GATHERING
ENTRANCE
REFLECTION
The body of Christ by its nature exists to be a healer of the very kinds of wounds inflicted by white supremacy. The Christian church in America bears an extraordinary responsibility to address white supremacy’s thefts of truth, wealth, and power. The church’s complicated history, which tells of both its faithfulness and its failure in the face of white supremacy, demands an honest reckoning. The church must take seriously the work of repair because, in the most profound way, love is simply who we are.
Adapted from/inspired by Reparations, by Gregory Thompson and Duke L. Kwon
LIGHTING THE ALTAR CANDLE
Leader: Merciful God, we gather in your presence
just as we are, your struggling people.
People: Open your heart to us!
Leader: Open to us — light for our darkness.
Open to us — courage for our fear.
People: Open to us — hope for our despair.
Open to us — peace for our turmoil.
Leader: Open to us — joy for our sorrows.
Open to us — strength for our weakness.
People: Open to us — wisdom for our confusion.
Open to us — love for our hates.
All: Merciful God, open your heart to us!
OPENING PRAYER
HYMN
WORD FOR THE CHILDREN
SILENCE
PRAYERS
CONFESSION
Leader: Holy One, you have called us to be followers of Jesus,
to lift up and love the dispossessed and the oppressed,
to love our neighbors as ourselves.
People: Yet we fail to reckon with how deeply
white supremacy has rooted itself
in the Church and in our culture.
We shrink from your call,
limiting ourselves to acts of charity,
while sustaining racist power structures.
Leader: Holy One, you have emboldened
and empowered Christians through the centuries
to strive for racial and ethnic justice
throughout the world.
People: When we fail to acknowledge
the Church’s responsibility
for promoting and tolerating
racial and ethnic injustice,
we cannot find your hope
that emboldens and empowers.
Leader: Holy One, you have given the Church
the spiritual resources of restitution and restoration,
to begin our work of repair.
All: These resources sometimes feel too small and humble
for the immensity of the task before us.
We confess our lack of faith and trust.
INDIVIDUAL PRAYERS OF CONFESSION
ASSURANCE
Leader: The Holy One loves us despite our weaknesses,
our doubts, and our lack of courage.
God’s forgiving love surrounds and embraces us
so that we can thrive in it.
People: Amen
THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE
INTERCESSION AND PETITION
COMMITMENT
All: O Holy One, we come today
to claim our relationship with you.
We pray for the commitment to grow together,
sharing the gifts you give us with others
here and in the wider world.
Forgive us for the hurt we have inflicted
and help us forgive those who have hurt us.
Give us strength and discipline
to nurture our relationship with you;
to care for every part of your creation;
to foster justice and be in solidarity with those in need;
to work to end all war, and violence, and discord;
and to respond joyfully when you call,
freely giving our selves as you have shown the way.
We open our hearts to you and your creation
in the name of Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen.
HYMN
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE
SERMON
SILENT REFLECTION
OFFERING
COMMUNION
PREPARATION
Leader 1: This is the table of the heavenly feast,
the joyful celebration of the people of God.
Leader 2: We gather now as one body, joined around the table.
Here we celebrate God’s presence among us,
united in Christ’s spirit, broken and whole all at once.
All: Nourished and hungry, loved and loving,
sinner and forgiven, we make one circle
of knowing, believing, rejoicing, being,
as God lights and rests among us.
GREAT THANKSGIVING
Leader 1: God of Justice,
We give thanks for the presence
of your transforming love on this table.
People: We give thanks for the opportunity and responsibility
to be agents of your healing justice.
Leader 2: For the bread of life-giving nourishment –
may it give us strength to do justice in your world.
For the cup of new life –
may it give us courage to be advocates
for the dignity and well-being of all persons
People: With justice, we see everyone as human
and everyone bears the image of the divine.
Leader 1: God of Liberation, help us to cast off the chains
that have kept us bound to patriarchy, racism, and power.
People: Free our hearts and minds to work
for reconciliation and reparations.
Leader 2: Spirit of Christ, you are the full expression
of liberation, justice, and compassion.
All: Awaken that same spirit in us
that we may be instruments of your change.
BLESSING THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: Christ invites everyone to eat the bread of life,
to drink the cup of the new covenant.
Leader 2: Jesus said, I am the bread of life.
You who come to me shall never hunger;
you who believe in me shall never thirst.
Leader 1: On the night he gave himself up, Jesus took bread,
and after giving thanks to God, broke it and said,
This is my body,
broken for the healing of the world.
Whenever you eat it, do so remembering me.
Leader 2: After supper, Jesus took the cup and said,
This is the cup of the new covenant,
poured out for you and for all.
Whenever you drink it, do so remembering me.
All: O Holy One, send down your Spirit
that these gifts of grain and grape,
and work of human hands
may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Unite us with Christ forever
and bring us with the whole creation
to your eternal realm.
SHARE THE ELEMENTS
Leader 1: The body of Christ, broken for all of us.
Feed on Christ in your hearts with thanksgiving.
Leader 2: The cup of the new covenant, poured out for the healing of the world.
Drink deeply of it.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND DEDICATION
All: God of abundance and mercy,
we give joyful thanks
for your eternal love and healing presence
in our celebration of bread and cup.
Bless this Body of Christ
that we may attend faithfully to our call to be your servants,
with each other and throughout the world. Amen.
SHARED REFLECTIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
HYMN
BENEDICTION
Leader: With hearts open to God’s healing love,
which fills us with power and commitment
to liberate Christianity
from our history of racial injustice,
we go forth to reconcile, repair, and unite.
Let us share the grace we have been given,
greeting one another with signs of peace.
People: Amen.
This liturgy was written by members of the Racial and Ethnic Justice Ministry Team: Peter Bankson, Paul Holmes, Sallie Holmes, David Lloyd, Erica Lloyd, Jeanne Marcus, Sandra Miller, John Morris, Trish Nemore, and Lucy Slater. The Call to Worship was adapted from a prayer of Howard Thurman(1899-1981,) Black theologian, educator, and civil rights leader.
