JUST ADDED! The latest issue of the Episcopal Community email newsletter
includes three articles that are available here in PDF format should you wish to
print them out and share them with others.
On
April 21, 2007, three past National Presidents of the Order of the Daughters of
the King gave a PowerPoint presentation to the current National Council,
outlining their concerns about the direction the National Council has and is
taking toward becoming an ecumenical organization. The presentation is available
here in two formats:
Almighty God, merciful Creator of all that is good,
receive our prayers on behalf of your servant, Katharine. We beseech you so to
immerse her in your Holy Spirit that she willl be washed clean and made ready in
your sight to administer your saving health to this church and to your people.
Fill her, as your chosen representative, with abundant love, truth,
understanding, forgiveness, clarity of purpose, and a heart of mercy.
And then give to us, as we commit our spiritual
well-being to Katharine's care, hearts filled with love, trust and peace. Help
us, your people, to steadfastly believe that all will be well, and to live as
your redeemed and beloved. We ask it all in the name of your Son, our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The preceding prayer, and the one below, appeared in the Winter 1998 issue of
the Royal Cross.
A Prayer for Healing and Unity
Almighty God, our Lord and King, we pray for your people who are
in pain over the divisions in Your Church. We ask your abundant
love to remove all fear and anxiety. Reconcile those who are
wounded and fill them with your healing peace. Bring an end to
the issues which separate and divide. Help us to be steadfast
in our love and commitment to You and Your Church, that we may
live in unity, to Your honor and glory. We ask this in Your
name and for Your sake. Amen.
The following meditation by Barbara Cawthorn Crafton, published
December 21, 2006, resonated strongly with many Episcopal women who are Daughters of
the King. It is printed here with her permission.
THE SELF-ANOINTED RIGHTEOUS
So much un-peace, in the Church and in the world. A peculiar pride in
our own stubbornness has infected many of us -- as if reconciliation
somehow represented a failure of moral nerve. We are strongly attracted
to visions of ourselves as lonely martyrs for a holy truth -- and this
is a dangerous self-image to have. It leaves no room to accept criticism
we may desperately need.
And so we leave churches that aren't holy enough for us. Assume we know
God's will solely through a narrow reading of scripture, and pride
ourselves on never changing our minds. We stay the course.
In doing so, we are in danger of ignoring a God who is free. A God who
does new things. We won't allow it. We insist on worshipping the ancient
record of God's work in the world, instead of the God to which it all
attests. We will not allow God to be the unexpected thing God must be in
every age.
Here comes Jesus -- a child born into a world of division. In his name,
we will exclude and even kill, and we will tell ourselves in that very
moment that we are doing the work of the Prince of Peace.
Additional Prayer Resources You may find
additional prayers Here, contributed from
Daughters' files and shared here for your use. The most recent contributions may
be found Here.
