St Barnabas Church

The Story of the Peace Candle

In 1986 a group of American Christians visited the Churches in Russia. After a service in a Russian Orthodox Church, an old woman pushed a three ruble note in the hand of Dr Blair Monie, an American minister. She gave him a Russian hug and asked him to use the money to buy a candle and light it in his church as a symbol for peace. The three rubles represented a lot of money for the woman.

Dr Monie's church, First Presbyterian Church in York, Pennsylvania, agreed to use the money to buy a candle and glass holder and to light it as appropriate.

In the Autumn of 1986 the church in Pennsylvania bought many candles and glass holders to send to other churches asking them to light the candles as a symbol of God's peace. Two members of that church sent a candle to their old church in Sutton Coldfield - Wylde Green United Reform Church, which in turn has sent peace candles to other churches. One of these was received by the Liverpool District of the Methodist Church. This was taken to the Network Conference in Swanwick in February 1992 where the chain was continued with a candle being taken to the East Anglia District Network.

The peace candle chain continued through Chapelfields Road Methodist church in Norwich, to Ely, where it was passed on to St Mary's Church, Fen Drayton in January 1993.

From Fen Drayton, a Peace Candle was brought to Lachute in August 1996, and so the chain has crossed the Atlantic three times from that woman in Russia. The same candle was brought to Pierrefonds in 1999, continuing the chain. On November 7, 1999, a Peace Candle was lit at St Barnabas' Church.

The candle that burns here joins in the chain. We invite visitors to light a candle from ours and pass it on to other churches. We ask that as you light your candle you will pledge yourself to work and pray for peace. Let the light of the peace candle represent for us the light of Christ, the Prince of Peace.