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A Place in God's Heart... A Place at Christ's Table

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Prayers

Published by the Institute for Welcoming Resources, a program of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and home of the Shower of Stoles Project www.WelcomingResources.org. Unless otherwise noted, permission is granted to reprint individual selections for congregational use.

PRAYER

Grandmother God

By David R. Weiss Poet & Theologian, Lutherans Concerned/North America

Grandmother God with wizened face,
join us in our table grace.
Bless the words and food we share
and strengthen us so that we dare
embrace Your world with loving care.
Amen.

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PRAYER

A Prayer for Openness

By Rev. Pamela June Webb
Founder, Covenant of Inclusion, Open and Affirming Ministries
of the GLAD Alliance, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

One: Blessed God, we give thanks for our many gifts: for the gifts of our race, gender and sexual orientation, and for the sacraments of relationship and community that grow from these gifts.
All: Holy God, we rejoice for the healing power of salvation.
One: Sanctify our hearts that our lives may glorify and show forth Your power of salvation.
All: We thank You for healing our ears to hear how racism attempts to silence a people by consensus. Open our ears to hear the silence and the language of our own racism.
One: God, we give You thanks because You give us the wisdom to discern injustice and the courage to stand for peace.
All: Give us the strength of a mountain to stand against the ignorance of sexism, the promotion of racism, and the condemnation and defamation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
One: Blessed God, thank You for delivering us out of the mire of injustice that pollutes, disrespects, and dismisses the needs and concerns of women throughout the world.
All: Holy God, we rejoice because You are healing the blindness of sexism. Open our eyes to see how we can support women in their struggles.
One: Holy Spirit, our teacher, teach us to be aware of when our own freedoms infringe on the freedoms of others.
All: Blessed God, forgive us for participating in attitudes and behaviors that cause repression and grief for others. Make us aware and give us the power to change.
One: Holy Spirit of life, thank You for the gift of those who give their hearts of empathy, who reach out with support and understanding to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, to those healing the injuries of racism, and to those who nurture the rights of women.
All: Be with us all in our struggles. Amen

Source: #342 of Chalice Worship, compiled and edited by Cartwright and Harrison, Chalice Press, 1997.
No part of this may be reproduced without written permission from Chalice Press, Box 179, St. Louis MO 63166-0179.
This may be reproduced for liturgical use in congregational and other worship settings, and for educational use in churches and schools.
Any reproduction offered for sale, however, requires special permission in writing

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PRAYER

Prayers of the Gathered Community

By Rev. Rebecca Voelkel
Program Director, Institute for Welcoming Resources
Based on the prayer format at Spirit of the Lakes
United Church of Christ, Minneapolis
Click here for the sung response, "O God, Remind Us"

One: Holy One, You are a God of pine trees and of oaks, of hostas and daisies and sunflowers. You are a God of the dog days of summer, and the promise of cool lake water. You are a God of art fests and protests and fastings.* You are everywhere, in all things, and yet contained by no one thing. And so we pause in awe and in gratitude.

(Invite the congregation to sing by saying:)

Holy One, remind us You are near.
All: O God, remind us You are near. May we open our hearts to You.
One: Holy One, You call us to places we might never imagine - places of forgiveness and grace, places of love and tenderheartedness. And we must step back because our world is so often filled with revenge and judgment, hatred, and hardheartedness. In Israel and Palestine. In the Pentagon, and the Congress, and the White House. But You call us to imagine a different way. You call us to imagine Your way. So enliven our creativity and our imaginations as we lift up our prayers for our world and our nation…

(At this point, the congregation is invited to lift up prayers of their own. When it is time to move on, invite the congregation to sing by saying:)

Holy One, remind us You are near.
All: O God, remind us You are near. May we open our hearts to You.
One: Holy One, You call us to ways we have tried and too often failed - ways of speaking honestly, ways of putting away wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, ways of being kind to one another. And we must step back because our lives are so often filled with pettiness and greed. In our state budgeting process. In our interactions with new immigrants to our communities. In our dealings with those we love. But You call us to re-imagine a different way. You call us to try again at the way You have laid before us. So give us new energy, give us to re-engage one another in the enterprise of Your radical community as we lift up our prayers for our state and our spiritual home…

(At this point, the congregation is invited to lift up prayers of their own. When it is time to move on, invite the congregation to sing by saying:)

Holy One, remind us You are near.
All: O God, remind us You are near. May we open our hearts to You.
One: Finally, Holy One, God of imagination and creativity and trying again, lay Your hand upon us as we live with HIV/AIDS, with Hepatitis, with cancer, with addictions, with MS, with mental illness, with depression, with coming out issues, with grief and loss, and when we simply need to know that You are near.

* replace with appropriate seasonal imagery, if needed

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PRAYER

Wondrous God

By Rev. Ann B. Day
Program Coordinator, Open and Affirming Program
of the United Church of Christ Coalition for Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns 1987-2007
Originally published in Shaping Sanctuary

Wondrous God, lover of lion and lizard, cedar and cactus, raindrop and river, we praise You for the splendor of the world! We thank You, that woven throughout the tapestry of earth are the varied threads of human diversity. Created in Your image, we are of many colors and cultures, ages and classes, gender and sexual identities. Different and alike, we are Your beloved people. Free us, we pray, from fears of difference that divide and wound us. Move us to dismantle our attitudes and systems of prejudice. Renew our commitment to make this a household of faith for all people - gay, bisexual, lesbian, transgender, and straight - that all who worship and minister here may know the grace and challenge of faith. In our life together, grant us minds and hearts eager to learn, reluctant to judge, and responsive to the leading of Your loving Spirit. We ask in Christ's name, Amen.

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