Eternal One, We pray for an end to the genocide in Palestine. Horrify us enough that even the stones cry out. Shake us into action. Commit us to be peacemakers. May your peace overshadow the hatred and desire for revenge that threads through the land like a corrosive charged wire. We grieve the unfulfilled promises, […]
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As the atrocities and genocide continue in Palestine… We shall remember them. We shall not lose heart. Minute of Silence… for the victims of all the recent atrocities in _______ We pray for our suffering world, for the end of enmity and strife between nations, for the end of inequality and poverty affecting people of […]
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Today’s lament What’s this pit in my stomach, God? Where has my equilibrium gone? Why does my trust waver? Events, some which have not yet transpired, fill me with fear. The writing – bold crude graffiti – seems to be on the walls Surrounding my thoughts Love, break through Hope, shine relentlessly into this darkness […]
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Light of the world, illuminate our darkness. Horrific images of hate and vengeance bombard us. On-going destruction of your creation deflates us. Where are you? We don’t see you. Fear fills us. Where are your angels? The refrain, ‘Do not be afraid,’ rings hollow, Empty, false. The dream of peace shattered. The promise of justice […]
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Spirit of Gentleness, breath of live, source of our being, we are mindful that we are both kin and covenanted to you and one another. Even as we are bold to come before you with our prayers of petition for peace, we are mindful of our shortcomings. Not wanting to take advantage of your gracefulness […]
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They are here, These whispers of hope that insist on singing under the dust and rubble of these streets of pain. We will have to stand still, shush any rising urge to explain away tanks and hostages and terrors in the night sky. We will have to press our ear to the earth, where the […]
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Shared at an Armenian Genocide Remembrance service held at Christ Church, Dublin, Ireland, (slightly adapted for Worship Words). Each section to be read by a different reader. We remember the descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek and Chaldean, people scarred by the violence over a century ago and pray for the healing of painful memories. […]
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This litany of remembrance and confession arises from an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Service in Dublin, Ireland. Each year, sadly, current cases of ethnic or racial cleansing and other atrocities are added. In our Modern Time…is it forgotten? Will the horrors of human devastation ever lead to peace? We persist in remembering, lest we forget. We […]
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Prepared by Washington Park United Church of Christ, Denver, Colorado Background “The Good Friday Vigil Against Gun Violence emerged out of what Denver experienced as the Summer of Violence in 1993, when there was a high incidence of gun deaths in the metro region. The staff of Washington Park United Church of Christ thought it […]
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God, keeper of the atoms and stars, you made us collaborators in creation, but we have pilfered the secrets of ordered existence and justified their immoral use in the name of ‘security’ and ‘peace.’ We could say then that we didn’t know the consequences. Now we do know, but we are complacent and silent. Have […]
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Holy God We come to you as people who love and trust you. We come knowing that your love for the world includes all of us, regardless of our views and opinions. We thank you that we are loved as we are, and we are grateful that you love us too much to leave us […]
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In the second week of Advent, churches traditionally light the Candle of Peace. This prayer of confession might be used in worship on Sunday with this explanation: Several denominations are ‘calling on congregations NOT to light their second Advent candle — in solidarity with all those who are suffering in the war between Israel […]
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Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. (Isaiah 40:1) Holy God, ever present, our hearts are once again heavy as we watch this disaster unfold. We pray comfort for those who have lost loved ones and remember those who have lost their lives, commending their souls to your care. In the midst of this […]
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Adapted from a prayer written by Terri Hord Owens God of Love, our hearts break at the violence in our world, the loss of life, the dishonouring of children of God, the vile insults hurled and the wounds of history reopened. We pray for the families of those who have died and all the wounded. […]
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God, we give you thanks for sending Jesus to give us life. In the midst of wealth we are crushed by poverty, and while we are offered Christ-life in all its fullness, we are surrounded by death and destruction. We are tempted to despair, and yet keep hoping, knowing that you care. At times we weep […]
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Originally written in response to police shootings and deaths in the USA… God, You who are ultimately in control, the fury and pain and death of this world are before us this day. We weep over the hunger, war, conflict, and hate cursing the landscape of the earth, wasting lives that barely had a chance, […]
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