Prayer & Liturgy Ideas
From Connie Knapp - 10-17-2022
“Here are a few more liturgy idea for All Soul’s Day and some that might work for Transgender Day of Remembrance” (TDOR) on Sunday,
November 20, 2022
From Enfleshed for All Saints Day:
God you have been with us throughout the ages.
You have bore witness to the ways in which the story of us – of all that has come into being – has been woven together piece by piece, life by life.
We recognize, today, that it is because of the saints who have gone before us, that we are. Those who have struggled for justice, who have given so that others may live more freely – we would not be, if not for them.
In remembrance and gratitude, we name the saints who hungered for righteousness and whose sacrifices have contributed to a more just society:
(community names individuals)
Because of those who have loved us – those who have nurtured us, embraced us, celebrated us, or supported us. We are because they were. In remembrance and gratitude, we name the saints who have shaped our lives and being.
(community names individuals)
We also hold in remembrance the ones whose lives were taken by injustice, the ones who never knew their own belovedness, the ones who passed on our faith, the ones who gave us art, gave us song, gave us poetry. We are because they were.
Like us, we know they were imperfect too. There is no life that is not messy and contradictory, often betraying the very justice and love we seek to embody. And yet, you, O God, promise that our labor to Love is never made in vain.
Help us to lean on the witness of those who have gone before us, drawing on the love, justice, community, and faith that weaves us together, generation after generation – past, present, and future.
With gratitude and in remembrance we pray, Amen.
Another possibility for All Souls/All Saints day (from Lynn):
Gracious God, on this All Souls day we remember…
We remember that we benefit from the lives of those who came before us
For the faith that they have taught us,
For the examples they set for us,
For the mistakes they made from which we learned
On this All Souls day we remember and lift them up
Gracious God on this day we remember those whose lives seemed to end too soon
For those lost to COVID and for all those who were their caretakers
For those who could not find their way from despair
For those who endured violence and were taken from us because of their color or nationality, their gender or sexual identity - because they sought to be seen and known by those who did not want to see
For those who died bringing peace and justice to the world
On this All Souls day we remember and lift them up
Gracious God, on this day we remember our church family and friends who have gone before us. We remember and are thankful for the life of (names)
On this All Souls day we remember and lift them up
A trans prayer of divine understanding (possibility for TDOR) from Enfleshed
Creative Spirit,
Holy Momentum,
Ever Transitioning One,
Do you hold the prayers of trans people close,
like the embrace of someone who understands –
a source of comfort or hope?
We share this joy – you and us:
Taking on new forms
that life might thrive.
Shedding what no longer fits;
or never did.
Struggles, we share, too:
Religious beliefs that confine being and becoming.
Enduring acts of violence
born from fear and fueled by power.
Though even we endure too much, too long,
how burdensome is your lot…
Centuries pass and still,
so few who claim to love you
believe you are who you say you are –
calling you an excuse for bigotry,
when you are a river of Love.
Do all the theologies of hate,
and songs of Sunday apathy,
land on your ears like a deadname –
something given to you
that you never asked for
and just won’t go away?
Do you wince
each time a prayer ascends to “Him” –
because more than anything,
you know what that means to do
is distance you from the likes of “Her” or “Them?”
When you stretch out your arms
as the embrace of a gentle man,
or kick out your feet
as the dance of a woman,
or run wild in open fields
through every gender-less,
or gender-abundant,
or nonbinary kiddo
loving their flesh,
do you take delight in every fit,
finding a spot of home
in every body?
The glory of your Multiplicity cannot be hidden away.
We may be a long way from safety yet,
but your mercies are new every morning
and with each day dawns new possibilities
of Sacred Transition
into a world more fitting for everyone.
May your blessing be upon all your trans beloveds.
Take pleasure in us, your stunning incarnations.
And as we care for our each other,
may the god we practice be a comfort and a strength.
Also from Enfleshed:
A Queer Call to Worship
God is calling us
Out of the places we hide
Out of insecurity
Out of shame
Out from under that which silences love and justice.
Come out, people of God!
Though we may be afraid
Though we will be at risk
Though the cross stands as a threat
God calls us to courage!
Our God is a god of resurrection. Of new life after devastation. Of hope in the grip of evil.
And so we dare to proclaim, with pride and faith, our truths:
We believe in the power of love.
We believe in solidarity with the suffering.
We believe we are each valuable.
We believe that our togetherness is transformative.
The world is longing for Holy truths that reveal, voices that speak real words of hope.
Come out, people of God!
Call to Worship Ray Bagnuolo
We open our hearts and our minds,
We set aside – for a moment –
The chaos…
Not to forget
but to remember:
How good it is to be in worship
Together.
To remember during this Pride Month and all days
Our commitment to the covenant of Love:
Our commitment to “see” each other
“listen” to one another
And remember how easily we can lose each other
When we forget to be vigilant
In our “withness” and worship.
“Love is here”, which is another way of saying
God is here. Welcome, where you are loved.
Unison Prayer #1
(Created from statements by Desmond Tutu) Ray Bagnuolo
I would refuse to go to a homophobic
[transphobic, queerphobic] heaven.
I would say, No, sorry, I would much rather
go to the other place.
I would not worship such a narrow God
and that is how deeply feel about this.
I am as passionate about these rights for our Queer family,
as I ever was about apartheid. For me: it is at the same level.
People are literally paying for their love with their lives.
This is ours. This passion. Is ours.
This steadfast love for all that joins us – joins us forever.
It is what strengthens us in sorrow and encourages us in joy.
It is what we are called to in serving one another, to…
:
Do justice.
Love mercy.
Walk humbly with our God.” (Micah 6:8)
It is the answer to the question, “Why?”
The question is, “Will we?”
The answer must be, “Yes.”
However we may, “Yes.”
Unison Prayer #2 Ray Bagnuolo
We know this: God’s Love is for All.
Acts of silence that limits God’s Love in any way, indeed,
equals a death: figuratively and literally.
So we are loud and we live loudly!
We celebrate Pride to break the “silence”.
Hear us: “You are loved; you are welcome here;
Because
“we are loved; we are welcome here;
And because we really like you!
God’s welcome is to be shared unconditionally.
Help us to do better, as we Love -
In all the many ways of all Gods’ magnificent colors.
Prayer of Jesus
Adapted by Ray Bagnuolo from
“The Lord’s Prayer for Transgender Awareness”
written by Rev. Kim Sorrells and posted on Believe Out Loud
www.believeoutloud.com.
Our Creator, Guardian, Great Spirit God
in whom we move and have our being,
the holiness of your name shines forth
in the diversity of the humanity we share.
May your will be the way we live,
the way we invite others to live.
Grant that our Transgender and Queer siblings,
have fullness of love and life, in all the same ways we wish
for one another.
Forgive us in the ways we have fallen short,
in our actions, demeanor and welcoming.
Help us forgive those who have failed us.
Lead us away from the temptation of complacency,
leading us instead in the ways of courage and compassion,
for your justice and love is for all.
Now and forever. Amen