July 27, 2006

NEW YORK – As rockets soar between Hezbollah and Israel, the National Council of Churches USA and Religions for Peace-USA are encouraging religious communities to engage in prayers for peace.

"We are encouraging religious communities to pray for peace as they gather in their own communities. We are also encouraging religious communities to join with others in common events of witness for peace," said Rev. Bud Heckman, Executive Director of Religions for Peace USA.

In order to provide religious communities resources to do this well, the Interfaith Relations ministry of the National Council of Churches USA today launched a new Web site – http://www.seasonofprayer.org/. The website compiles prayers, litanies, scripture texts, hymns, poems and other prayer aids from many religious traditions, appropriate to the current crisis in the Middle East.

"Religious communities are good at praying for the suffering of our own," said NCC's associate general secretary for Interfaith Relations, Dr. Shanta Premawardhana. "But the best in our religious traditions call us to pray for the suffering ‘other' and that's what we are asking our religious communities to do.

Religious leaders of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities have currently signed on to this initiative. They have agreed to encourage their religious communities to participate and send in prayer resources from their communities that might be posted on the site.

National Council of Churches USA