Bethlehem Peace Flame still burns in Richland

A flame from Christ’s birthplace will burn in Richland Parish this Easter thanks to the efforts of St. David’s Episcopal Church in Rayville.

Before Christmas, the Rev. Christie Fleming, pastor of St. David’s Episcopal Church, met with a member of the Episcopal church from DeRidder and obtained the Peace Flame from Bethlehem.  

“We passed the flame to several churches in the area to burn for their Christmas service,” church member Larry Lashley said. “Rev. Christie has kept the flame burning so that St. David’s will have our candles again lit with the flame from Bethlehem on Easter Sunday.”

Fleming said the church was able to obtain their flame due to Lashley’s efforts and that she decided to maintain the flame in her home in order to share its message at the Rayville church’s Easter service.

“The meaning, at least for me, is that Christ’s light continues to shine at all times and in all places ... His love embraces every one of us in every moment,” Fleming said. “We are blessed to have the flame from Bethlehem to remind us of this truth.”

Each year, a child from upper Austria fetches the light from the grotto in Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The light is carried in two blast proof miners lamps on an Austrian Airlines jet from Tel Aviv Israel to Vienna  Austria from where it is distributed at a Service of Dedication to delegations from across Europe who take it back, with a message of Peace, to their own countries. Austrian Airlines then flies the miners lamps containing the Peace Light from Bethlehem to New York City. The goal of this web site is help the light spread like the branches of a huge tree rooted in New York and spreading across the continent.