Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton leads us in a singing march after our Prayer Service for Baltimore

Last night, we gathered at Old St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore to offer our prayers for the healing of Baltimore. Here is a copy of the prayers that we used, which were adapted in part from some prayers in the New Zealand Prayer Book for the Anglican Church. Friends from all around the country joined us in prayer last night, and you are invited to pray with us too.

Prayers for Baltimore        

Leader: Let us pray:

-O God of many names, lover of all peoples; we pray for justice and peace in our hearts and homes, in our city and our world. Amen

-We pray for Freddie Gray and for all who mourn his death. Amen

-for those who are angry about the ongoing problems of racism, income inequality, education disparity and police brutality. Amen

-for all who are hoping for accountability and systemic change. Amen

-for the young adults in our city who have lost hope and turned to violence. Amen

-for parents who worry about their children getting into trouble     Amen

-for the protesters and police, for the National Guard and the Fire Department. Amen

-for Police Commissioner Anthony Batts and all who direct law enforcement. Amen

-for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Governor Larry Hogan, and all in authority. Amen

-for religious leaders working with our citizens, and for community organizers who are bringing people together. Amen

-for the small businesses that have suffered due to vandalism and looting. Amen

-for reporters and those in the media who are telling our story to the world. Amen

-for teachers and educators who are making a difference in the lives of children. Amen

-for all citizens who live with fear and a sense of helplessness. Amen

-for those who yearn for equality and a kinder world. Amen

People: Be our companion and guide, O God, so that we may seek to do your will.

Leader: For the broken and the whole

People: May we build each other up

Leader: For the victims and the oppressors

People: May we share power wisely

Leader For the mourners and the mockers

People: May we have empathy and compassion

Leader: For the silent and the propagandists

People: May we speak our own words in truth

Leader: For the peacemakers and the agitators

People: May clear truth and stern love lead us to harmony

Leader: For the unemployed and the overworked

People: May our impact on others be kindly and creative

Leader: For the hungry and the overfed

People: May we share so that we will all have enough

Leader: For the troubled and the thriving

People: May we live together as wounded healers

Leader: For the vibrant and the dying

People: May we all die to live

Leader: Let us pray that we ourselves cease to be a cause of suffering to one another

People: May we ease the pain of others

Leader: Knit us together in mind and flesh, in feeling and in spirit

People: And make us one, united in friendship

Leader: Let us accept that we are profoundly loved by God

People: And need never be afraid

Leader: May God kindle in us the fire of love

People: To bring us alive and give warmth to the world.

Leader: Let us now name before God, either silently or aloud, those persons and problems that are on our hearts this day.

All of us out together to sing over our street and neighbors

All Say Together:    The Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

–The Rev. Mary Luck Stanley

Photos by Rebecca Giordano Dreisbach