WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay

Celebrating marriage equality in Uruguay.

As I wrote about in a post a few months ago, part of my vicarage at Saint Peter's Church this year is is providing a supplemental paragraph about countries in the weekly Ecumenical Prayer Cycle created by the World Council of Churches. We pray for each country listed in the prayer cycle during the Intercessory Prayers at Saint Peter's on Sundays and the paragraph is included in our bulletin insert to provide context for those intercessions.

This week's countries (23 June - 29 June) are Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay. While the paragraph below provides information on current events, check out the week's WCC page for additional prayer resources:

We pray for a peaceful resolution to the continued territorial dispute between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falkland Islands, whose citizens recently voted overwhelmingly to remain a British territory.  We give thanks and pray for Pope Francis, who is from Argentina.  We pray for those in Paraguay who are suffering from an outbreak of dengue fever and for decreased corruption in that country following the recent election of Horacio Cartes as President.  We give thanks for Uruguay’s recent passage of a marriage equality bill, which will begin taking effect this August.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin currently serves as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

WCC Ecumenical Prayer Cycle: Brazil

Protesting the Belo Monte Dam project in Brazil.

As I wrote about in a post a few months ago, part of my vicarage at Saint Peter's Church this year is is providing a supplemental paragraph about countries in the weekly Ecumenical Prayer Cycle created by the World Council of Churches. We pray for each country listed in the prayer cycle during the Intercessory Prayers at Saint Peter's on Sundays and the paragraph is included in our bulletin insert to provide context for those intercessions.

This week's countries (16 June - 22 June) is Brazil. While the paragraph below provides information on current events (with links to related news stories), check out the week's WCC page for additional prayer resources:

We pray for all involved in the proposed Belo Monte Dam project in Brazil, that they seek a more environmentally sustainable alternative and that they would respect the human rights of thousands of indigenous persons being displaced by the dam’s construction. We give thanks for Brazil’s success in decreasing economic inequalities in recent decades. The number of Brazilians living on less than $2.00 a day and the number of those suffering from malnutrition has been halved since the early 1990s.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin currently serves as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.