- December 20, 2024
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Almost 500 years after Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation, a Lutheran bishop, Lavern Franzen, will be a featured speaker Sunday, Jan. 15, at all Masses at a Catholic church, Santa Maria del Mar, in Flagler Beach.
These services will act as the beginning of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in Flagler County.
“How wonderful now that we celebrate what I would call affective unity, meaning that we can welcome a bishop from the Lutheran tradition with love, openness and a willingness to dialog,” said the Rev. Alberto Esposito, of Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church.
The unity movement, which began in 1908 as the Octave of Christian Unity, focused on prayer for church unity. One hundred years later, in 2008, Flagler County launched its first week of unity.
“What we are doing here is Christian churches and communities getting together, a few at a time with two aspects — spiritual, to pray together and sing praise to God — and the other is to collaborate in dealing with the ills of society we see surrounding us,” said Chau Phan, coordinator of the week’s event.
“When I came here (to Palm Coast), I felt like there were a lot of churches but they were not really working together,” Phan said. He said he felt a calling from the Holy Spirit to initiate this event and keep it growing.
“We Christians believe in a thing called the Holy Spirit,” he said. “I was pushed into this by this force that we need to do something to break down the walls among churches.”
In addition to Bishop Lavern Franzen visiting, Felipe de Jesus Estevez, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, will also be a guest.
“I feel that his presence is a special gift, not only to our local community, but also to the wider Christian community,” Esposito said. “How beautiful that that authoritative presence will be with us to celebrate.”
The organizers have adopted Family Promise of Flagler County, an interfaith effort to provide housing for homeless families, as this year’s charity.
“We strongly believe that besides getting together to worship together, we have to put it into practice,” said the Rev. Pam Northrup, of St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church.
Participating churches include First (AME) Church of Palm Coast, First United Methodist Church of Bunnell, Flagler Beach United Methodist Church, Grace Tabernacle Ministries International, Hammock Community Church, Mount Calvary Baptist Church, Palm Coast United Methodist Church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church, St. Thomas Episcopal Church and Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
9 and 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 — Bishop Lavern Franzen will speak at all Sunday Masses, at Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, 915 N. Central Ave., Flagler Beach.
8 and 10 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 — Services honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with the Rev. Gillard Glover, at the First (AME) Church of Palm Coast, 91 Old Kings Road N.
6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16 — Bishop Lavern Franzen’s address along the theme of Christian unity, at St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church, 303 Palm Coast Parkway N.E.
6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19 — An Ecumenical Evensong (vespers) with participation by local clergy and laity, at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 5400 Belle Terre Parkway.
1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 — The third Flagler Churches Together in Prayer and Song, at Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, 915 N. Central Ave., Flagler Beach.
3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 — Reception and fellowship, at Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, 915 N. Central Ave., Flagler Beach.
