A prayer book designed specifically for military personnel, their families, veterans and chaplains was an unmet need until recently.
The first of its kind since World War II, the Evangelical Lutheran Worship Prayer Book for the Armed Services was developed with the contributions and review of chaplains and other service members. This durable, pocket-sized companion from Augsburg Fortress is ideal for those in the military, family and friends of those in active service, veterans, as well as pastors and congregations of those who serve.
“In our office, we get at least one call per week asking, ‘What can we do to support our troops?’ Individuals and congregations who send copies of the prayer book for our chaplains to pass on to others help sustain faith in Christ for those serving in uniform,” offers Eric Wester, ELCA pastor and assistant to the presiding bishop of the ELCA and director, Federal Chaplaincies, Washington, D.C.
The features of this special prayer book include:
- Morning and evening prayer for individual use
- Prayers for many service-related contexts, including preparation for missions, confronting crises, grieving fallen companions, life circumstances during deployment, and more
- Corporate worship services with resources from Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the ELCA’s full-communion partner churches
- Affirmation of baptism for returning veterans
- Prayers for congregations whose pastors serve as chaplains or whose members are deployed
- Twenty-six psalms for a variety of circumstances
- The words to 65 hymns and songs, including an expanded section of national songs
Ordering and shipping is easy. If you have the APO/FPO address, Augsburg Fortress can send the order to wherever a service person is stationed, even internationally. Find out more on Augsburg’s website or by calling 800-328-4648.
Congregations and individuals can also send financial gifts to the ELCA Bureau for Federal Chaplaincy Ministries for the purchase of prayer books.
Gift prayer books are purchased by the bureau and shipped according to the donors’ wishes or sent to chaplains in deployed settings, military medical facilities and pre-deployment sites as troops head “out the door” and “down range.” The prayer books are also sent to basic training and “boot camp” sites for new recruits.
Each prayer book retails for $8.00. Checks for gift prayer books can be sent to Prayer Books, Bureau for Federal Chaplaincy Ministries, 305 E. Street NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20001.
