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Observing the one-year anniversary of the September 11, 2001,
attacks affords a unique opportunity for people of faith to
pray together for God’s peace, comfort, and justice to
prevail on earth, even as in heaven.
Helpful ways to mark this occasion through worship might include:
- A community ecumenical service of prayer, using resources
from the various traditions represented in that gathering.
- A congregational service of prayer, using resources from
our Book of Common Worship (PDF
Download).
- A special focus appropriate to the anniversary for the
Service for the Lord’s Day on September 8, 2002. Litanies,
prayers, and hymns for the Service for the Lord’s Day
that are especially appropriate for such a focus are posted
as a PDF (same as
above)..
- A four-week Sunday School or midweek study series focusing
on the wonderful book by Thomas W. Currie III, Searching for
Truth: Confessing Christ in an Uncertain World (Geneva Press,
2001). This brief volume, in our Office of Theology and Worship’s
series “Foundations of Christian Faith,” offers
a road map for Christians seeking faithfully to love their
enemies in a world of violence and to articulate their faith
with integrity and appropriate humility in a world clamoring
with contrary voices and claims about what is true and good.
- Sermons or lessons drawing upon our new Study Catechism.
Questions 50–52 from the Study Catechism help us reflect
on the challenge we face in dealing with peoples from other
religions, while questions 131–133, concerning prayer,
have direct implications for how we pray in response to tragedy.
These questions, along with accompanying biblical references,
are available on the Ideas Web site.
Our Book of Common Worship includes a number of resources for
prayer and worship that are especially appropriate and helpful
for small groups, congregational services, and ecumenical gatherings
seeking to mark
this anniversary:
The “Service for Wholeness,” pp. 1003–1015;
The “Prayers for the Church and Other People of Faith,”
pp. 803–815;
The “Prayers for the National Life,” pp. 816–818;
The “Prayers for the Human Condition,” pp. 832–837;
The service for “All Saints’ Day,” pp. 385–390,
includes resources appropriate to remembering the lives of those
who have died.
Searching for Truth, the Book of Catechisms, and others
may be ordered on-line at www.genevapress.com.
Or call PDS at (800) 524-2612.
For more information, contact Sheldon Sorge,
Office of Theology and Worship, at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5310.
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