[amc] FW: Forward to churches from Jim Schrag
- From: "Kathy Reid" <Kathy@xxxxxxx>
- To: "Mennonite Church" <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 15:07:49 -0600
-----Original Message-----
From: Kathy Goering [mailto:kathyg@xxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 4:57 PM
To: Kathy Goering
Cc: Dorothy Nickel Friesen
Subject: Forward to churches from Jim Schrag
Importance: High
To Western District Pastors from Shelley Buller and Jim Schrag of Mennonite
Church USA
March 4, 2003, News release
As nation?s drumbeats for war intensify, Mennonites called to kneel in
prayer
by Laurie L. Oswald
NEWTON, Kan. (MC USA) ? As the United States prepares to invade Iraq with
guns and bombs, the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board is asking
Mennonites on March 16 to kneel in prayer in their congregations and homes.
In a recent letter to congregations (attached), Jim Schrag, executive
director of the Mennonite Church USA Executive Board, is calling Mennonites
to mark Sunday, March 16, as a day for prayer and fasting. The day coincides
with the last day of the 40-day fast that Daryl Byler, Mennonite Central
Committee?s Washington Office director, began Feb. 5. March 16 also falls
during Lent, a season of repentance leading up to Easter.
?Whether we do this as a congregation or a Sunday school or class, as a
family or as an individual, for five minutes or for one meal or an entire
day, I invite you to bring yourself before God in repentance and
supplication,? Schrag said in his letter. ?
?When you read this, war may have already begun. Many of you have already
prayed. Some have written to our nation?s leaders. A few have joined marches
with neighbors. It?s time to get on our knees together as believers in
Christ, to sharpen our spiritual awareness and to increase our own hunger
for peace.?
A deeper hunger for peace is growing among Mennonites and those already
involved in prayer and fasting, said Byler and Susan Mark Landis, peace
advocate for the MC USA Executive Board. Fasting and prayer are not instant
solutions but a search for increased humility before God and increased
reconciliation among our global neighbors, they said. More than 1,100 people
around the globe are fasting for peace between the United States and Iraq,
including those who?ve joined MCC Canada women?s fast for peace.
Landis said, ?It?s not what we do that will stop a war ? that?s up to God.
Our job is to listen to God?s voice, to be faithful to God?s call. It?s
important who we are, who we serve, how we worship. Actions, of course are
very important, but they must come from the core of our spiritual being. ?
?My desire is that this call to prayer and fasting will give each
congregation the time to listen to God?s call in their local space and that
members of all ages will bind themselves together as a support community for
each other.?
A worship resource created by the Peace and Justice Support Network, called
?By the Rivers of Babylon: A Service of Lament,? can help congregations and
individuals join this call for fasting and prayer. It uses Psalm 137 to
invite congregations to mourn our nation?s state of war-making during the
season of Lent. This Psalm laments Israel?s captivity in Babylon and
expresses profound grief. The worship resource is available on the Peace and
Justice Support Network web site at www.peace.mennolink.org. (also attached
as a Microsoft Word document). For more information you may also, contact
Landis at (330) 683-6844.
Laurie L. Oswald is news service director for Mennonite Church USA.
Shelley Buller
Executive Assistant
Mennonite Church USA Executive Board
Great Plains Office (Newton, Kan.)
316-283-5155, ext. 249
ShelleyB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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