Get Ready for Life Chain on October 5, 2008

By Rev. Douglas W. Merkey

 

    The annual Life Chain was founded in 1987 as a peaceful, one-hour, nationwide gathering of life-affirming Americans along the main thoroughfares of our nation to pray and hold signs that graciously reveal the truth about life-affirming issues.  It is a unique opportunity for Life Teams to introduce congregants to what it can look like to stand together with grace and truth for their life-affirming convictions in public.  Life-affirming St. Louisians have been participating in Life Chain since 1990.

    Look below for a list of ten great reasons why participating in Life Chain is an excellent, God-honoring idea.  As you humbly seek the support of your church's leadership, this list may be helpful.

    It’s easy to coordinate your church's involvement in Life Chain.  You can get Life Chain signs and other resources at www.getintolife.org CALENDAR October 5 or by calling Carol at (314) 878-7245.  Here are the basics you need to know:

  It’s a good idea for local/church coordinators to call your local police to advise them when and where you will be standing at Life Chain.  It's a courtesy to them.

    Visit www.getintolife.org or call Carol at (314) 878-7245 to get more practical resources to help you facilitate Life Chain at your church.  The official website for Churches for Life, a ministry whose mission is to nourish churches as gospel-driven champions of life, is www.getintolife.org.  As a regional resource, they have offered their website as the online location for information about Life Chain in St. Louis.

 

Ten Great Reasons

    The following are 10 great reasons why Life Chain is a valuable, life-affirming opportunity for your entire church.

    1. Life Chain is a direct reflection of the gospel.  Because of the gospel, believers in Jesus are by definition “rescued people.”  We, of all people, should understand what it means to be in peril along with the joy of being sought and saved by Someone full of compassion and mercy.  When we stand at Life Chain, our highest motive and privilege is to live out our identity as those rescued and our desire to make our Great Rescuer – Jesus - more famous!  We stand as a testimony to the fact of our being rescued by God in Christ and our joyful desire that others experience it as well.

    2. Life Chain is a form of witnessing.  Christ created us all, believers and non-believers, with an intrinsic, healthy love for our bodies and compassion for those in peril.  Your message – via Life Chain signs and your respectful conduct on the sidewalk – will graciously awaken those who pass by to these essential truths.  It will stir their hearts in God-ward ways, which is very, very good.

    3. Life Chain can grow your congregants as champions of life – individually and as a group.  Life Teams long to see their church grow as gospel-driven champions of life.  Because Life Chain is such a well-planned, balanced, and group-oriented event, it’s accessible enough to help even the most fearful or inexperienced congregant/congregation grow.  Participants also grow because they actually experience (versus just knowing or intellectually agreeing with) the value and joy of standing for God’s love for life.

    4. Life Chain is balanced.  Face it, being a public witness even for something as right as the sanctity of human life has a bad rap, even among Christians.  It’s not entirely unearned, either.  In large part, that’s because of well-meaning people witnessing to life in unbalanced, inflammatory ways.  As a result, many people have painful ideas of being a public witness to anything, let alone something as polarizing as life.  Life Chain helps participants grow out of that fear for several reasons: the balance/tenor of the signs’ messages, the grace infused in the Code of Conduct, and the group nature of the event.  Life Chain is an excellent example of the gospel and Christ’s way of balancing grace and truth.

    5. Life Chain is time-tested.  Life Teams, church leaders, and congregants can feel good knowing that Life Chain has been going on since 1987.  It has borne fruit for many years and has proven to be Christ-honoring, yielding great benefit to hundreds of churches and communities around the nation for decades!

    6. Life Chain is  commanded by God and accompanied by His promises.  Life Chain itself is not commanded by God, but humbling ourselves as a community and standing for His truth is.  God is especially passionate about our doing these things vis-à-vis those in peril, like the unborn and those caught up in sins and circumstances leading to and from abortion.  Jeremiah 7:14 is directly applicable in this situation, “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

    7. Life Chain is convenient.  You can stand together in front of or near your church if you want.  Congregants are already at church on Sunday morning, so it’s very convenient!  To increase logistical ease, plan a basic luncheon between the end of morning worship and the start of Life Chain at 2 p.m.

    8. Life Chain is inexpensive.  Get Life Chain signs from local coordinators who request an extremely reasonable donation of only 25 cents per sign.  That means you can outfit a group of 100 people for only $25!  And, the signs are reusable – just save them for next year and you won’t have to buy them again.  If you have a luncheon before the Life Chain, make it simple and ask for freewill donations to defray the cost or make it a potluck luncheon asking congregants in advance of the event to bring a dish to share.

    9. Life Chain is an event where everyone can participate.  Life Chain is open to everyone in your church: men, women, teens, children, and seniors.  No special experience in the life arena is required.  Detailed instructions are provided on the back of the signs themselves, including a code of conduct, prayer suggestions, and more.  It can truly be a church-wide event!

    10. Life Chain is something you can do!  Even if you have a very small life-affirming ministry at your church, you can participate in Life Chain.  There is no minimum group size.  Perhaps with your small beginnings, God will grow your church’s ministry through Life Chain next year.  Churches for Life exists to help you in this exact endeavor. Our website – www.GetIntoLife.org - is full of resources to nourish your church as a champion of life.  If you do have a small group and want to stand with other churches, call a local/church coordinator for more information.

    In Closing, it’s important to note that you want to make sure that your church’s leadership is fully supportive of your efforts.  This is especially true of events like Life Chain that have a public facet that’s open to the entire church.

 

    Rev. Douglas W. Merkey is President of Churches for Life whose mission is to nourish churches as gospel-driven champions of life. Their website is www.getintolife.org.