Dear Church Family;
One highlight of our recent visit to Israel was going to
the Western Wall. The Western Wall (or Wailing Wall) is an exposed portion of
the remains of Herod’s Temple where Jewish worshippers pray daily. It is
customary to place small pieces of paper with written prayer requests in the
crevices of the Wall. Hundreds of thousands of tiny notes are left at the Wall
every year. This is also where Ultra-Orthodox Jews gather every week for
worship to begin their Sabbath. Our tour guide took us to the Wall for the
beginning of “Shabbat” while we were in Jerusalem. It’s hard not to be inspired by these
faithful Jews’ dedication to the weekly rhythms of worship and prayer. 
At the beginning of the 2013 I invited you to take the
“10/10” and “52” challenge. The “10/10” challenge is to spend 10 minutes
reading the Bible and 10 minutes praying every day. The “52” challenge is to
find a place of worship every weekend in 2013.
To help us celebrate the “52” challenge in particular,
we’ve created a “52 Weekends of Worship” wall in Philadelphia Hall. As you
travel and vacation this summer bring back a worship bulletin from churches you
visit. It’s never too late to take up the “52” challenge and make weekly
worship a regular part of your family routine. Especially if you have children,
nothing will speak louder to them about the importance of church than when you
go out of your way to find a place for worship while on vacation.
By year’s end let’s fill our “52” wall with bulletins and
notes from worshipping communities we visit across our country and globe!
