Prayers from One Pastor’s Prie-Dieu, 1954-1973

This collection contains more than 600 prayers written by Rev. Donald K. Campbell and used in worship services during his 20 years as a pastor of two Presbyterian churches in Arkansas. His pastorates extended from 1954, the year of Brown vs. Board of Education, to 1973, the winding down of the Vietnam War. Although many other important developments were taking place during this time, civil rights and war-related issues were ever present in the minds of the people. As such, this book offers not only a collection of prayers but also an engaging perspective on events of that tumultuous time in American history.

The collection is a companion piece to One Sermon a Year: Selections from Two Decades in the Pulpit, published in 2017. As Rev. Campbell writes in the introduction to this latest volume, I consider what is prayed in a worship service to be as important as what is preached. I am therefore offering this collection of prayers I composed for use at The Presbyterian Church of Crossett, Crossett, Arkansas, and Grace Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, Arkansas.

Born out of a deeply spiritual mind, this collection would be a welcome addition to the library of any minister who regularly plans worship services, and would serve as an inspiring resource for lay people of every stripe seeking to expand their devotional life.