by Revs. Gavin and Meridyth Robertson
Ministers of the Gospel
The invitation is out for everyone to join the 2024 World Day of Prayer as we celebrate the theme “I beg you … bear with one another in love” based on Ephesians 4:1-3.
The First Presbyterian Church in downtown Trail is hosting this year’s World Day of Prayer Service: Friday, March 1, at 1 p.m.
A committee of Christian women of Palestine have prepared the service.
We are encouraged to reflect on the history and challenges faced by this area as citizens struggle for security, peace and independence as well as the efforts that women have made during changes in ruling influences over the last century.
This is an opportunity to examine a geographical area that is home to the birth of Christianity.
World Day of Prayer is an international, inter-church event that began around 100 years ago bridging social, geographic and political barriers in 146 countries, Together we pursue justice, peace and reconciliation by standing together in prayer and action.
About World Day of Prayer
World Day of Prayer is an international ecumenical Christian laywomen’s initiative.
It is run under the motto “Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action,” and is celebrated annually in over 170 countries on the first Friday in March.
The movement aims to bring together women of various races, cultures and traditions in a yearly common Day of Prayer, as well as in closer fellowship, understanding and action throughout the year.
History
Women’s World Day of Prayer started in the US in 1887 when Mary Ellen Fairchild James, wife of Darwin Rush James from Brooklyn, New York, called for a day of prayer for home missions, and Methodist women called for a week of prayer and self-denial for foreign missions.
Two years later, two Baptists called together a Day of Prayer for the World Mission.
The Day of Prayer initiated by these two women expanded to Canada in 1922, then to the British Isles in the 1930s.
The movement’s focus on ecumenism and reconciliation led to growth after World War II.
Since 1927 the day of prayer in the month of March has been known as the Women’s World Day of Prayer. Catholic women joined the movement after the Second Vatican Council, beginning in 1967, and united what had been their May day of prayer with the March Women’s World Day of Prayer in 1969.
As such, Catholic women honor the World Day of Prayer.