Congregational Church planning Prayer Tree on International Day of Prayer for Peace

On Friday, September 21, at 7 p.m., there will be a gathering at Sanbornton Congregational Church for a worship service on the International Day of Prayer for Peace. The service will include special music, prayers for peace, and a Prayer Tree, on the lawn, bearing colored ribbons imprinted with the names of the persons to be uplifted in prayer. During the service in the sanctuary, readers will place token ribbons on a branch with an explanation of the various colored ribbons chosen to represent the individual prayers; they will then read a companion verse.

If you wish to uplift a loved one in this manner, you may request a ribbon of the color of your choice to be imprinted with a name, or not as you wish; and it will be placed on the prayer tree outside. Choice of ribbons representing prayers are Yellow to pray for someone in the Armed forces, Red to pray for heart or aids patients, Pink for cancer or a breast cancer patient or survivor, Multi-Colored Puzzle for autism, Green for ecology/environmental issues, Purple for someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, White for domestic violence or abuse victims, Black for memorials or remembrance of a loved one.

To participate, call Ann Emerson-Knott at 934-4256 or email anngram@verizon.net. She will take your information and imprint your ribbon(s). Small donations to cover the cost of the ribbon may be addressed to Sanbornton Congregational Church, c/o Ann Emerson-Knott, 160 Franklin Street, Franklin, NH 03235.

A tree aflutter with prayer ribbons is a powerful emotional sight. It was believed in ancient times in Tibet, China, Persia and India that these ribbons of prayers seemed to produce a spiritual vibration that carried prayers on the wind across the miles.

Sanbornton Congregational Church is on Meetinghouse Hill Road, off Route 132 in Sanbornton Square.