wfn.org | United Methodist bishop urges church to pray for peace

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

March 21, 2003	News media contact: Joretta Purdue7(202) 546-87227Washington 
   10-21-71BPI{166}

NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph of Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher
is available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html. 

By United Methodist News Service

As U.S.-led forces intensify their attack on Iraq, the president of the
United Methodist Council of Bishops is calling on all 9.5 million members of
the denomination to pray for those involved in the conflict and to make local
churches "venues of peacemaking."

In a letter issued March 21, Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher urges United
Methodists to pray for a just resolution to the war, engage in "respectful"
dialogue and generate support for relief to the Iraqi people. She has asked
that the letter, written on behalf of all the denomination's bishops, be read
from church pulpits Sunday, March 23.

"In this season of Lent, with the world caught in the grip of war, we United
Methodists remember Jesus' words, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer
for all the nations,'" the bishop writes. "I call on all our churches in
every place to be such a welcoming house for all people.

"In the midst of our feelings of insecurity and lack of control, Jesus' words
invite us to gather in prayer," she says in the letter, addressed to "United
Methodist Brothers and Sisters."

"Let us pray for all the leaders of the nations who are involved and affected
by this present crisis," she writes. She also requests prayer for all the
military personnel, their families and friends; "for a just resolution of
this conflict"; and "for the innocents in harm's way, especially the
children."

She suggests making church sanctuaries "houses of Christian hospitality" as a
way to ease "the increasing international polarization over the
appropriateness of this war." She asks that "our sanctuaries welcome the
anxious and fearful."

"Let our sanctuaries be gathering places for respectful and honorable
Christian conversation across political perspectives," she continues. "Let
our sanctuaries be centers for inter-religious dialogue, especially between
Christians, Muslims and Jews, that we may grow in understanding of one
another."

The bishop calls on United Methodists to use their sanctuaries to generate
support for humanitarian relief for the citizens of Iraq and to be "venues of
peacemaking in our families, our local neighborhoods and our global
community."

Christopher leads the United Methodist Church's Illinois Area. The Council of
Bishops comprises the church's 150 top active and retired clergy leaders from
around the world.

# # #

Dear United Methodist Brothers and Sisters,
In this season of Lent, with the world caught in the grip of war, we United
Methodists  remember Jesus' words,  "My house shall be called a house of
prayer for all the nations." I call on all our churches in every place to be
such a welcoming house for all people.

In the midst of our feelings of insecurity and lack of control, Jesus' words
invite us to gather in prayer.

Let us pray for all the leaders of the nations who are involved and affected
in this present crisis.

Let us pray for all the military personnel and for their families and friends
who wait, worry, and wonder.
	
Let us pray for a just resolution of this conflict.

Let us pray for the innocents in harm's way, especially the children.

In the midst of the increasing international polarization over the
appropriateness of this war, Jesus' words teach us that our church
sanctuaries are houses of Christian hospitality.

Let our sanctuaries welcome the anxious and fearful, providing for them a
place of safety and power that we know through the saving power of Jesus.

Let our sanctuaries be gathering places for respectful and honorable
Christian conversation across political perspectives. 

Let our sanctuaries be centers for inter-religious dialogue, especially
between Christians,  Muslims, and Jews, that we may grow in understanding of
one another.

Let our sanctuaries generate support for humanitarian relief for the citizens
of Iraq now and in the future.

Let our sanctuaries be venues of peacemaking  in our families, our local
neighborhoods, and our global community. 

God is	calling us, the church of Jesus Christ, to be "a house of prayer for
all the nations." Please join us, your Council of Bishops from around the
world, in prayer and witness to God's vision in which the lion and the lamb
lie down together in peace.

In the name of	Christ, the Prince of Peace,
Sharon A. Brown Christopher

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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