Justice, Peace and Sustainability Coordinator Jennifer Shankie reviews the program with Lorie Bronson before the service.
On Tuesday, Jan. 21, in the Motherhouse Chapel, the IHM Community held a prayer service to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy. Lorie Bronson, former pastoral minister for faith formation at St. Mary’s Church, led us in prayer and reflection. Pastor Vic Holtz of Monroe Vineyard Church and Deacon Mike Stewart of St. Mary’s Church also shared reflections. In addition to sisters, associates, and IHM staff, Michigan State Representative William Bruck and Pastor of Oaks of Righteousness Dr. Traci Blalock Phillips were in attendance.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who led a nonviolent movement, told us once and again that when faced with hate and violence, “I have decided to stick with love.” Dr. King Jr., Nobel laureate and an iconic architect of the nonviolent Civil Rights Movement in the United States, was also a husband, preacher, and father of four beautiful children. He was animated by the unyielding conviction that love can conquer hate.
Pastor Vic Holtz of Monroe Vineyard Church shares a reflection.
“We embrace the love and nonviolence Dr. King called for and we seek racial, social, and economic justice for all.”
Elizabeth Walters, IHM, a staff member for the Justice, Peace and Sustainability Office
To turn prayer into action, the IHM Community will provide meals at the Oaks of Righteousness Warming Shelter in Monroe for six days following the prayer service, from January 20– 26. Another way to support the IHM Community efforts for racial, social, and economic justice is to donate to Selah’s Center of Hope. Selah provides support for women and men who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant and in need of resources as they prepare for the birth of their child.
Creator God, We thank you for your church, founded upon the Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon you. Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars and live on through all eternity. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace. Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children – Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow – will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the reign of Jesus the Christ and of our God, we pray. Amen.
