FELLOWSHIP OF THE LEAST COIN
THE POWER OF PRAYER
The Fellowship of the Least Coin is a worldwide ecumenical movement of prayer for peace and reconciliation. The emphasis is on the word “least” because it is not a fund-raising project, but a movement of prayer for peace and reconciliation. Anyone who wishes to join this movement makes a commitment to spend time in prayer whenever she has a strained relationship with another person, and to uphold in prayer others who are victims of jealousy, hatred, violence and injustice in the family, the community, the nation, and the world. The offerings are brought to the May Friendship Day gathering, to be used nationally and internationally in many worthwhile projects. Please check www.efecw.net/FLC.html for information and materials.
History of the Fellowship of the Least Coin
In 1956 the Presbyterian Women in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., invited a group of seven women to travel to South Asia for a Pacific Mission Team. Post-World War II, the area was still suffering from war, and the Presbyterian Women felt the urge to go and seek reconciliation with the people in these war-torn areas.
The group traveled from the United States to Japan, the Philippines and Korea. Shanti Solomon (a native of India) was not able to secure a visa to visit Korea. Therefore she stayed behind in the Philippines. The political relations between India and Korea now became personal to her, and so she began thinking how she could reduce the political to the personal. If only we could get people to turn to peace in their own situations, that would be a start, she said. The idea came to her of women around the world praying for peace, of having some practical action accompany the prayers. Each woman could give the least coin in her country each time she prayed for peace, justice and reconciliation.
And so, beginning with women in Asia and the United States, the Fellowship of the Least Coin began. The movement soon expanded and in 2006 celebrated its fiftieth year, with over eighty countries participating. Each region of the world shares equally in the receiving of grants from these coins, administered by the International Committee for the Fellowship of the Least Coin. *Adapted from material by Bettie J. Durrah.
To become a part the Fellowship of the Least Coin Movement:
1. Decide to join this movement in search of peace and reconciliation in your community, our nation, and the world.
2. Create your own Coin Bank.
3. Set aside time every day, whether at work or at home, to say a prayer for peace and reconciliation. After praying, place the least of your coins, such as a penny, in the Coin Bank.
4. Bring your accumulated offering to the CWU May Friendship Day Celebration to dedicate the offering along with others who have joined this movement.
Pray
O Loving Creator we present ourselves in your divine presence to thank you for all the bountiful gifts of life. We are especially grateful for the Fellowship of the Least Coin, which binds us together in love and forgiveness around the globe. Free us from all doubts and prejudices, we pray. Inspire us to live in solidarity with humankind, that we may know the joy of giving and receiving. Dear God, accept this least coin “symbol of love.” Make us mindful of the miracles of these coins. Let us honour your creation with love, as shown through the life, death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen
