Tuesday, November 19, 2024

WCC NEWS: WCC prayer mourns those lost to traffic accidents

A day after World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and a day before World Toilet Day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) morning prayer on 18 November mourned those lost to traffic accidents, and also called for addressing the global sanitation crisis.
Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC
19 November 2024

With the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, the WCC also prayed for the people and churches of East Timor (Timor Leste), Indonesia, and the Philippines.

World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. More than 1.19 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes, and road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults ages 5–29 years.

In a reflection, Rev. Sally N S Neparassi, from the Protestant Church in Western Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat), observed that suffering and death—including from traffic accidents are unfortunately social norms.

“These days, suffering and death are to be experienced by many people in many places—including as a result of traffic accidents,” she said. “Traffic accidents worldwide are caused by complex factors.”

The suffering is also endured by families, colleagues, and even communities who lose their loved ones, and are left with no choice but to mourn the tragic death forever, she said.

“On October 26, 2024, three weeks ago, my church lost a faithful and diligent servant,” she said. “This lovely soul was just ordained in March this year and ministered at a local church in a small village.”

She was the victim of a traffic accident. 

“Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, suffering and death are inevitable parts of human life. yet we have the power to prevent premature and early death due to carelessness and systems failure,” said Neparassi

“For example, by encouraging local governments to enforce traffic safety regulations and to build good, safe roads for comfortable and safe driving,” she said. "We are motivated to have courage in responding.”

World Toilet Day will be observed 19 November under the theme “Toilets – A Place for Peace.”

More than 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation, including 419 million who practise open defecation. Unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene are responsible for the deaths of around 1,000 children under five every day. Conflict, climate change, disasters, and neglect contribute to this unacceptable situation. 

The WCC prayed: “Hasten us, Lord, to ensure faster action to improve and protect people's access to sanitation, which is critical to building a fairer, more peaceful world. We commit to ensuring that toilets are accessible to all people as an essential place for peace, protection, progress and wellbeing.”

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The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.

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Friday, November 15, 2024

Today in the Mission Yearbook - New resources provided to support peace in the Philippines

Witness, Share and Evangelize: Today in the Mission Yearbook - New resources prov...: Prayer and liturgy offer year-long accompaniment to help resolve conflict November 15, 2024 While the Sept. 1 Day of Prayer for Just Peace i...

Last minute Advent resources

An original, daily devotional — perfect for printing or emailing

Patterns of divine possibility: An Advent search for God’s diverse ordering by Teri McDowell Ott

In a world dominated by binary thinking – light vs. dark, good vs. evil – this Advent devotional challenges us to see beyond familiar binaries and embrace the complex, natural patterns of God in the world.

Learn more

Curious about our other devotional offerings? We've been doing this for years. See all Outlook Advent devotionals in our store.

Give variety to your congregation’s Advent services with Outlook hymns (with sheet music)
Mary Gladly Told Her Cousin by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
Advent wreath hymn by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
Joseph Was Troubled by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
A Savior Born, A Gift of Joy (Christmas Joy hymn) by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
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Advent Liturgies
"Wait for the Lord: An Advent Candle Liturgy" by Montisa Anntoinette Watkins and Shavon Starling-Louis — free for a limited time
Blue Christmas service by Christine Chakoian
"Creator of the Stars of Night: An Advent Candle Liturgy" by Carol Holbrook Prickett
"Family Christmas Eve Service" by Jenny Lee
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Looking into the lectionary - A free Advent candle liturgy 🎄

November 24, 2024
Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost 

John 18:33-37

Through our ecumenical lectionary, we protestants join the Roman Catholic Church in celebrating Christ the King Sunday on the last Sunday of the liturgical year.

Christ the King Sunday’s origins go back to December 11, 1925, when Pope Pious XI released Quas Primas and called for a new feast day celebrating the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus Christ. The declaration of the feast is tied, in part, to celebrating the 1600th anniversary of the gathering of the Synod of Nicene which affirmed the church’s belief that Christ’s “kingdom shall have no end” (using the Nicene Creed on this Sunday is an excellent alternative to the Barmen Declaration excerpts that I suggest in the complementary liturgy).

The primary motivator for the feast, however, is to claim the primacy of Christ’s rule in response to a world whose individuals and nation-states seem to have rejected Christ’s rule. Quas Primas quotes Cyril of Alexandria, “Christ has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature.”

As the statement continues, it contrasts life in the Empire of Christ’s peace to the lamentable condition of modern statehood, described by “the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the way to ruin.”

The Gospel reading for the day, John 18:33-37, is short. Yet, it dives directly into the depths of the feast day’s drama. Pilate, the regional representative for the Roman Empire, holds Jesus, king over all creatures by essence and by nature, for questioning. Borrowing the language of Pope Pious XI, the “bitter enmities and rivalries between nations” linger in Pilate’s careful word choices as he tries to navigate the situation in a way that maintains order and control. Extending the reading a quarter verse further gives us Pilate’s unanswered, earth-shaking question, “What is truth?”

It is a passage for disrupted times, unstable days, foundation-rocking, ruin-causing moments. ...

Thank you to this week's writer Walter Canter.

Read the rest of the commentary on the website.

Order of worship for November 24, 2024, by Walter Canter
A prayer for veterans by Andrew Taylor Troutman
The practice of presence (November 24, 2024) by Brendan McLean
Leading and preaching in the storm: (Re)locating ourselves faithfully amid trauma and chaos by Kimberly Wagner
An Advent Candle Liturgy by Dr. Montisa Anntoinette Watkins and Rev. Shavon Starling-Louis — Free for a limited time!
We bear the mark: the cost of killing and the work of healing by Ben Weakley
Want the worship resources for November 17, 2024? You can find them here.

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In a world dominated by binary thinking – light vs. dark, good vs. evil – this Advent devotional challenges us to see beyond familiar binaries and embrace the complex, natural patterns of God in the world.
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WCC NEWS: WCC prayer mourns those lost to traffic accidents

A day after World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and a day before World Toilet Day, the World Council of Churches (WCC) mornin...