A question from your Lay Leader: Where in the world are the Cook Islands?

An answer from your Lay Leader: The Cook Islands are located in the South Pacific Ocean, about 1,864 miles northeast of New Zealand, about 3,107 miles east of Australia, and about 1,770 miles south of Hawaii.  

Fifteen separate islands comprise the Cook Islands, an independent country in free association with New Zealand. The Islands cover a land area of about 93 square miles over approximately 850,000 square miles of ocean. Some of the 15 islands are in the Northern Group, and some are in the Southern Group. These two groups are quite far apart—about 590 miles separate the Northern Group from the Southern Group. The largest of the 15 islands is about 42 square miles in size, while the smallest is less than one square mile in size (.76 square miles). The Cook Islands 2021 census reported a population of 14,987.

It is from the Cook Islands that the 2025 World Day of Prayer (WDP) service originates.  Christian women in the Cook Islands have written this year’s worship service materials based on Psalm 139:14. They have entitled the service I Make You Wonderful.  

Sewickley’s 2025 World Day of Prayer service will be held on the first Friday in March—March 7—at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 616 Washington Street,  at 1:00 PM. Please save the date, and make plans to attend. 

Each year, the women of a country share their faith in a worship service used world-wide. In sharing prayers, music, art, and culture, we may discover commonalities, or differences, that we can celebrate. WDP provides a stimulus to learn something new about the lives of people in other countries while worshipping God. We may gain new understandings about a different culture, or different expressions of Christianity, or causes for social problems. We may detect new ways to address social problems or issues. We may even be personally enriched by the WDP experience.

Thus, I invite everyone to attend. I am confident that you will not be disappointed. 

And, over the light refreshments that will be served following this service, you may want to ask one of your table mates whether a visit to Avarua is on his or her bucket list. Avarua is the Cook Islands capital. It is only 6,643 miles from Sewickley as the crow flies.

Photo by youngrobv