Season of Giving 2024
Outreach
“How long, O Lord…” (Psalm 13:1)
Dear Ward Family,
This week, the attention of our nation turned from the coronavirus to the virus of racism and civil unrest. Like you, I am grieved by the tragic events that have unfolded in recent weeks.
This Sunday, I will co-preach with Rev. Harvey Carey, pastor of Citadel of Faith Church. As an African-American Pastor in the City of Detroit, Harvey has been a voice for justice and unity. As a friend, he has helped me identify cultural nuances in our city (and in myself) that I had been missing. Our sermon will be shared via broadcast to the Ward Congregation and to the Citadel of Faith Congregation. Harvey and I speak as pastors and friends who love their congregations, and who see the Church of Jesus Christ as uniquely positioned to be a catalyst for peace.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, of which Ward is a part, is calling all members of EPC churches to set aside Monday, June 8, as a day of lament, fasting, and prayer to cry out to God for His help in the midst of this crisis in the United States. A key difference between this emphasis and our previous calls to prayer and fasting is the addition of “Lament.”
I encourage you to read two short articles which I believe are especially relevant to this time in our history:
- Dare to Hope in God: How to Lament Well
- What Does Lament Mean? A Biblical Definition of Lament or Lamenting
We will provide more resources on our website soon.
As social unrest escalates, it is appropriate for the church to lament this crisis to the Lord, to fast, and to pray about how we as believers in Jesus Christ can be part of the solution to the racism, inequality, and injustice that violate not just our Constitution, but the heart of our God.
Yours,
Scott
