The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and No2Torture, a grass-roots Presbyterian group, offer a number of worship resources to help Presbyterians address issues around stopping torture during this Lenten season.
Presbyterian General Assemblies have made a number of statements related to torture through the years. The 218th General Assembly (2008) directed the Peacemaking Program to identify or create devotional, study, worship and homiletic resource and make them available on the Web so that individuals, congregations, and middle governing bodies can lift up our opposition to torture and our commitment to human rights and ethical standards in interrogation.
No2Torture has posted Choices: Reflections on Torture, Violence, and Nonviolence for Lent 2009 by the Rev. Kirsten Klepfer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Grinnell, Iowa, that reflects on torture, violence and nonviolence for the Lenten season. The work considers lectionary texts for the first five Sundays of Lent. Responding to Torture
The Peacemaking Program has posted To Be Instruments of Gods Peace, Love, and Justice in a Broken and Shattered World: Resources for Responding to Torture (PDF). This booklet includes prayers, a devotional reflection and summaries of General Assembly statements.
Presbyterian singer/songwriters and Presbyterians from Los Angeles, California, Tom Zehnder and Tim Gibbs Zehnder offer free use of their song “Breathe In, Breathe Out” for the Lenten/Easter months (February 1 – April 30, 2009). This includes the digital mp3 recording and lyrics (PDF). “May congregations have the blessing of a deepened Lenten journey this year,” says Tim Gibbs Zehnder.” Email the band for licensing rates for use beyond the free time period