Prayers of remembrance
9/7/2002Some will wear white, signifying peace.
Others will toll church bells.
Many will pray.
And everyone will remember.
Although Sept. 11, 2001 is a day no one is likely ever to forget, scores of rituals, observances, and memorial services are being planned around the country as a way of memorializing last year's horrific day of infamy. The events span all faiths and traditions and include rolling performances of Mozart's Requiem around the world and the Akand Path sacred ceremony, a continuous reading of 1,400-plus pages of the Sikh scriptures in temples throughout the country.
“We're creatures of context and creatures of ritual,” explained the Rev. Lawrence Michael Cameron, senior minister of Pilgrim Church of the United Church of Christ, which will hold a Remembrance Service at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. “By getting together, it gives it a context not only for our grief, but our fears, as well as our hopes and aspirations.”
Dr. Cameron said services like the one planned at his church in West Toledo help reinforce that what happened was not just an individual experience. “It happened to us and since it happened to us, we need to get together and mourn it and grieve it and celebrate that it did not cripple us, it did not defeat us.”
It is natural for people of faith, he said, to come together and pray and reflect on such an occasion. “Faith may be very personal, but it can never be private. It is always shared in community.”
Among the religious observances planned around the country is a 24-hour interdenominational public memorial outside the American Bible Society headquarters in New York City. Scheduled are a candlelight vigil and performance of Mozart's Requiem as part of the “rolling Requiem” project, in which the work will be sung continuously for 24 hours beginning west of the International Dateline in New Zealand and the Philippines encircling the globe and ending in the Pacific islands.
Also in New York City, Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, will celebrate a Divine Liturgy and memorial service tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Greek Orthodox churches across the country also are being asked to keep their churches open throughout the day on Wednesday and to hold memorial services.
The American Muslim Political Coordination Council, representing four Muslim groups, has called for a National Day of Unity and Prayer on Wednesday and asked that all houses of worship be open for interfaith visits, prayers, and other activities.
In a similar gesture, the National Council of Churches has urged Christian congregations to hold interfaith open houses around or on Wednesday and to invite Muslim neighbors to visit as part of its Open Doors Project.
The Unity School of Christianity near Kansas City, Mo., has moved its annual World Day of Prayer, usually on the second Thursday in September, to Wednesday to coincide with the anniversary of the attacks, and is urging people of all faiths to unite in prayer.
Headlining a long list of area observances is an interfaith service at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the University of Toledo's Nitschke Hall at Dorr Street and Douglas Road.
Participants will include the Rev. Larry C. Clark, executive director of the Toledo Metropolitan Mission, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Donnelly of the Toledo Catholic Diocese, Imam Farooq Abo-Elzahab of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, Alix Greenblatt of the United Jewish Council of Greater Toledo, and the Toledo Interfaith Mass Choir.
Also speaking will be representatives of the Hindu, Buddhist, and Bah'ai faiths; Baptist Ministers Conference; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Interracial Religious Coalition; the Ojibway Nation; Greek Orthodox Church; United Methodist Church; Metro-Toledo Churches United, and the local Erase the Hate campaign.
Interfaith services also are planned at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 428 North Erie St., downtown, at noon Wednesday, and at the Veterans Memorial Civic Center in Lima, Ohio, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Other services are listed below by location:
CURTICE
St. Luke's Church, Seaman and Yondota roads, remembrance services at 9:30 and 11 a.m. tomorrow.
DELPHOS
Memorial procession of police, fire, and military officers beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday from police and fire stations to Second Street, ending at the Delphos Public Library with honor guard, color guard, and comments from clergy.
DELTA
Shiloh Christian Union Church, 2100 Fulton County Road 5, service remembering Sept. 11 and honoring law enforcement officers, firefighters, military personnel, and rescue workers, 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.
United Methodist Church of Delta, 101 Northwood St., ecumenical memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday featuring Archbold Fireman Randy Beck, who helped at Ground Zero. Potluck at 5:30 p.m.
ELMORE
St. Paul Trinity United Methodist Church, 340 Toledo St., memorial service at 7 p.m. Monday
St. John's United Church of Christ, 448 Rice St., memorial service at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Bethel United Brethren, 2029 State Rt. 590, memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
HOLLAND
Christian Fellowship Church, 6711 Pilliod Rd., "Remembrance of Sept. 11" with flag-raising ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by dinner at 6 and prayer service at 7.
New Hope Christian Church, Garden and Holloway roads, memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
LINDSEY
Trinity United Methodist Church, Maple and Lynn streets, community memorial service at noon Wednesday.
MAUMEE
First Presbyterian Church, 200 East Broadway, "September 11, 2002: American Christians One Year Later," talk by Samir Abu-Absi of the University of Toledo, 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.
MONROE
Visitation, 529 Stewart Rd., prayer service for world peace at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, preceded by potluck salad supper at 6.
NORTHWOOD
Foundation Stone Christian Church, 4532 Woodville Rd., remembrance service featuring interactive video presentation, songs, and spoken reflections, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
OREGON
Christ United Methodist Church, 5757 Starr Ave., Service of Remembrance and Hope, 7 p.m. Wednesday, sponsored by East Toledo United Methodist Churches.
New Harvest Church, 3540 Seaman Rd., remembrance program at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
PERRYSBURG
Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, evening of prayer at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
First Baptist Church of Perrysburg, 590 West South Boundary St., featuring performance of Aaron Keaster's "We Stand United" and video of Baptist work among Sept. 11 victims, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Grace United Methodist Church, 601 East Boundary St., remembrance service at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, 222 East South Boundary St., community-wide memorial service on front lawn at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Zion Lutheran Church, 26535 Pemberville Rd., remembrance service, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Zoar Lutheran Church, 314 East Indiana Ave., tolling of bells every 15 seconds Wednesday morning beginning at 8:47 a.m., followed by community worship service at noon and candlelight service at 7 p.m.
PETERSBURG
New Life Tabernacle, 6023 Summerfield Rd., community remembrance service sponsored by Petersburg United Methodist Church and New Life Tabernacle, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
ROSSFORD
All Saints Church, 628 Lime City Rd., ecumenical memorial service for Rossford churches, pastors, and fire and police departments, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
SYLVANIA
Olander Park, deck of Neiderhauser Hall, community-wide interdenominational memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday featuring candle-lighting, firefighter's testimonial from Ground Zero, "arch of life" over the park pond, and striking of the firefighters' bell.
The Temple-Congregation Shomer Emunim, 6453 Sylvania Ave., remembrance service at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
TEMPERANCE
Carr Park, Lewis Avenue north of Temperance Road, remembrance service sponsored by St. Luke's and St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran churches, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
TOLEDO
Bethel Baptist Church, 4621 Glendale Ave., community remembrance service featuring Capt. Larry Armstrong of the Toledo Fire Division, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Bethel Lutheran Church, community commemorative service at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Church of St. Andrew United Methodist, 3620 Heatherdowns Blvd., service sponsored by the United Methodist Churches of South Toledo, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Collingwood United Methodist Church, 701 Phillips Ave., vesper service at 6 p.m. Wednesday, sponsored by Braden, Central, Collingwood, Monroe Street, Riverpoint, St. Paul's, and Wesley United Methodist churches.
Epworth United Methodist Church, 3077 Valleyview Dr., "911 - Songs to Heal a Nation," concert by Kerry Patric Clark, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Faith Community United Church of Christ, 1201 South Byrne Rd., candle-lighting service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Garden Park Church of Christ, 2340 North Holland-Sylvania Rd., remembrance service at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The church building also will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday for prayer.
Hampton Park Christian Church, 4234 Monroe St., candlelight service of remembrance and healing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 802 Superior St., memorial service at noon Wednesday. The church bells also will toll throughout the day.
Olivet Lutheran Church, 5840 Monroe St., 7 p.m. memorial service.
Resurrection Cemetery, 5725 Hill Ave., outdoor Memorial Mass for victims of Sept. 11, celebrated by Catholic Bishops James Hoffman and Robert Donnelly, 2 p.m. Sept. 22 preceded by concert at 1:30.
St. Clement, 3030 Tremainsville Rd., Mass in observance of Sept. 11, 7 p.m. Wednesday.
St. George Orthodox Cathedral, 3745 Woodley Rd., memorial service sponsored by Toledo area Orthodox churches, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
St. James Holiness Church-"The Armory," 3319 Nebraska Ave., remembrance service at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 2272 Collingwood Blvd., walk on the church's outdoor labyrinth in remembrance of Sept. 11, 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
St. Mark Lutheran Church, 611 Woodville Rd., prayer and remembrance service at noon Wednesday.
St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 5240 Talmadge Rd., commemorative prayer vigil beginning at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and continuing until Holy Eucharist at 5:30 p.m.
Ursuline Convent, 4045 Indian Rd., "We Remember" prayer service at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
WAUSEON
First Church of God, 507 North Fulton St., candlelight memorial service at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
WHITEHOUSE
Hope United Methodist Church, 10610 Waterville St., joint service at 7 p.m. Wednesday sponsored by Community of Christ Lutheran, Hope United Methodist, and Zion United Methodist churches.