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World Day of Prayer held in park

The World Day of Prayer service was held in Grand Forks Friday in the Seniors’ Centre at City Park, sponsored by the United Church.

By Anne Marien, Sacred Heart CWL Communication chairperson

The World Day of Prayer service was held in Grand Forks Friday in the Seniors’ Centre at City Park, sponsored by the United Church.

"Showing genuine interest in others is a positive step forward in maintaining unity among believers and reaching out to the community", were words written by the women of the Bahamas, who wrote this year’s service, including the World Day of Prayer.

They invited us to join them in celebrating of their culture and history, their land and their legacy.

The World Day of Prayer is a global ecumenical movement which brings Christians of all traditions together to observe a common day of prayer each year. In participating in the worship service, we can come to know how our sisters in other countries, languages and cultures understand the biblical passages in context, their concerns and needs and feel ourselves in solidarity with them as we pray with and for them.

In this way it is possible to enrich our Christian faith as it grows deeper and broader in an international, ecumenical expression. The motto of World Day of Prayer movement is, “Informed, Prayer and Prayerful Action.”

Through our participation in the World Day of Prayer, we affirm that prayer and action are inseparable and that both have immeasurable influence on the world. The World Day of Prayer is coordinated by the Women Inter Church Council of Canada (WICC) focusing on four main concerns of social justice,

women’s issues, ecumenism and growth of women's spirituality.

Through World Day of Prayer grants, WICC supports grassroots work to help women and children both in developing countries and here at home, escape the cycle of poverty and violence.

The council also prepares an annual service to mark Dec. 6, Canada's National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

The women of the Bahamas began with the question, "Jesus said to them, Do you know what I have done for you?’”

Christians around the world and in communities across Canada have gathered on World Day of Prayer to pray and act in solidarity with people of the Bahamas.