WCC NEWS: Prayers for peace in Africa echo around the world

[WCC media <noreply@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News

PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN AFRICA ECHO AROUND THE WORLD

For immediate release: 22 September 2010

“We pray for Africa, especially for Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic
Republic of Congo where violence and suffering are a tragic reality,”
was the prayer from Nairobi at an International Day of Prayer for 
Peace
event sponsored by the All-Africa Conference of Churches.

In Jos, Nigeria, prayers for peace included Muslims and Christians 
praying
together in the wake of community and church burnings, looting and
killings.

Around the world on Tuesday 21 September, ecumenical and inter-faith 
events
for the annual World Council of Churches (WCC)-led International Day 
of
Prayer for Peace (IDPP) were reported from Protestant and Catholic
churches.

Participants included Baptists, Lutherans, Mennonites, Methodists, 
Quakers
and members of other confessions.

In some churches, traditions have developed around the annual prayer 
for
peace observance.  In others, the IDPP is part of on-going peace work.
The WCC initiated the day six years ago in parallel with the UN
International Day for Peace.

In Suva, Fiji, the Pacific Conference of Churches asked member 
churches
throughout Oceania to pray for peace in Africa.  A theological 
college in
ethnically divided Fiji hosted a morning of prayer and discussion on 
local
and national church roles in building peace.

Prayer services in the United States brought people of different 
faiths
together to pray in the face of reports about rising anti-Muslim 
sentiment
there.

The general secretary of the WCC, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, preached 
on the
theme of peace at the All-Africa Conference of Churches service in 
Nairobi
where he is meeting with church leaders from across Africa and before
going on to meetings with government officials of Kenya, Ethiopia and 
the
African Union.

Some 90 congregations and community organizations in three countries –
Nigeria, South Africa and the US – participated in the International 
Day
of Prayer for Peace in partnership with On Earth Peace (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=4804d0317f9ed0bb6ea1 ), a 
Church of the Brethren-related
ministry.

The events included interfaith services, drop-in prayers, making 
murals and
building peace poles.  Stories of injustice, reconciliation and 
healing
from a series of “listening initiatives” were shared in public prayer
vigils.

Observing the IDPP for the fourth year in a row, On Earth Peace sees 
the
day as part of its on-going peace work which includes training in
non-violent community change and accompaniment of community ministries
addressing violence, poverty and racism.

Among the IDPP observances in the United  States, the National 
Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA promoted a campaign by a multi-faith 
media
organization to collect one million pledges to pray for peace and send
them to United Nations.

There were many other events in observance of the prayer for peace day
including:
The World YWCA (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=25a6b04de6b37dffe8d3
) called its associations in 125 countries to observe the day as an
opportunity to “nurture lasting peace in families and communities”.

Lutheran Peace Fellowship and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
America
encouraged congregations to engage in activities that “build awareness
of the deep roots of shalom in the gospel message (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=69c21e261cf43b567220
)”.

Act for Peace, an ecumenical agency in Australia, urged churches, 
parishes
and individuals to observe and pray for a day of ceasefires, both
“personal” and political.

A community of Dominican Sisters in the US offered a special liturgy
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0aa263bc32c0bcb90d55 )
focusing on the prophet Jeremiah’s promise that God inspires thoughts 
of
peace which offer people “a future and a hope”.

Pax Christi International (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d4a6a00c0f35184a48d4 )
invited its member organizations to mark the UN International Day of 
Peace
and the International Day of Prayer for Peace by holding prayer 
vigils and
forums on peace-related themes.

Africa Youth Ministries, a church organization in northern Uganda, 
invited
900 churches to join in “21 days of peace activism (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=978b7322d5d27c67d639
)” around the 21 September date.

The WCC Decade to Overcome Violence has a focus on Africa in 2010.  
Prayer
resources for the prayer day and on this year's focus are available
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=ca29cd879c5089c418e1
) from the WCC and from participating member churches.


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



You receive this information as a subscriber of our media list. You 
are 
registered as Worldwide Faith News with the address 
wfn-editors@wfn.org.
Click here to unsubscribe or change your distribution settings 
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=c494d2d35abf3e5e8dfa ).