The Interfaith Peace Partners, a committee of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists and the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Sumter County, will hold an Interfaith Prayer for Peace Service at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at St. Timothy Catholic Church in The Villages.
This prayer service is a response to the violence of our times: mass shootings, terrorism, violence in the streets and violence in our homes. The vision for this prayer service is to invite the faith communities of Central Florida to pray for peace and unity in a troubled and violent world.
“Within our community and around the country, people don’t know what to do as our world seems to disintegrate before our eyes,” said David O’Brien, director of Faith Formation at St. Timothy Catholic Church. “We are angry, we are filled with fear, we feel overwhelmed and threatened by what we see happening around us. We need to come together to remember that the majority of us are not crazy, violent or filled with hatred. We still are capable of living together in peace. And we can turn to God for help to rise above this sense of anxiety and mistrust.”
The theme for the prayer service is: Responding to the Violence of Our Times: Anger, Fear, Forgiveness? The service will include song, ritual, witness talks, and prayers from all the represented faith communities.
All members of all faiths are invited to attend. All clergy are invited to vest as is appropriate to their faith tradition and join with other vested clergy at this service. Clergy should rsvp to David O’Brien at [email protected] (352-753-0989) if they plan to attend.