From the depths of our pain, from the depths of our anguish, from the depths of our tears, we lift up our hearts to the Lord.

We come acknowledging your sovereignty, your power, your mercy, and your love.

We come with hearts that are broken; We come with questions; we come with anger; we come with doubt;  we come with helplessness, but we come believing that you are a God who is able to mend our brokenness. We believe that you are a God who can calm our anger;  a God who can replace our doubts with faith, and a God who enters into our helplessness, and fills us with hope.

Lord, we remember the souls of our brothers and sisters who have died from a frightening global pandemic. We pray for their families, their friends, their colleagues. We pray for the communities that have been shattered and crushed by the unspeakable loss. Have mercy, O Lord. Send your Holy Spirit into every home, into every hospital room, and into every place where there is suffering. Grant your peace, O God, to those who are bewildered and who seek solace in fellowship and friendship and faith.

Lord, help us to remember those who have died from acts of violence. We believe that violence  against any of us are acts of violence against all of us. Give ear to those who speak out against the proliferation of guns and other weapons of global violence. Help our decision makers to see the faces of grieving parents, children and spouses who are enduring some of the darkest days of their lives. Give us compassion, O God, and give us the will and the strength to speak out, to show up, to stand up against violence in every place and in every form.

Teach us, O God, to love one another. Teach us to bear one another’s burdens Teach us to find common ground in our communities and in our congregations, so that we may serve as witnesses for peace, witnesses for justice, and witnesses for the well- being of all people.

Bless the people of our nation and our world. We will continue our prayers. Wherever the political winds blow, we will continue to trust and live as people of faith.

Rev. Dorothy J, Killian
Interim Pastor