This summer, we have a project to take with us as we head out on our adventures for the summer: folding cranes for peace. With our partners at FCC Norwood, the goal of the Peace Crane Prayer Project is to create 3,000 paper cranes as a spiritual/prayer practice between June 9th and September 1st. If we accomplish this goal, we plan to share 1,000 cranes with Temple David in Westwood, 1,000 with the Islamic Center of New England in Sharon, and 1,000 to a community connected with Ukraine. The PCPP invites our members and friends to a spiritual practice of praying for peace in the world, particularly between the three Abrahamic faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Many have been feeling deep sadness because of the challenges of this time. Political instability and violence in the Middle East, the more than 8 months of war in Gaza, and divisive and sensationalized media have many of us wondering, “What can we do?” We have been saddened by the loss of life, violence, and resulting humanitarian crisis in Israel and Gaza. We may also be overwhelmed by other ongoing wars, such as the ones in Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, and Myanmar, that seem to continue without end. While political leaders of many nations, including the United States, try to negotiate an end to the war between Israel and Hamas, ordinary people of goodwill are left at a loss. Additionally, the war and humanitarian crisis in Israel/Gaza have impacted our relationships with one another in the United States. There have been increases in hate incidents and crimes against Jewish and Islamic people in the United States since October 7th, leaving people feeling fearful, anxious, angry, and isolated.
As individuals, or even as churches, we may feel too small for our voices to have an impact on a global scale. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do; our faith calls us to be committed to loving our neighbors regardless of their faith affiliations or ethnic identities. We are committed to peace, interfaith dialogue, and cooperation. The national expression of the United Church of Christ, and our international partners through Common Global Ministries, are committed to ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, and peace with justice. These expressions of the church have worked over the course of time to develop resolutions of witness and partnerships with people working for peace, dignity, and humanitarian care in the region. You can learn more about these efforts and connections at globalministries.org and ucc.org.
The Peace Crane Prayer Project is one way to express love and care to our neighbors by praying for peace and reaching out to our closest Jewish and Muslim faith communities. We invite you to pray for them and pray for peace with each fold of every crane you make. If each of our regular church members both here in Westwood and at FCC Norwood fold just three cranes a week for the summer months, we will easily surpass our goal of 3000 cranes by the end of the summer. With that, we’ll add thousands of prayers for peace, and offer a tangible expression of those prayers and our shared love with our neighbors in faith.
To participate in the Peace Crane Prayer Project:
Learn how to fold a peace crane! You can check out some step-by-step visual instructions here or watch a video with step-by-step instructions here.
Take time to pray for peace and fold paper cranes over the summer. To maintain consistency, 6in. x 6in. paper is available in the church lobby for you to pick up throughout the summer.
Join us for our Brunch Church worship over the summer and fold while we worship and pray together. Or make cranes at home, take paper with you on vacation, and find ways to connect with church friends to fold cranes this summer! You can also keep an eye out for learning sessions and folding parties throughout the summer.
Return paper cranes to the church any summer Sunday on or before September 1.
Join our neighboring church in stringing together the cranes in early September.
Peace Cranes have become a symbol of hope, peace, and healing in times of crisis. We hope you will feel called to help in PCPP project, and that it will deepen your prayer life this summer.
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