The World Council of Churches (WCC) Just Community of Women and Men organized a three-hour online advocacy training for church workers on November 27 to equip them with skills to integrate advocacy into preaching, liturgy, and Bible studies.
The Rev. Stacey Duensing Pearce, a pastor specializing in worship, care, and strategic leadership, led the worship preparation session of the training. She outlined the basics of worship as a form of advocacy and emphasized the role of Scripture and prayer.
Worship preparation is one of the three breakout sessions, together with Bible study and preaching. The program also included an introduction to advocacy and issue-specific advocacy for people with disabilities, climate and eco-justice, and conflict.
Pearce is a pastor at the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and also serves on the WCC Central Committee.
Basics of Worship as Advocacy
Pearce shared that a worship service includes prayer, Scripture reading, song, silence, and art. When preparing worship as a form of advocacy, leaders must consider the time, space, and occasion of the service. Most importantly, they need to understand their audience. Questions can be asked like: Are they a church crowd or a non-church crowd? Are they familiar with the advocacy issue?
If the audience is unfamiliar with the issue, Pearce emphasizes the importance of educating them before the prayer. She cautioned against using prayer as a moment to convey information, as prayer is fundamentally about connection with God.
Another key consideration is inclusion and hospitality. Worship leaders should plan to address diverse needs, such as language, mobility, hearing, or speech requirements. Ensuring accessibility is essential for fostering a welcoming environment.
Pearce also highlighted the importance of pastoral sensitivity in worship services held during moments of trauma. For grieving audiences, the service should provide pastoral space for people to process their emotions. This could include moments of silence, and embodied actions like lighting candles, writing down the names of loved ones, or holding hands with others.
The Gift of Scripture
Pearce emphasized allowing Scripture to speak for itself in worship, as Scripture reflects the nature of God—a prophetic and just God who is near to the marginalized. She suggested starting with a guiding Scripture passage as the foundation for planning a worship service focused on advocacy. This passage can shape prayers or other elements that address specific issues.
She provided examples of several Scriptures:
- Psalm 34:18 – God is close to the hurting.
- Amos 5:14-15 – God’s desire for justice.
- Psalm 72 (Mary’s Magnificat) – Prayers for leaders.
- Leviticus 19:33-34, 24:22 – Care for migrants and refugees.
- Galatians 3:28 – Equality for all people.
Pearce shared an example of using Scripture creatively to inspire worship and advocacy. During the WCC Ecumenical Youth Gathering, one of the pre-assemblies for the 2022 WCC Assembly, a theologian and church musician from the Presbyterian Church in South Korea, surnamed Kim, led a session based on Psalm 42.
Kim began by having participants read the psalm and sing it as a song. She then invited everyone to write down a personal or community wound on slips of paper. These slips were collected, and redistributed, and each participant prayed for someone else’s burden. The exercise fostered a deep sense of connection among the 400 young attendees from around the world. One participant reflected, “We came in here today as strangers and left as a community.”
Additionally, Pearce stressed the importance of keeping Scripture central for personal reflection and renewal. By engaging with Scripture, church leaders can examine their own lives as God’s word speaks to them first. For advocacy workers, Scripture offers solace during moments of burnout or despair, reminding them that they are not alone and that God is ultimately in control.
Notes on Prayer
Pearce shared a prayer model from the Rev. Ron Rienstra at Western Theological Seminary, which uses four guiding words—“You”, “Who”, “Do”, and “To.”
- “You” - Name for God (Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer)
- “Who” - Attribute of who God is that cares for your advocacy issue
- “Do” - Where you are asking for God’s help
- “To” - What are you hoping for a result of God’s help for God’s kingdom and world
For example, a prayer about climate change might start with “God of creation, you created the earth and called it very good,” and then ask for humanity to turn away from destructive behaviors, seeking courage and wisdom to honor the world as God’s creation.
Pearce also pointed out that the form of confession and forgiveness in prayer allows individuals to reflect on their complicity in injustice and seek alignment with God’s ways.
Art can serve as a profound expression of prayer, particularly when words are insufficient. Pearce shared how visual elements, such as “Christ in the Rubble” from Kelly Latimore Icons, can evoke a deeper connection to God’s care for the marginalized. In her former church, a bilingual congregation wrote prayers on strips of fabric in their native languages and tied them together as a symbol of unity before God.
Similarly, embodied prayer can engage worshippers on a personal level. Using a finger labyrinth, for instance, allows individuals to symbolically journey with God—sharing their burdens, seeking guidance, and drawing strength to move forward in faith.
Incorporating elements from other Christian traditions can also enrich prayer, for example, using Orthodox chants during services focused on global crises like the war in Ukraine and Russia, fostering a sense of solidarity.
Pearce encouraged worship leaders to actively involve congregations in prayer, transforming it into a participatory experience. This could include inviting individuals to lift their voices, employing a call-and-response format such as “Lord, in your mercy” with the response “Hear our prayer,” or allowing moments of silence for personal prayers.
Worship leaders seeking guidance in crafting prayers for various issues can find resources from organizations like WCC. WCC’s suggested prayer texts based on the publication Pilgrim Prayer—an Ecumenical Prayer Cycle for its ecumenical prayer cycle could be a good resource to use. This initiative guides participants in praying for every region of the world over the course of a year.
Pearce noted that such resources allow local congregations to join in global prayer alongside Christians from different parts of the world. These prayers broaden perspectives, reminding believers that their world is not confined to their immediate surroundings or personal concerns. Instead, God calls His followers to care for the needs of their neighbors, even those they may never encounter in daily life.
