Stratford’s three Anglican churches — St. Paul’s, St. James and St. Stephen’s — will host a prayer vigil for peace in Ukraine at St. Paul’s on Douro Street starting at 7 pm June 1.
To give Stratford-area residents a way to show their support for Ukrainians and an outlet for their fear and anxiety over the ongoing Russian military invasion of the country, Stratford’s three Anglican churches will host a prayer vigil for peace in Ukraine at St. Paul’s Anglican Church next week.
On June 1, spiritual leaders at St. Stephen’s, St. James and St. Paul’s Anglican churches are inviting area residents, regardless of faith, to join them for an evening of prayer, hymns and fellowship starting at 7 pm
“This was originally done in Christ Church Meaford by a colleague of mine. … Nothing was being done in Stratford, (so) I thought here’s an opportunity to bring our three Anglican churches together — we don’t do that enough — for the community,” St. James Rev. Stephanie Donaldson said.
St. Paul’s Rev. Lorraine Brooks said the planned vigil wasn’t a regular church service.
“It’s not morning prayer; it’s not a eucharistic service; it’s not evening prayer,” Brooks said. “It’s basically hymns, some scripture reading and praying for peace in the Ukraine.”
Inundated with images and videos of death and destruction in Ukraine on an almost daily basis, the reverends said there are many in the community who don’t know what to do with their feelings of anxiety, fear and helplessness surrounding this crisis.
“I have to believe it’s on everybody’s mind. It’s an added stressor for an already overly stressed society. I’m an American and I look at what just happened in my country,” said Donaldson, referring to Tuesday’s horrific mass shooting at Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. “I’m hoping it will help people come together. When there is this much stress, you need to come together. You need an outlet in the community.”
Brooks said the service will also provide a way for residents who might feel powerless in the face of this conflict to give some shape to their compassion.
“There are some people who can afford to help with housing when refugees come to Canada,” Brooks said. “There are some who have the resources and contacts to be able to raise money to gather medical (and other) supplies to be shipped to Ukraine, but there are so many in our community that care and feel deeply about this, but feel they do not have the ability to do anything to help, so this is something anybody can do.”
By holding the prayer vigil, the two ministers hope it will also show the Ukrainian refugees who recently arrived in the area that their home country continues to be in the thoughts of their new Canadian friends and neighbours.
In addition to praying for peace and gathering as a community, the churches will also collect freewill donations from attendees for the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund’s Ukraine Fund, the Anglican Church of Canada’s on-the-ground relief effort in Eastern Europe.
Attendees at the prayer vigil on June 1 will be required to wear face masks.