Press Releases

Jan. 16, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact person: Jan Elfers, (503) 221-1054
jelfers@emoregon.org

Interfaith community to join together to pray for peace

The interreligious community will join their voices together for the fourth consecutive year at Augustana Lutheran Church for an “Interfaith Service for Peace” on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. The church is located at 2710 NE 14th Ave., Portland. With the recent escalation of troops in Iraq, local religious leaders relate a sense of urgency about the need for people of faith to renew their commitment to peace making in the world. The service will open with a meditative prelude on the harp, include a tolling of bells as names of those who have died in the war are read and conclude with a candle lighting ceremony.

The service will include reflections, songs and prayers from various religious perspectives. Confirmed participants include: the Rev. Mark Knutson, Rev. Dr. Wes Taylor and Rev. Brian Heron from the Christian tradition; Rabbi Daniel Isaak, Congregation Neveh Shalom; Imam Shahriar Ahmed, Bilal Mosque; Chaplain Rick Freeman of the Sufi tradition; Hogan Bays from the Buddhist Great Vow Zen Monastery; Matt Bratschi from the Church of Scientology; Linda Marshall, Military Families Speak Out; the Praise Team Choir from the First United Methodist Church in Tualatin; and the Baha’i Choir. A Peace Fair and time of fellowship will immediately follow the service.

The service is sponsored by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland and the Interfaith Alliance.

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is a statewide association of Christian denominations—including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox bodies—congregations, ecumenical organizations and interfaith partners working together to improve the lives of Oregonians through community ministry programs, ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, environmental ministry and public policy advocacy.

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