March for Jesus Belfast: Up to 10,000 Christians from across the island of Ireland expected to walk through city this weekend

According to the March for Jesus website, the global movement is “an extravagant worship celebration for Jesus in full public view”.

Beginning in 1987 in London, it initially attracted over 15,000 people. By 1994, it became a worldwide event with 12 million participants in 170 countries.

In 1989 it arranged for more than 6,000 Catholics and Protestants to march together in Belfast. Then in October last year attracted thousands of people to march through Dublin.

The Belfast parade had initially been planned for 7 June but was cancelled at short notice as the Dublin based organiser, Pastor John Ahern, had not reckoned with more stringent requirements for organising such a major event in Belfast.

Church buses had been booked to come from as far away as Kerry and Cork for the Belfast event, he says.

Mr Ahern is from Kerry but pastors All Nations church in Dublin and preaches in the church's Belfast branch on the Springfield Road in West Belfast.

He believes it is "tremendously significant" for people from north and south to pray and worship together in Belfast.

"It’s a beautiful opportunity for us to offer the hand of friendship and cooperate for the bigger purposes of God on this island," he said.

Saturday's march is the first of a two part event with the second being on 27 August in Dublin, with organisers encouraging people from north and south to attend both.

The parade has been approved by the Parades Commission for up to 5,000 participants and 5,000 spectators.

It begins at 2pm at Ormeau Park and ends at Belfast City Hall.

Pastor Ahern added: “We had thousands of young people who came last October where we had 12,000 people march in Dublin, and for many of these young people it was that realisation that ‘ I’m not

alone’.

"Our modern secular culture tends to make people feel very isolated, particularly people of the Christian faith and so, it’s that realisation that there are so many people that love Jesus and that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, and that we have a message that our generation needs to hear.”

He said the Belfast event would focus on prayer for governments and important issues, and issued "an open invitation to people of every faith, or even people who may even claim to be atheist" to take part.

Citing the influence of St Patrick 1,500 years ago, he added: "We have a wonderful Christian heritage on this island, once known as The Land of Saints and Scholars, and it’s our hope that we can return to our roots, that we can return to Christ and reaffirm the Christian identity of the island of Ireland."

In June Pastor Ahern apologised for the failure of the parade to take place in Belfast as planned.

"I feel terrible because I know hundreds of churches were coming from both north and south, from many different traditions,” he said.

"We did get advice, but there were clearly some blank spots where we weren't as prepared as we had thought."

He was behind the March for Jesus in Dublin in October but said regulatory requirements were unexpectedly greater in Belfast.