As a way for people to come together to realize the commonalities we all share are greater than our differences, faith leaders throughout the area are joining forces to offer “An Interfaith Gathering of Prayers for Peace,” a free prayer service for the community beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 2136 N. Brady St., Davenport.
“We will gather for prayer, song and scripture from a wide range of faith traditions from around the Quad-City area to reflect on the need for peace and light in this time in many different dimensions – personally, communally, societally, environmentally and geopolitically. There is a deep need for peace in our world right now. Without identifying with any political causes, we want to bring together faith communities to share a tradition and a passion for peace,” says the Rev. Peter A. Pettit, teaching pastor at St. Paul Lutheran.
The Rev. Rich Hendricks, pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of the Quad-Cities in Davenport – also co-founder of One Human Family of the Quad-Cities Area, a human rights organization – says this service will offer those who attend “an opportunity to hear prayers and readings from various faiths, including the Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions as well as those of other faiths.
“We all have an interest in peace. It is said that peace begins at home and in your heart. The more we can cultivate peace within ourselves and among ourselves, the more peaceful our communities will be. After all, we all are one human family,” he says.
This service is an invitation to all “who care about peace, who want to find a place to be at peace for a time, who want to show support for neighbors who are different from themselves and who are willing to leave the polarization and politics outside and look at the different aspects of peace through the areas of compassion, healing, respect, restoration, unity and hope,” Pettit adds.
Lisa Killinger, outreach coordinator for the Muslim community of the Quad-Cities from the Bettendorf mosque, agrees, noting that the focus of this service is to “shine a light on peace.”
“In the last few weeks, we have seen an uptick in rhetoric and some acts that were a little bit scary, from property being damaged to threatening speech. That makes everyone feel unsafe, especially those who are outwardly wearing Islamic dress. This event will be different. This is an event without signs, slogans and without shouting. This will truly be about peace. We are trying to offer this event to bring light forward in a very dark time. I hope that people will understand that this will be a safe space to reflect on what unifies us — a desire for peace,” she says.
“Judaism teaches that we should seek peace and pursue it,” says Rabbi Linda Bertenthal of Temple Emanuel and Congregation Beth Israel, Davenport. “Right now, the Jewish community is shattered by the horrific attack on Israel and the ongoing hostage crisis, and we are brokenhearted that so many innocents in Gaza are suffering, but peace seems far away in the Middle East, not even pursuable. We have seen signs of hatred against Muslims and against Jews, seemingly in response to the Israel-Gaza War, here in Iowa, even here in the Quad-Cities, but we are not helpless to seek peace in our community,” she said.
“Our prayer gathering is an attempt to do just that. Our sharing of prayer, scripture and song is intended to build a communal commitment to seeking peace and pursuing it. We seek to create an interfaith community that not only manifests respect and loving kindness for all peace-seeking people, but also proactively works to build a community that will not tolerate acts of hate against anyone,” she adds.
By attending this prayer service, members of the greater Quad-City community “will see people from across the area who are from different traditions sitting and praying together. We hope they will leave with a deeper sense of peace in themselves and a deeper commitment to being peace-builders in our own neighborhoods. We all want peace in the long run. Praying together for peace isn’t a bad first step in working together for peace,” Pettit says.
For more information, contact St. Paul Lutheran Church at 563-326-3547
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sMHRqqyanJOewaqx0meaqKVfo7K4v46lppyZnGK7psPSaKCnrJWns6K106FkqaqRrrKzedKeqa%2Bhk5p6p7vRZqeemZOaerSx02agp2WUlsOmus%2Boqa1n