In 1985, the Rev. Blair R. Monie, Pastor of the First
Presbyterian Church in York, Pennsylvania, visited the Soviet Union. In
the small town of Voronezh, and old woman who pressed a small sum of money
into his hand and asked that he do something for works peace approached
him.
 He recognized a deep desire and strong devotion in her eyes and in
her voice an determined that he would do something special when he
returned to the United States.
What could he do with these three rubles? After mush thought, he purchased a small votive candle, placed it on the Communion Table and lit it. On hearing his story, his congregation agreed to make it a permanent accessory of the chancel and purchased a supply of votive candles so that they could make a "peace candle" available to any visitor to take back to his/her own sanctuary. When we see the glow of our peace candle burning, we offer our prayers for peace. This small, non-threatening symbol of peace helps us to be praying people, and to play our part as peacemakers, as Jesus called us to do. Today, candles burn in the United States, England, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Kuwait, South Africa, and Denmark. Members of the Conklin Presbyterian Church, Conklin, New York, brought our candle to us. We encourage church members to take candles to other churches as they travel, and visitors to our church to take candles home with them. |
||
|
This page was last updated on February 26, 2007 . |