Any suggestions, Flist?

[smallhobbit]

I'm in the process of producing a simple word doc for our monthly Family Praise service and want to include a short prayer to tie in with Black Lives Matter.  I could write the prayer myself, but would prefer, if possible, to use something from a church/organisation which is more directly involved than me since I'm white and English, in a predominantly white congregation - we do have a couple of BAME families.

The people who come to Family Praise are not regular church goers and on the whole only come to our monthly service, and then not every month, so it needs to be simple in construction.  We're an Anglican church, but have a very simplified service.

The theme, should you be interested, is I am the Good Shepherd, which speaks of the hired hand who runs away at the first sign of trouble, whereas Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  The connection between hired hands and the leaders of certain countries is hard to ignore.

All suggestions gratefully received.

Comments

[alexcat]

Here is a lovely prayer from Dr. King:
Lord…
We thank you for your church, founded upon your Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon you. Help us to realize that humanity was created to shine like the stars and live on through all eternity. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace. Help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God’s children — Black, White, Red, Brown and Yellow — will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the reign of our Lord and of our God, we pray. Amen.


and the link: http://unitedmethodistreporter.com/2014/01/20/prayer-church-rev-martin-luther-king-jr/

[smallhobbit]

Thank you so much - that is a lovely prayer. It will fit with the theme and is at the perfect level for this service.

[alexcat]

Dr. King was so elequent.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you again for the prayer. It wasn't the easiest of services to prepare, getting the balance right was a challenge, and having that prayer meant I could finish at the perfect point.

[adafrog]

Very nice.

[smallhobbit]

And perfect for what I wanted. My flist is awesome!