A Call to Prayer - From the National Chaplain

As I write and as you read this, our hearts are turned toward the upcoming Triennial Convention, set for June 22-26 in Baltimore, Maryland. I’m hopeful that, in view of what we have endured in terms of suffering and loss since we last came together, this Triennial will be, in many ways, a very healing event.

As women of profound prayer and intercession, you know well that my hope is based on a firm foundation of prayer, the same foundation set forth in your vows. I have every confidence that you are faithfully undergirding this event, our speakers, the national leaders and every aspect of the program with your powerful intercession. This is critical because of the one who has invited us to gather: our Lord himself.

You see, “Come to the Table” is more than a theme. It could, in fact, serve as a descriptive term for the worship life of our churches. Whether or not we are sharing Communion, we think Eucharistically about coming together, the Lord being our host. We see one another as God’s guests, all invited by Jesus Christ, who prepares the table for us. And since the term “host” cannot be separated from “Good Shepherd,” we know that the Good Shepherd is gathering his people to feed them.

As you prepare for Triennial, I encourage you to prayerfully ground yourselves in Psalm 23. Not only does it remind us that the Good Shepherd prepares a table for us, but it says some wonderful things about the very nature of God: who God is and what God does.

Over the course of the final two weeks before the Triennial, I urge you to pray through this psalm daily. I pray you come out of this time with a deeper appreciation of the goodness of God and how God is operating in your life. May each of us arrive in Baltimore with this psalm so deep in us that, out of our understanding that our Good Shepherd is inviting us, we may live and move and work together in God’s name and for God’s glory.

The Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer

National Chaplain