The first Daily Prayer for Peace was held 5 December 1993. These services were planned to be approximately 10 minutes in length, every day of the year.
Worship Elements
There was consensus on the need to develop a standard liturgy for these services. Several variants of a standard order may be used in regular or random rotation. The variants would all use the same elements but in different sequence. The focus of the service is prayer for peace. All other elements are designed to complement this prayer.
The standard service includes:
- Gathering in Silence
- Light of Peace Candle and Invitation
- Scripture Reading
- Silence
- Prayer for Peace
- Hymn
- Prayers of the People
- Musical Meditation
- Sending Forth
- Peace Candle
Lighting the peace candle continues a tradition from the Temple groundbreaking in which church members were encouraged to leave a lighted candle (real or electric) in their windows at home symbolizing the building of a Temple for peace. The lighted candle during the service remains burning the rest of the day and is extinguished when the building is closed.
Daily Practice
After almost three decades, the daily rhythm of praying for peace is an individual and corporate habit that significantly impacts the way of life in Community of Christ.