days to come.
It was great to be in our new space. We are deeply blessed by the partnership and support of Indwell. We look forward to setting up our prayer space and office at 1907 King St E in Rosedale in the very near future!
The Greater Ontario House of Prayer (GOHOP) is a praying community, following the way of Jesus through shared spiritual rhythms. As part of a larger, global prayer expression within 24-7 Prayer, we exist to serve and equip the Church and do our part to create, nurture and sustain a local, Hamilton expression of prayer.
As a house of prayer ‘for all nations’ we are called to practice and champion rhythms of personal and corporate prayer in a way that celebrates the diversity of prayer in the Global church, past and present.
We are committed to a lifestyle and spiritual practices that will help us become formed into the likeness of Christ.
We are committed to serving the Church through prayer, teaching, spiritual direction, resource-sharing, prayer courses & internships, and regular, annual prayer events.
We are getting ready to move into our new prayer space. In the meantime, our gatherings continue in different locations!
To learn more about our Prayer gatherings events Click below:
October 1st, 2024: Transition Announcement
The GOHOP board is pleased to announce that Ian Stuart will be stepping in as Transitional Director as we take steps to fill the role of Executive Director on a more permanent basis. Ian recently retired from a career in education and is excited to have the opportunity to support GOHOP in this time of transition. Ian will give leadership to the staff team, head up the search for a prayer room location, and help organize upcoming events.
He and his family have been closely connected to the GOHOP community for several years. Along with his wife, Margie, he completed the Studies in Urban Monstasticm Internship in 2018. Following this, Margie joined GOHOP staff for a few years. For the last couple of years, Ian and his daughter Sara have brought leadership to GOHOP Companions. As a family, they have actively supported the Prayer Truck, the 24-14 TrueCity Room and other GOHOP initiatives.
Ian will continue in the role until the end of January 2025 at which time we expect to have a new director in place. Please pray with us as we seek God’s will for the future of GOHOP. We are excited about the good things that God has prepared for us in this season and the next!
If you have any questions, please send an email to board@gohop.ca .
Sincerely,
The GOHOP Board
Diane Albert, Aisha Sharifa, Gloria Willoughby, and Dave Witt
May 1st, 2024: Transition Announcement
After seven years of faithful service in the position of Executive Director of the Greater Ontario House of Prayer (GOHOP), Andy Groen has discerned that it is time for him to begin to transition out of this role. This decision has led the board to begin the search for Andy’s successor.
We honour and acknowledge Andy’s gifts as a teacher, spiritual director, and leader which have strengthened and stabilized the organization. What has been less visible but deeply impactful has been all of the hidden, behind-the-scenes work he has done to strengthen the foundations of GOHOP, both spiritually and administratively. We believe that he was God’s choice for this past season. While many ministries floundered and failed during the pandemic, GOHOP, under Andy’s leadership, continued to compassionately create opportunities for people to encounter God through stepping up its role of stewarding creative prayer spaces and monastic rhythms for spiritual formation.
We also want to recognize and honour Andy’s wife, Gwen, and her contribution. Her ministry of hospitality and tireless support for the community has been integral to the well-being of GOHOP.
Andy will continue in his role over the coming months as the board takes next steps in the search for a new executive director. We ask for your continued prayers for Andy, the staff & companions, and the board as we engage this process.
Sincerely,
The GOHOP Board–
Diane Albert, Gloria Willoughby, Aisha Sharifa, and Dave Witt