WCC News: Churches invited to join global prayer chain for Ukraine

Churches across the world are ready to join a World Prayer for Ukraine on Sunday, 24 August. Hosted by the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, the global prayer chain will ask for a just and lasting peace—that God will stop the war and that light will overcome darkness. People wearing the colours of the Ukrainian flag celebrate mass inside the Church of Saint Catherine at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine, November 2022. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 21 August 2025 The prayer will be held on the day when Ukraine, during ongoing Russian military aggression, will celebrate its 34th Independence Day. An online prayer calendar allows churches and individuals to sign up for prayer times, and the prayer website lists prayer needs and provides other resources for reflection and sharing. The prayer will also urge the protection of Christians in the occupied territories and for all those who minister under persecution; for the return of abducted children and healing for wounded families; and for comfort for those who have lost loved ones and for emotional and spiritual restoration. About 700 temples and churches of various denominations have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the military actions in Ukraine. More than 70 Ukrainian pastors and priests have been killed by Russian troops. The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations is an interdenominational and interreligious association that represents 95% of the religious community of Ukraine.  World Council of Churches commends to all WCC member churches and ecumenical partners the call issued by the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations to join a World Day of Prayer for Ukraine on 24 August and pray for the end of the war.  WCC expresses hope and prayer for a just peace for people of Ukraine (WCC news release, 15 August 2025) Appeal of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations on the occasion of the World Prayer for Ukraine Learn more about the Global Prayer for Ukraine on 24 August 2025 See more

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 356 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. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland

Prayers for Our Community, Our Nation and Our World

We can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Between Monday, August 25 and Sunday, August 31, we'll lay before God the needs listed below.

• Monday, August 25, 2025 - That we remember those who died in service to their country.
• Tuesday, August 26, 2025 - That World Vision will be able to address real human need around the world.
• Wednesday, August 27, 2025 - That Russia and Ukraine find a peaceful resolution to their conflict.
• Thursday, August 28, 2025 - That governments recognize that their nations will be judged based on how they treat the poor and the powerless.
• Friday, August 29, 2025 - That children be protected from those who are not seeking their best interest.
• Saturday, August 30, 2025 - That peace will be restored in the Middle East.
• Sunday, August 31, 2025 - That businesses, unions and government officials would be ethical in all tax reporting and financial transactions.

The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service - Sunday, August 17, 2025

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: The Sligo Presbyterian Church Celebration Service ...: During the sermon series  I Believe: Exploring the Apostle's Creed , the congregation of Sligo Presbyterian Church is using  The Apostle...

Sunday's Message - I BELIEVE in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

Sligo Presbyterian Church: Our Congregation and Community: Sunday's Message - I BELIEVE in Jesus Christ, his ...: During the sermon series  I Believe: Exploring the Apostle's Creed , the congregation of Sligo Presbyterian Church is using  The Apostle...

Looking into the lectionary - D.C. churches respond to federal show of force

Luke 14:1, 7-14 Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost August 31, 2025 Not long ago, I was leading a discussion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together with a church small group. We were considering the chapter called “Ministry,” which Bonhoeffer begins by noting the human penchant for comparison and judgment. Bonhoeffer claims that “from the first moment when [someone] meets another person [they are] looking for a strategic position [they] can assume and hold over against that person.” He takes a basis for this assertion from the disciples’ arguing among themselves which of them was the greatest in Luke 9. He could as easily have pointed to this passage from Luke 14. It’s an observation of human behavior, no less telling than the disciples’ earlier argument, that occasions Jesus’s parable: He sees people at a dinner party cozying up to the host by sitting in the places of honor — a dangerous strategy, Jesus suggests. For if you’ve calculated wrongly, the host might demote you, inviting someone else to assume the position of honor you had selected for yourself. The behavior Jesus witnesses at this dinner exemplifies the same jockeying for position Bonhoeffer calls the “dangerous enemy” of Christian community. What surprises here is that Jesus seems to be offering wisdom consistent with this game of advantage-seeking by suggesting a guest should choose a humbler spot, opening the possibility that the host might invite them to move up – climb up a rung on the ladder of honor – and take a seat nearer the host. “Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you,” Jesus says (Luke 14:10). I’ll show you how to gain the strategic position, he seems to be saying. Except that is not his last word. Jesus concludes this saying with the more universal pronouncement that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:11). The clear implication is that this eschatological reversal of fortune will be God’s work, and it is consistent with the overall thrust of Luke’s Gospel. When placed in the eschatological context of God’s final judgment, this passage offers a liberating word: ... Thank you to this week's writer, L. Roger Owens. Read the rest of the commentary at pres-outlook.org. Order of worship — August 31, 2025, by L. Roger Owens The marvel of mutual mission by Greg Allen-Pickett D.C. churches respond to federal show of force by Harriet Riley A pastor’s call amid immigration uncertainty by Gary Noonan House Chaplain Margaret Kibben on what makes military chaplaincy important by Adelle M. Banks A back-to-school prayer for congregations by Elizabeth H. Doolin Want the worship resources for August 24, 2025? You can find them here. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT... Call to action: Lamenting increased militarism on our city streets The PC(USA) Office of Public Witness urges faithful resistance to militarized policing, affirming God’s peace, justice, and dignity over fear, force, and political control. Learning from telephones: Rethinking ministry for a changing world Churches must embrace adaptive change to disciple beyond walls and engage communities, writes Dave Coles. Presbytery of San Gabriel returns ancestral land to Gabrieleno Tongva Tribal Council The Rev. Jihyun Oh preaches during a worship service as part of Saturday’s historic land back transfer. — Kristen Gaydos Faith250: Healing the nation’s soul through words Reviving America’s moral language — Faith250 invites faith leaders to heal divisions through study and community, writes Becca Messman. Abundance Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s "Abundance" offers a hopeful, critical look at policy, politics and possibility, writes Amy Pagliarella. ‘Shiny Happy People’ returns to examine the Christian culture war pioneer Teen Mania The three-part docuseries explores the birth and sudden demise of Teen Mania, plus the gnarly underbelly of a ministry some former members consider abusive. — Kathryn Post

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Revised Common Lectionary Readings for August 17, 2025

Revised Common Lectionary Readings (Three-Year Cycle)

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for August 17, 2025 By Revised Common Lectionary Readings, Sunday, August 17, 2025 12:00 AM First Reading Isaiah 5:1-7 1Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are his pleasant planting; he expected justice, but saw bloodshed; righteousness, but heard a cry! Psalm Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us! 8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches; 11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River. 12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it. 14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, 15 the stock that your right hand planted. 16 They have burned it with fire, they may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance. 17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself. 18 Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. Second Reading Hebrews 11:29-12:2 29By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted to do so they were drowned. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had received the spies in peace. 32And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets-33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. 36Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented-38of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Gospel Luke 12:49-56 49"I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! 51Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! 52From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." 54He also said to the crowds, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, 'It is going to rain'; and so it happens. 55And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? Read more »

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