Coinciding with Advent, this year’s devotions by the four Churches Beyond Borders are also timed with and inspired by the United Nations’ annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign.
For the first time, the annual compilation from The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Anglican Church of Canada, and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada will include devotions written by laity and clergy, in addition to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and the other heads of communion.
The new writers have been deeply involved in work related to the campaign’s theme, and they address issues of missing and murdered Indigenous women, trafficking, women at the borders, and domestic violence in the devotions, designed to be read from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10.
November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; Dec. 10 is Human Rights Day. In 1991, the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute started observing the intermediary 16 days as a chance to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls. The campaign is coordinated yearly by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership.
Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas on the liturgical calendar, overlaps the campaign starting Nov. 28. For this reason, Mary’s Magnificat—found in Luke 1:38-55—was selected as the guiding text for the booklet.
“The writers’ reflections on Mary’s word offer hope and invite our shared witness and action across all borders against gender-based violence,” said the Rev. Margaret Rose, deputy for ecumenical and interreligious relations for The Episcopal Church.
In addition to Curry, other Episcopal contributors include the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies; Chiseche Salome Mibenge, director of gender initiatives for Episcopal Relief & Development; and Harvard University student Maria Gonzalez, from the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia.
Other Churches Beyond Borders leaders include the Rev. Susan Johnson, national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; the Most Rev. Linda Nicholls, archbishop and primate of the Anglican Church of Canada; and the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Readers of “Churches Beyond Borders Joint Devotions 2021” are encouraged to utilize the writings throughout the year.
