Praying and Preaching on Debt

The very name of the Jubilee campaigns indicates their Biblical origins, and many have Christian groups as founders or core members -- so worship materials in this area abound.

Prayer

Online Resources

God grant me your Spirit . . . .
That I may rest and work in the vision of a new future
Where all are linked by the bonds of humanity,
Not enslaved by the chains of debt.

Extract from "Grant me your spirit," a World Debt Day prayer by Linda Jones of CAFOD

Prayer on debt issues is appropriate at any time -- but especially on or around World Debt Day, celebrated in the UK on 16 May, the anniversary of the Birmingham G8 chain. "Grant me your spirit," a prayer for World Debt Day, can be found in full on the JDC worship resources page.

The JDC worship resources page also contains "Jubilee Worship," a compendium which includes

  • materials for preparation (announcements, bulletin notes and thoughts for creating worship)
  • an introduction to set the theological context
  • facts and stories about the impact of debt
  • an exploration of Jubilee
  • a reading from Leviticus 25 with a litany to follow
  • a Jubilee sermon (by Bono)
  • prayers

Another JDC worship resource is a prayer pilgrimage called "Praying in Public Places: A Pilgrimage for Our Time ," put together by JDC Board member Merryn Hellier. "Praying in Public" invites Christians to walk to local places such as hospitals or surgeries, schools and banks to reflect on and pray about debt and the impact that it has on people's access to essential services. A very powerful service -- and act of witness.

Some of the materials on the JDC's worship resources page originally come from Jubilee USA, which published in 2005 its "Jubilee Congregations Handbook." This resource offered at the time everything a [US] church needed to engage with the campaign -- background information, stories about the impact of debt and debt relief, pages explaining the links between debt and other global issues, worship material (including a Roman Catholic liturgy for debt), Bible studies and more. The fact that it was written before the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative means that some of its background information is now outdated. But the liturgical material and Bible studies remain very helpful.

CAFOD offers a variety of prayers on debt relief.

Preaching

Online Resources

The Jubilee Congregations Handbook contains several suggested sermons, as well as theological reflections designed to inspire sermons. A sermon contributed by by David Golding is also on the JDC worship resources page.

Another invaluable resource is the linked lectionary entitled "Development Matters ," compiled quarterly by Dr. Elizabeth Perry and available on the Diocese of Bath and Wells' website. This resource takes the main lectionary readings for each week and links them with global-justice issues, providing facts, illustrations and quotes that preachers can use in their sermons. There are many illustrations concerning debt, and because the resource is created afresh each quarter, the examples are up to date.

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