O loving Creator, we present ourselves in your divine presence to thank you for all the bountiful gifts of life. We are especially grateful for the Fellowship of the Least Coin which binds us together in love and forgiveness around the globe. Free us from all doubts and prejudices, we pray. Inspire us to live in solidarity with humankind that we may know the joy of giving and receiving.
Dear God, accept the least coin ‘token of love’. Make us mindful of the miracles of these coins. Let us honour your creation with love, as shown through the life and resurrection of your son, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
The well-known prayer of the Fellowship of the Least Coin (FLC) came about in 1987 when Shirin Samuel, of Pakistan, was appointed as the Executive Secretary for the International Committee of the FLC (ICFLC). She was an active supporter of the FLC and a past Vice-President of the Asian Church Women’s Conference (ACWC). Shirin, along with Rev. Mary Cline Detrick of Church Women United (USA), was asked to compose a prayer that would reflect the spirit of the FLC prayer movement and could also be used for dedicating the FLC offerings.
This prayer presented the three main aims of the FLC movement:
justice, peace and reconciliation.
Many, many women around our world are now familiar with the Prayer of the FLC, as it has been translated into numerous languages and widely distributed on prayer cards, brochures, the Circle of Prayer devotional booklet and other promotional materials.
Shirin Samuel commenced her work as the Executive Secretary for the ICFLC on 1 June 1987 on the retirement of Shanti Solomon, the founder of the Fellowship of the Least Coin, and she dedicated herself to this task for ten years. As a past Vice-President of the Asian Church Women’s Conference, Shirin had been an ACWC representative on the ICFLC and, therefore, she had seen and experienced the miracle of the Fellowship of the Least Coin and its ministry to women and children around the globe. She understood that even though the FLC began with an Asian woman, it was also Shanti’s desire that women of all regions would be able to participate in the Fellowship of the Least Coin.
Rev. Mary Cline Detrick was the director of ecumenical celebrations and global relations of Church Women United (USA), which also included being the representative to the International Committee of the FLC. She succeeded Dorothy Wagner, a much-loved supporter and participant of the Fellowship of the Least Coin since its earliest days. Mary was elected as the first non-Asian ICFLC Chairperson in 1994 and served in this position for two years as the FLC became a truly international movement, yet retained its Asian heritage.
