|
The World Day of Prayer International committee recently launched a virtual choir program with volunteers from the worldwide WDP network. They began working on the four songs from the WDP 2024 program written by the women of Palestine and each song is now available on our YouTube channel! You can also view them here:
1 Comment
“I Beg You… Bear With One Another in Love” Ephesians 4:1-7  Dear Sisters in Christ, I bring you warm greetings from Ghana and WDPIC. As we prepare to mark the 2024 World Day of Prayer, may we find it in our hearts to forgive and pray with one other, as we are all one in Christ. Let’s take a moment to reflect on this year’s celebration. Many of you are familiar with a book by Alexandre Dumas, titled The Three Musketeers. The heroes of this story have as their motto “All for one and one for all.” This means that each member of the group will fight for the others. They vow to stand together in a common struggle. This resonates with what we are doing as a WDP movement. Every year, we lift up the voices of women from a selected country. We pray with and for them. We care about their concerns. And we offer to share our resources. Each time we do this, we build up a strong ecumenical global sisterhood. We stand together amidst all of our struggles and difficulties. This year’s liturgy came from Christian women in Palestine. Together, our movement will lift up their stories, songs and prayers on Friday, March 1, 2024. Their theme, “I beg you … bear with one another in love,” was chosen in 2017, but it is appropriate and relevant today amidst the devastating war in Gaza and Israel. God has surely guided us for such a time as this. We respond as Christian women by going down on our knees and praying for peace, unity, love and justice. In the passage from Ephesians 4:1-7, there are two clear areas that form the basis of our unity as Christians. First, we share a common ground as Christians, created in the image of God. And second, we receive a common grace from God, who does not discriminate. We bear with one another in love because of this common ground and common grace. It is from this place that we find our unity. In this time of war and violence, we must stand united in protecting God’s creation. We must pray for a just peace. And we must work for a just peace. A line from Naseeru binur elkalima (one of the songs from Palestine) says: “Our world is full of sorrow, struggle, loss and pain, tempting us all into despair.” Despite the sorrows, struggles, loss and pain that we face, we are still called to bear with each other in love along this journey of life. May it be so. - Joyce Larko Steiner (PhD)
Chairperson, WDPIC The World Day of Prayer (WDP) believes that "Prayer is rooted in listening to God and to each other" (Guiding Principle #2). The listening that we seek is an active and demanding listening. It requires a stillness that can allow another to speak, as we hear and feel with another’s pains and joys. Our listening is both personal and in community. Our conviction is that WDP opens a window to the voices of women in a different part of the world each year—sometimes near, sometimes far away. Always, we join our prayer with theirs. We are committed to honoring the prayers offered by women who develop our liturgy each year for a common day of prayer on the first Friday of March. The women who write are selected at an International Meeting held every 5 years, which includes voting delegates from every country in our movement. At the 2017 International Meeting in Brazil, WDP Palestine was selected to write the 2024 program, followed by WDP Cook Islands in 2025 and WDP Nigeria in 2026. The liturgy is developed through a rigorous writing process that starts 4 years before the day when the world will gather to pray that liturgy. This liturgy is developed with our Executive Committee, a group of women elected to represent each region of our movement. On March 1, 2024, our global ecumenical movement will pray a liturgy developed by our sisters from WDP Palestine. World Day of Prayer has a strong and vibrant history in the Middle East, especially in Palestine. Women from various denominations in Palestine have faithfully prayed together every year for decades. Several women from WDP Palestine have been elected by the Middle East region to serve as Regional Representatives for our WDPIC Executive Committee. We are grateful for the dedication of our Palestinian sisters over the years to strengthen connections between Christians around the world. Our WDPIC office has been approached in the past year, particularly since the Israel Gaza war has brought devastation to the region following the violent attack on October 7, 2023. We have been asked if there will be any changes made to the liturgy in light of the current situation. Our response has been consistent with our practices as a movement for many years. We believe that the liturgy offered each year is a profound gift, and one that we receive in its fullness. We stand with the liturgy offered by our sisters from WDP Palestine, and we encourage all local celebrations around the world to honor those voices as they are offered. Our sisters from WDP Palestine are currently working on an additional prayer that can be added to the original liturgy, in light of the recent violence they are experiencing. We hope to have that available by February 15, 2024. - WDPIC Executive Committee
 Christ in the Rubble, Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Photograph by Rev. Munther Isaac “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders, and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6 NRSV) Every year, the celebration of Christ’s birth is a significant moment for Christians all over the world. As I reflected on the meaning of Christmas this year, I could not help but think of how the land of Jesus’ birth is in turmoil. This is even more poignant for us in the World Day of Prayer movement because our sisters from WDP Palestine wrote our liturgy for the upcoming celebration on March 1, 2024. It has been difficult for me to send out a Christmas message when there is so much conflict and strife. As I reflected on Jesus being born in a manger because there was no room at the inn, I could not help but think of the nativity scene put on the altar space this year at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem. In this nativity, Jesus is born in the rubble, calling to mind the many children who have been killed in Gaza over the last few months. This scene reminds us that the Prince of Peace comes to us in humble and struggling places. I am also struck by the angelic appearance before the shepherds, one of the most compelling elements of the birth story. The angels appeared to these humble shepherds with a glorious spectacle, announcing the birth of the Messiah. The angels told them not to be afraid, but to go and find the infant wrapped in a humble cloth, lying in a humble manger. Those shepherds went immediately, and after seeing the Christ child, they shared the good news of what they had seen and experienced. This tells me that whoever we are, however humble or insignificant we feel, we are called to go and see God coming into the struggling places in the world. Like the shepherds, we, too are called to share all we have seen and experienced. The three wise men in the story also hold a lesson for us today. They recognized Jesus as the Son of God, but they also understood that he was a human being who could be hurt. With their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, the wise men treated the child with reverence, while also giving valuable gifts that could provide care and material support. We are also called to treat each other with reverence, especially those who are most vulnerable. And, we are called to provide gifts that can nurture and protect each other. The Prince of Peace is born for us, among us, and within us. Love is born, even in the humblest of places. And we are called to witness those moments of birth, and to bring gifts with great reverence as we recognize God being born again and again. In closing, I want to share a song that we sing at my church every year on New Year’s Eve - Let there be love shared among us, let there be love in our hearts, and may this love never leave us on this earth. In our World Day of Prayer movement, we are committed to sharing love among us as we pray together across great distances. May this season bring peace to the world, and love to every heart. May all who are suffering, especially our Palestinian and Israeli sisters, experience love being born even amidst the rubble. - Joyce Larko Steiner, WDPIC Chairperson
Honored by Chaplain's Council of Montclair Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.  Paquita H. Roberts was a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother, a sister, an aunt, a friend, but most of all a Child of God. March 2, 1938 was a cold winter night when Clifton and Corine Rhue Hudson welcomed their first beautiful, vibrant, and healthy baby girl into their family. She was named Paquita Geraldine. Paquita gave her life to Christ as a young teenager and never looked back. She was a woman of God who shone her light everywhere she went. She lived her life believing that we are all charged with spreading the Gospel to others. Her faith never wavered, it only became stronger as an adult with her untiring service and commitment to her church, her family, her friends and her community. A Prayer Warrior. A woman who prayed for all without ceasing. Matthew 5:16 reads, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Some people you just love the moment you meet them and Paquita was that person, the epitome of a true, Christian godly woman, a beacon of light! This anointed servant leader of God was the Chaplain and Chairperson for the Chaplain’s Council of Montclair Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. As a Chaplain, Paquita ensured that the chapter’s members and community were provided with prayer, inspirational support, and assistance with strenuous life occurrences. She initiated Montclair Alumnae Chapter, celebrating the World Day of Prayer Annually, with Christian women around the globe as a chapter initiative. Paquita believed that your light shines by loving people and sharing and spreading the light and love of God to others. She would explain to her three children, that no one lights a lamp just to hide it under a basket but a lamp is meant to be placed to give light to everything and to everyone around it. Paquita passed away on July 9, 2022 and her light became brighter in the legacy she left behind. If Paquita H. Roberts was here on earth, she would say, “You are the light of the world; so go ahead and don’t be afraid to SHINE!” We are excited to announce the very first Young Women's Pilgrimage for our World Day of Prayer movement! This journey is open to women ages 21-35 who are engaged with, and passionate about World Day of Prayer. We will be accepting applications for a limited number of participants. The pilgrimage will include 14 participants from around the world, representing each of our 7 regions. The journey will be co-led by the WDP Palestine Committee and our WDPIC Executive Director, Katie Reimer. To apply, email us for the application form at admin@worlddayofprayer.net. The first round of applications will be reviewed after the deadline of Monday, May 15, 2023. With excitement and gratitude, Katie Reimer Executive Director, WDPIC 
O Holy Night has been my favorite Christmas carol for as long as I can remember. And yet, it was only this year that I noticed the line “the soul felt its worth.” What a powerful thought! The soul feels its worth when gazing upon the baby Jesus. The soul feels its worth when realizing that God chose to become vulnerable and small so that we could come close to God. The soul feels its worth when recognizing that God will do anything to help us see how profoundly loved we are. I think it is significant that God chose to come through Mary, who describes herself as lowly. Low in status and importance. In Mary’s famous song and prayer, the Magnificat, she exclaims: “My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, Mary felt her worth when being asked to bring God into the world in the form of Jesus. And even more than that, Mary recognized that God choosing a woman from the social margins had significance for all of us. Every single one of us is worthy in the eyes of God. We are not worthy in the eyes of God because of our social status, wealth or power. We are not worthy because of our talents or our wisdom or our achievements. We are worthy simply because we are God’s beloved creation. We are worthy simply because God loves us. After choosing to come into the world through the “lowly” Mary, God invites the “lowly” shepherds to be the first eyewitnesses of the newborn baby. It’s a striking choice. It wasn’t the religious leaders or the political leaders who received the first invitation. It was the shepherds. The shepherds - who stood on the bottom rung of the social ladder of the time. The shepherds - who were considered second-class citizens - detestable and worthless and untrustworthy. “When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see this event that God has made known to us.” They hurried and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Once they saw this, they reported what they had been told concerning the child. All who heard about it were astonished at the report given by the shepherds.” Luke 2:15-18 (The Inclusive Bible) The shepherds felt their worth at being honored with the first invitation to behold the Christ child. They hurried to gaze upon the baby lying in the manger. That gazing upon Jesus was a form of prayer. And that gazing upon Jesus changed them forever. Emmanuel! God is with us! After being profoundly moved by gazing upon the God who came close, the shepherds went and spread the good news to everyone they knew. And all were astonished. Perhaps astonished because God had come in the form of a baby. Or perhaps astonished because they were hearing the news from the “lowly” shepherds. My prayer for each of us this Christmas is that our gazing upon the nativity scene would be a prayer that changes us forever. That as we gaze, we would see that God longs for us to feel our worth. That as we gaze, we would recognize we are deeply loved by God. And that as we gaze, our souls would feel their worth. By Katie Reimer, Executive Director, WDPIC
 Magnolia Tree at New York Botanical Gardens, April 2022, Photograph by Katie Reimer, Used by permission And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18) My first week as the Executive Director for World Day of Prayer International Committee has been full of excitement, apprehension, new learnings, and discoveries. I am astounded by the richness of this prayer movement. The vibrant history. The powerful guiding principles. The creative liturgy. I have been profoundly moved by the many ways I see the Spirit working within and through the World Day of Prayer. I have been listening closely during my first week with you. I have been listening to you - to your stories, your dreams, and your fears. I have been listening to our predecessors - to their vision, their wisdom and their legacy. I have been listening to the world - to her cries, her longings, and her openings. And I have been listening to how the Spirit is blowing in our midst. I have been listening closely. And I plan to keep listening. In the passage from 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul is alluding to the way Moses’ face would shine after speaking with God (Exodus 34:29). It was clear to everyone around Moses that the skin of his face was glowing with the glory of God. As Moses listened to God, he was changed. In the same way, Paul assures us that we, too, will be changed. We will be changed by lingering in God’s presence, by listening to the Spirit. We, too, will be transformed from “glory to glory.” And so, I am lingering in God’s presence, and I am listening to the Spirit. As I have been listening to you, I have seen in your voices the face of God. I have already found myself transformed as I’ve started to hear some of your deepest yearnings for this already powerful World Day of Prayer movement. Your yearnings are now my yearnings. I smile as I write this, thinking of the journey ahead, when we will move from “glory to glory,” our faces shining from the knowledge of God. The only thing that is required of us is an openness to the movement of the Spirit. I have been humming a sung prayer that I co-wrote a few years ago with Jorge Lockward. In it, I hear the Spirit’s invitation to me, to you, and to the whole World Day of Prayer movement. - Katie Reimer, Incoming WDPIC Executive Director Here We Are  Words & Music: Katie Reimer & Jorge Lockward © 2018 Katie Reimer and Jorge Lockward  Katie Reimer, Incoming WDPIC Executive Director For years, World Day of Prayer has gathered women, young people, children and communities around the world under its unique appeal of being united in prayer and actions of solidarity for peace and justice. It may be a local group worshipping together or a national wide educational campaign on a particular issue. With the strength rooted in a spirituality of listening, the first Friday of March brings to light this circle of prayer to visibility! I have had the blessing of serving this international circle of prayer since 2012, when I was welcomed as executive director. I am deeply grateful for the blessings, learning, and growth that this community has given me. Now it is time to continue widening the circle and welcome the new executive director of World Day of Prayer International Committee. I am delighted to have the chance of sharing leadership with Katie Reimer until my term concludes on August 1st. What has brought Katie Reimer to WDP is her own spiritual practice of “cultivating embodied practices and rituals in community.” For her, “worship and prayer connect us to God most profoundly when we connect deeply to ourselves, our neighbors, and all of creation.” Katie is “deeply moved by WDP’s central commitment to the power of women’s voices and incarnate experiences of God” and recognizes that WDP “has faithfully connected women committed to the way of Jesus across boundaries, creating an expansive ecology that nourishes abundant life. The vision of Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action speaks to the way of Jesus, who prayed from an intimate awareness of the struggles of the world, while also acting from a place of profound connection to the Divine.” (Extracted from Katie’s cover letter) Katie recently completed her Master of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary in New York with a concentration in Inter-religious Engagement; after a Bachelor and Master education in piano performance. She is the founder, artistic & executive director of Mimesis Ensemble where she performs and records music from the 20th and 21st centuries. She has acted as artist in residence, song composer, life stream meditation guide, devotional video designer, song leader and choir conductor, worship writer and leader, and preacher in churches in New York City and across the United States, also at women and church national and international conferences. Katie is prepared to listen, lead, and join this community of Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action. Let’s take our tambourines and with dancing and singing praise God like the prophet Myriam and the women, as God is journeying ahead of us (Exodus 15:20). Amen! Rosangela S. Oliveira, Outgoing WDPIC Executive Director  During Lent, I often reflect on the words that Jesus said: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23: 28).”
I imagine Jesus, catching his breath after being relieved from the weight of the cross by Simon of Cyrene. Jesus was wounded and certainly weakened after all the tortures inflicted on him. Jesus, who in a single breath, said to the ones following him, including a couple of women: “For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” (verses 29-31) Women, do not weep for me, but rather for yourselves! These words echo the news of the moment: wars covered in the media, injustices ignored by the international press, ecological disasters, terrible cries of distress, or even more deafening the silence from those who no longer have the strength to call out for help or cry… Yes, I like to imagine that when Jesus said those words, he wanted to offer comfort… just as he did in the garden of the tomb, on Sunday morning, when Mary of Magdala went to the tomb to discover that his body was no longer there (John 20:11-18). Why are you crying? Mary thought a gardener was speaking to her, but a simple call of her first name "Mary!" was enough to make her open the eyes and discover that the Risen Jesus was standing before her. I like to reread this passage from John, in chapter 20. A great tenderness emanates from the text. Mary is the first woman to discover Jesus is alive. For her, who has known tears, there is a future to hope for -- “I know the plans I have for you”. And for those among us who are sad or overwhelmed, a cry invites us to get back on the road. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Mary's cry of joy replaced her cries of pain and lamentation. I even imagine tears of joy flowing down her face, where a few hours before there were tears of pain. Suffering is not that hard to imagine, it is so prevalent right now. But on this Easter morning, sisters and brothers, believe that Jesus is here, very present and that He will be able to say to us "I have heard about your faith" and while waiting for this beautiful moment, let us shout joyfully with our Christian sisters from Jerusalem "He is risen, He is risen indeed!” Receive my warmest regards and all my gratitude, Laurence Gangloff WDPIC Chairperson |
Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed