Schools are shutting for the summer vacation, and hundreds of children’s holiday clubs and schemes will be starting - most of them run by local churches. Pray for God to give energy, wisdom and strength to the army of volunteers who will be giving up their time to share God's amazing love. Bible stories will be recreated in drama, storytelling, singing, and dance and reinforced through craft and games. Most of these clubs choose not to charge children to attend, believing that no child should miss out for financial reasons. Thank God for the round-the-year fundraising events that are held to meet the costs of these schemes, and pray that voluntary donations given by families during the holiday weeks will fill any financial gaps. May God protect every child from accident and sickness.

(Linda Digby, Prayer Alert team)

The Brexit teams meet this week after a delayed negotiation start. Pray for both Davis and Barnier as they compare their respective positions; may they make good progress, identifying differences and recognising similarities that can be reinforced. The Centre for European Policy Studies believes the delay is indicative of UK politicians’ division and infighting. Pray for a healing of rifts  during the summer break between chancellor Philip Hammond and his colleagues, and  for harmony when parliament resumes in September. Also many believe that, whether through arrogance or incompetence, the reputation of the Foreign Office has been undermined under Boris Johnson. His comment that ‘the EU could go whistle for its money in the Brexit negotiations’ opened a potential no-deal scenario which could dismantle the economy. Pray that Mr Johnson, a man of high intelligence, may reveal the more serious and credible side of his personality.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that the proportion of UK residents' disposable income that goes into savings has fallen to a record low. The general secretary of the TUC said, ‘The figures make grim reading. People raiding piggy banks is bad news for working people and the economy.’ With falling wages as living costs rise, many families are running down their savings or relying on credit cards, loans and even foodbanks to get through the month as working households struggle to make ends meet. Vince Cable said, ‘Families are increasingly unable to live within their means or save for the future. Our economy's reliance on consumer spending, propped up by debt, is not sustainable.’ Recently, Moneyfacts said that savers have had a ‘never-ending battle’ to get a decent return on their cash over the past few years, and savings rates are failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

The Church of England's General Synod recently took place. On 7 July, the Archbishop of York John Sentamu rejected the authority of the Bible in response to an amendment proposed by Andrea Williams, to insert the words ‘as revealed in the Bible and taught by the Church’ to a motion calling for politicians to ‘prioritise the common good of all people.’ Andrea spoke on the need for the Bible to inform our understanding of the common good. The archbishop said, ‘If you’re going to serve the whole community please don’t limit our language. The Word became flesh and sadly we are now making it Word, Word and Word again. Resist the amendments.’ On 8 July the Synod passed a private member’s motion by an LGBT activist to ban therapy for unwanted same-sex attraction. Sentamu spoke in favour of the motion. Also rejected were the protection of life, the promotion of marriage and family, and the maintaining of Christian freedoms.