Some of the church’s roughly 150 members have physical limitations and cannot walk long distances, he said. The traditional Sunday service will take place at 10:30 a.m. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 456 Woodman Drive.
But Christ Church will serve as a “sanctuary for peace” every day during the NATO Assembly from May 22 to 26, Homeyer said. He said community members should be allowed to visit the church after going through a security checkpoint.
“For those five days, we want to be able to have this space so close to where these delegates are all going to be meeting, discussing, planning, trying to make sense out of the changes in the world and their role in it and their role for their countries and their role for greater humanity,” Homeyer said. “We want to be present to this what I believe is sacred work that they are doing, and to invite anyone who would like to offer prayers of whatever kind, from whatever tradition they are from, to be able to gather inside our sanctuary as a place to promote peace.”
The sanctuary for peace at Christ Church will be available from Thursday to Monday (May 22 to 26) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be artwork, music, prayer resources and structured prayer twice a day at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The desire for peace extends far beyond national borders and should bring humanity together, Homeyer said.
“We want this to be a place of refuge and sanctuary and a place of quiet reflection,” Homeyer said.
Homeyer said he hopes community members during the NATO Assembly will think about what the value of peace would mean in their lives.
“We wanted our building to be open every day those good people are going to be wrestling and struggling about the big questions,” Homeyer said. “How to take care of each other? How to respect one another? How to hopefully bring peace into the world? We’re told all the time how expensive it is to be at war but what we’re not reminded of is that peace is priceless.”
Russell Florence Jr. contributed to this report.
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