Monday, March 09, 2009

World Day of Prayer


"In Christ There Are Many Members, Yet One Body" is the message that is constant each year at the World Day of Prayer worship service. I had an opportunity to attend my local worship service on Friday. I look forward to these ecumenical community wide services each year that provide focus on areas of the world that I'm usually not familiar with. This year the focus was on Papua New Guinea and it allowed us to learn about the strength of women and their many needs. The Old Testament focus was the story of Moses being resuced as a baby...women coming together from different cultures and different levels in society to work together for a common goal.
Beyond the message I always look forward to worshiping in the sancutary of the church that this service was held at this year. The space was designed with all the senses in mind. It is circular, has multicolored stained glass surrounding half of the spacewhich is a visual feast. The other part of the circle is surrounded with bas relief scultpure. You can't actually touch it but you can easily image what it would feel like. But, my favorite aspect is the baptismal font that has running water in it that you can hear throughout the service. A gentle reminder of living water and the sacrament that is so near and dear to our faith.