Dear Congregation,
On Sunday, September 16th we will celebrate Just Peace Sunday with a special worship service and Christian Education activities for our children. Our denomination, the United Church of Christ, has designated the Sunday preceding United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21st as Just Peace Sunday in recognition of the belief that there cannot be peace without justice. Perhaps you’ve seen the slogan which distills this truth, “No Justice, No Peace; Know Justice, Know Peace”
At Christ Congregational Church we’ll be focusing on PEACE for whole the month of September in some fun, meaningful, and creative ways. This Sunday you’re invited to dream of peace, then write your own peace prayer and/or doodle a picture of something that represents peace to you. Newsprint and colored pens will be provided in Kelsey Hall before and after worship. These peace papers will be displayed in the Sanctuary on Just Peace Sunday.
Our children will be making crafts and sharing with the congregation, some tokens they’ve made to remind us to carry peace with us wherever we go. A special banner has been ordered, and, hopefully will arrive soon. Watch for it!
This would be a great time to invite family and friends to worship at CCC. I think each of us would agree that we could all use more peace in our lives. In closing I share with you the “World Peace Prayer”, a good one to pray every day!
Lead me from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
lead me from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
lead me from hate to love,
from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart,
our world, our universe.
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Candy Thomas
Interim Pastor
Christ Congregational United Church of Christ