It’s a vital time for believers to pray for peace in our bruised and bleeding society.
Christians have always prayed for peace. But an initiative in Boston Presbytery is inviting us and our church to join others in prayers for peace that focus on regional concerns, as well as beyond.
I will be asking our Session to covenant to be part of this initiative. We will then receive weekly prayers to include in worship and at home (to which, of course, we can add our own prayers). This should begin with the first Sunday in February.
You may recall how, during Advent, we included in our bulletin “Prayers for the City” from the City Mission Society. The new prayers will follow up on these (which are now discontinued) and be partly oriented toward Presbyterians in the Boston area.
I’ve been privileged to be part of a small group that has been developing this process. We have felt compelled by the urgency to respond following the deaths by homicide last year that affected the Roxbury Presbyterian Church family and other Boston churches; the recent Arizona shootings; the domestic violence that can seem to erupt out of nowhere; and also, the new-found commitment to civility in Congress and, we hope, in our churches and presbytery. This “anti-violence project” will be exploring other possible peacemaking activities to offer through our churches.
Please pray for how we as individuals and a church can live out the peace of Christ in a society that has too long looked to violence in deed and speech as an answer to conflict.
In Christ,
Rod
Presbyterian Church in Burlington 