Elder Dave Swart

Daily Prayer for Peace
Reaches Congregations

Church leaders suggest that a prayer for peace become a daily spiritual discipline as an expression of the call to pursue peace and share the peace of Jesus Christ.

The practice also extends to each congregation’s weekly worship service. Congregations may choose to use the prayer on the Community of Christ Web site. They also may compose their own prayer or ask a member of the congregation to offer the prayer.

Ringing a chime and lighting a peace candle are integral to the Daily Prayer for Peace held 365 days a year at the Temple in Independence, Missouri. Congregations might want to use either or both of these elements in their services. Whatever the congregation chooses, the important principle is to offer a prayer for peace each week in every congregation around the world.

Jane Gardner of the Temple Ministries Team challenges congregations to incorporate the prayer into their weekly services. Seoul, South Korea, and Pasadena, Texas, are among congregations answering that challenge.

Karen Coit lights the peace candle.

Pasadena, Texas

Jonathan Coit, pastor from Pasadena, Texas, instituted a prayer for peace in his congregation. Choosing one subject, he breaks it down into four or five areas, depending on the number of Sundays in a month.

For example, using human trafficking as the subject, the congregation prayed on the first Sunday for the children and adults who had been kidnapped; the second Sunday they prayed for the parents of the children; the third Sunday they prayed for the kidnappers; and on the fourth Sunday they prayed for the police and authorities.

One congregant, Karen, said, “I feel a sense of quiet anticipation move through the congregation when the candle is lit. We approach the prayer with humility, wondering how a simple prayer from us for a tiny child in Darfur could have much significance, yet knowing well that it does.”

Joyce Conrad said, “The Prayer for Peace takes us out of our own narrow world and causes us to focus on places, people, situations that we can barely imagine. Focusing on the greater needs in the world is important. I did a prayer for Afghanistan, and I realized I had not been paying much attention to the news about that country though I knew it was in turmoil. I took the time to go to the Internet and read recent articles about the terrible things that have been happening there.

“I am more aware and feel more compassion for those people who are so unsafe in their own countries. It also made me realize anew how fortunate we are here in America; even with the crimes and corruption in many places, we still are safer in many ways.”

Seoul, South Korea

East Asia Mission Center President Gary Logan reports that the Daily Prayer for Peace practice in Seoul, South Korea, includes the meditation ritual used in discernment groups at the 2007 World Conference. Logan e-mails the prayers, along with a meditation for the week, to the mission center leaders.

International Headquarters

Since December 1993, volunteers who believe in the power of prayer have provided the Daily Prayer for Peace. It is a powerful witness of Community of Christ’s commitment to peace.

Each day a prayer is offered for a specific country based on the World Council of Churches’ ecumenical prayer cycle, which joins our prayers with that of even more Christians throughout the world.

Mother and son light the peace candle.

The Daily Prayer for Peace has impact far beyond the church, its members, and the people who gather each day to experience it. The congregation at the Temple is joined by numerous others wherever they live, and the entire world listens as the Temple becomes known as a place where each day the concern for peace is upheld in prayer.

Pam Robison, Daily Prayer for Peace team co-leader, said, “For me the Daily Prayer for Peace is a reminder of the need to take intentional quiet time to refocus/re-center on Christ and where I feel Christ calling both me and the church. There are some times when I’m not really sure I want to attend, because—for various reasons—I may not be feeling very peaceful…but I find that when I do go anyway, I gain a new perspective and am able to return to my activities generally in a better frame of mind.

“The call to prayer—the triple set three chimes—is an important part of that ministry…a reminder that we are called apart, not just for ourselves (although that is important because if I’m not peaceful with myself, how can I be peaceful with others?) but also to uphold/support all those who are working for peace.”

The Daily Prayer for Peace at the Temple runs from 1:00 to 1:15 p.m. Central Time. It is published in advance at www.CofChrist.org/prayerpeace/. Please join in this practice wherever you are, as one expression of our call to share the peace of Jesus Christ.

—Patty Wilson reporting