In the face of the tragedies in Burma and China, the global food crisis, the impact of refugee resettlement upon local churches, the growing financial problems facing US families, and the continuing struggles faced in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, we are asking American Baptist congregations to declare the first Sunday of each month from June – December 2008 as Compassion Sunday.
On these Sundays, we call upon all American Baptists to show our solidarity with those who suffer as we remember them in prayer and commit ourselves to respond in tangible ways to their suffering as the hands and feet of Christ. For some this will lead to fasting and contributing the money normally spent on the meal to local efforts such as food pantries. For many it will mean contributing all or a portion of their income tax return for relief efforts. For others it will mean joining the next ABC build on the Gulf Coast as a volunteer.
Compassion Sunday builds upon our tradition of receiving a deacon’s offering for the relief of those in need as we gather around the table of our Lord. At this table we recall that we are one with Christians of every country and every circumstance through our common faith in Christ Jesus, from the person in the pew next to us to the person farthermost from our reach.
In the face of a great famine affecting the church in Jerusalem, Paul appealed to the church in Corinth to support relief efforts there. He reminded them: “11 You will be enriched in every way for great generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God; 12 for the rendering of this service not only supplies the wants of the saints but also overflows in many thanksgivings to God. 13 Under the test of this service, you will glorify God by your obedience in acknowledging the gospel of Christ, and by the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others (2 Corinthians 9:11-13).
Our hope is that through our worship and prayers on these Compassion Sundays we will realize more fully our unity and our following of Jesus’ way of radical love, agape. American Baptists have always been marked by our sacrificial following of Christ in response to the needs of others.
To assist you, we will be providing a downloadable litany of prayer that may be used each Sunday as a worship resource.
Our prayer is that through this spiritual exercise we will more fully realize the meaning of the table of our Lord and will be drawn into a deeper embrace of our discipleship and our neighbor.
In Christ for the body of Christ,
A. Roy Medley, General Secretary ABCUSA
Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins, III, Executive Director of ABC National Ministries
Reid Trulson, Executive Director of ABC International Ministries
Sumner Grant, Executive Director of ABC Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board