Friends,
About a year after I moved to Montclair Presbyterian Church I introduced a prayer for peace in celebration, near the beginning of the service. It began slowly. Usually once a month or so, but then as folks got used to it, I started including the prayer for peace as a regular part of our worship experience.
I did this because it is traditional for Presbyterian congregations to offer a moment of reconciliation in their worship; usually this involves a confession of sin and an assurance of pardon (thus providing reconciliation with God), which is followed by the passing of peace, which gives church members the opportunity to be reconciled with one another.
Over the years I have grown attached to the drama of finding peace with God and then making peace with those with me in church, but I know a weekly confession of sin is not something most folks at MPC would be comfortable doing. In place of a confession, I’ve had us pray for peace, and, having prayed for peace, we pass the peace, giving ourselves the opportunity to start the work of being an answer to our own prayers.
When we pass the peace in celebration, it gives us the opportunity to greet one another with a friendly hug or handshake, but—more importantly—it provides us with a moment to engage in the sacred work of peacemaking.
So if you are not doing so already, I invite you to consider the passing of the peace an act of worship, a holy task, so that when you greet those around you, it will be more than mere salutation. Rather, when you pass the peace, do so as a bearer of God’s grace. Don’t just say hi to one another, but speak peace, with all that peace means for reconciliation, redemption and hope in a world marked by violence and war.
And when we pass the peace, I hope you will make your way to the chancel so that with you I can share the blessings of God’s grace, alive in us and through us.
As always, I bid you
God’s Peace,
Ben