A World Day of Prayer service was held Friday at Manor Road United Church with seven other area churches participating. This year’s guest speaker was M. Esquerra on behalf of the Filipino Women of Gabriela Ontario. It is a chapter of the Gabriela’s women’s movement in the Philippines. The Ontario body was formed in 2012 and seeks to extend the Filipino women’s mass movement to Canada. It campaigns on issues that will uphold womens’ rights and welfare. Their theme for the annual Day of Prayer gathering for 2017 was Am I Being Unfair to You? The day’s events were planned under the leadership of Susan Johnson of MRUC and supported by Reverend Debra Schneider. Churches participating at Manor Road United Church were Bedford Park United, Northlea United, Leaside United, St Cuthbert’s Anglican, St Monica’s RC, Leaside Presbyterian, and St Augustine’s Anglican. The history of the Day of Prayer is ecumenical and worldwide and dates to the latter years of the 19th Century. Each year a group of women from a different nation prepares the service which is translated into many languages and observed all over the world.
