Updated - Prayers and resources for Israel and Gaza conflict
ELCA Resource Center for the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
this page includes information for Lutheran Disaster Response, worship resources, ecumenical resources and statements, and more.
Synod Resource Center for the Crisis in Israel and Gaza
this page includes reflections, connections to Iowa, and more from the working group focused on peace in Israel and Palestine.
A Prayer and Reflection from Bishop Amy Current
Let us pray for the people of the world…
and especially for the people living in what the world knows as the Holy Land
For an end to violence
For the people in and around Gaza
For all who are attempting to flee for their lives
For all who are being held against their will
For all who are concerned for what comes today, tomorrow
For all who grieve their loved ones
For all who grieve their homes
For all who fear for their lives
For all who are leaving and feel torn
For those in authority - guide them toward peace and to remember the value of all human life
For Muslims, Jews, Christians praying for peace
For Palestinians
For Israelis
For complexity of history, land, religion,
For onlookers around the world who hear a slice of the story and then hate simmers toward individuals or groups around the world
For loved ones around the world who fear for safety, not only for their loved ones abroad but here in the US
For the ELCA and other church bodies to advocate for peace and justice
For global governments to advocate for peace and Justice
For peace to reign rather than walls
God of peace, we pray
I have been carrying the Taize tune in my head now for this past week as I hold closely the siblings in Christ that are no longer strangers but friends in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and as pray for peace in the complexity that now has found its way to war again…
“God of peace break down the walls that divide us
God of peace make us one body in you”
Below a photo of a carving in the wall of the church in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus falls on his knees to pray
And two examples of walls that stand in the Holy Land - the first a portion of the wall that has been recently built by Israel to separate Palestine from Israel that require checkpoints and documentation to cross and the other an ancient wall around old Jerusalem that people enter and exit freely.
God of peace, we pray…
