Guiding Questions for Planning a Service of Worship During a Time of War

1. Does our worship include words of comfort, lament, confession, assurance, and intercession?

• War is frightening, and we need to hear and speak of the promises and sovereignty of God.
• War is a cause for grief, which needs to be expressed.
• War is a result of human sinfulness, which must be confessed.
• War calls life into question and we need words of assurance.
• God continues to work in the midst of war as we intercede for those we love and those we have never met.

2. Does our worship proclaim that as Christians our identity is primarily that of citizens of God’s kingdom, not of any particular nation?

3. Does our worship include these Biblical mandates for prayer particularly relevant for a time of war:

• The call to pray for those in authority over us.
• The call to pray for our enemies.
• The call to pray for Christians who are suffering.

4. As Christians we yearn for the restoration of shalom and we are called to seek peace; does our worship give voice to this yearning and call?

5. Do we, in our worship, respect the variety of convictions within the church regarding war, peace, and the current conflict? Do we respect both the members of the military and the peace activists among us?