2.12.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church

Eternal God, we are yours, in life and in death … there is, finally, nothing that can separate us from your great love, given to us in Christ, and given to the world in a thousand different voices, and values, stories and prayers, hymns and poems, a chanting priest, a prayer wheel in Tibet, the cries of a mother and father for their child … you are the God, supreme, of every tear and every broken heart … you are the God, masterful, in the ebb and flow of time … you are the God of eternity, woven into the fabric of every life, every creature, ever grain of wheat and in the tumult of the earth.

We are stunned, O God, we are heartbroken, by the loss of life in Turkey and Syria … death at

every turn … survivors marked for the rest of their lives - too many orphans … too many families, now without their children … O LORD our God, we give thanks for the nations and corporations rising to the task of rescue and rebuilding … the world proves to itself, dear God, what you have called the world to be - caring and kind, generous and faithful, mindful and sensitive, to the cries of bereavement now ringing across the globe. Can the world do better, O God? Yes, we must do better … and we will.

Watch over us, we pray … keep us mindful of the world, help us to feel its pain and sorrow … remind us that lament and a broken heart are part of the human story … shield us not from the sorrows of the day, but the despair of soul that paralyses our quest for your Kingdom, tempts us to withdraw into the comforts and distractions of piety or pleasure.

Bless us here, O LORD - remind us to say thanks - thanks to you, dear God, and thanks to all the folks who’ve loved us all along the way - our parents and grandparents, our families of birth, our families of choice, our children and grandchildren … and for our spiritual family, dear God, the family of faith, the church, all around the world.

Bless our Scouts, dear God … their leaders … their work. Thank you for those who’ve come before us … who taken the Scout Oath to heart, who’ve lived the values and virtues of Scouting, who’ve made this a better world.

All of this, in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

1.1.23 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church Pasadena

 Eternal God, to whom all things belong, from whom all love proceeds, we give thanks that you are the God of love woven into the fabric of time -  in the best of it, and in the worst of it … in our joys, and in our sorrows … in the suffering of millions even now, displaced by war and climate change … you’re heart, too, is broken, by the sins and sorrows of humankind.

It’s almost too much for us to comprehend, but we pay attention, dear God, because attentiveness is our task - to be fully human, fully aware, eyes open, ears listening to the children of our world crying out to us for justice and peace …  

Help us, we pray, to give priority to love and kindness, mercy and mindfulness … to be faithful to Christ, to be creative and playful, prayerful and thoughtful, to be the church alive and full of life and hope … in such times, O God, as these, changing times, tables overturned, the old ways disappearing, remind us that you are at work in all things for good … Christ is our companion … the Holy Spirit guides and directs our steps, reveals new pathways, new procedures and new practices … help us, we pray, to resist the temptation of Lot’s wife, the temptation to look backward, the temptation to give the past more honor than it deserves … to be those who look to the future, who look for you, O God, in the pathways before us, for you are always and forever the God of Tomorrow.

We pray now for loved ones… for family and friends … our children and grandchildren, our parents and grandparents … our brothers and sisters, neighbors and co-workers … all around us, O LORD … and for them we pray.

We pray for Ukraine and Russia, for Europe and NATO - we pray for the air and water, the earth and the animals … we pray for a just peace.

We pray for Taiwan and China … we pray for the nations of the Pacific Rim … 

We pray for Westminster, O LORD … we pray for our elders and our members, for our friends around the world, who join with us via YouTube - we pray a blessing upon them all.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

6.5.22 Prayers of Church & Community, Westminster Presbyterian Church PasadenaL

LORD God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, we give thanks for the gift of Christ, and the

work of the Holy Spirit … your goodness at work all around the world … in time and in space; in the bright avenues of life, and in the shadowy corners and darkened alleys of disappointment and sorrow … you are present, with grace, mercy, and peace … no place beyond your reach, no life beyond your touch, no sin greater than your forgiveness, no sorrow too vast for your kindness … no time or place surpassing your all-surpassing love.

Our world, dear God, has trouble aplenty … give us the strength, we pray, to live in this world, honestly, creatively, patiently, to yet see the good that remains: the cup of blessing and our daily bread - friendship and faith, folks who care … the love that remains.

Strengthen those who uphold the best and the noblest of the human story. 

Help us, we pray, to carry the cross of awareness, the cross of care and concern, the cross of love … yet give us rest, O God - when we’re tired, troubled, and tested … when we cry out and weep … you stand by us when we can no longer walk; you lay down with us when we cannot rise.

This day, O God, we pray especially for the children of Ukraine - little hearts and tender minds, impacted by unimaginable savagery … the sounds and smells of war - scarring their souls. Be merciful to the little ones, O LORD, for they are so utterly vulnerable to the sadness and misery of war.

Bless our church, we pray, that we might know the love of Christ all the more, that our church would remain a safe and welcoming place, a sanctuary of healing and hope … ready for a new day, a new era of mission, a new chapter to be written.

In the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray, saying:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen. 

Pastoral Prayer, June 21, 2015

Pastoral Prayer

First Congregational Church of Los Angeles

Creator of heaven and earth, eternal God … the news of the day won’t let us rest … and that’s all right, O LORD… we’ll not shy away from the cross of Christ; in his name, we will carry the burdens of justice and love, and the pain and sorrow occasioned by fear and hatred… we will, dear God, to the best of our abilities, defend our neighbors against all forms of bigotry and mistreatment.

But neither are we pure, LORD. We know that, and it pains us to say so.

There is something of Cain’s instinct in each of us, perhaps quiet and not so violent, but Cain nonetheless, skulking around the edges of our soul … protect us, we pray, from evil influences; help us to look to Jesus all the more, and with his Spirit, confront our own demons and help the world find its goodness.

With your Holy Spirit, dear God, empower us to work all the more to make this a just and peaceful world … to live the glory of the beatitudes … to honor the Sermon on the Mount … to love as our LORD has loved us, for there is no greater power than love, and love no greater, than to lay down our lives for one another.

We pray for the families of the dead … may the love of friends and neighbors be deeply felt in long hugs and shared tears … may the hymns of faith bring comfort … may the Word of Life proclaimed bring new resolve to work for racial healing.

We pray for those who have given themselves unto hatred … who look upon the world with fevered eyes … eager to kill for the sake of bad dreams and bitter lies. We pray that some influence, some word, some moment of sanity, will break through the walls of hatred and fear, to cleanse their souls and change the course of their lives, to a course of life set upon good rather than evil.

And may our nation, dear God, use this tragedy to think a little more clearly about the violence that courses through our cities and towns … racial and ethnic hatred, hatred for gays and lesbians and transgenders … so much hatred, O God, and a lot of it in the name of your Son, Jesus.

Here in this place, we would be different … true to Christ, welcoming all, and lifting up the truth of all religion: to love one another is salvation.

For our leaders, O God, grant wisdom to craft legislation that can put the brakes on violence … legislation that promotes the dreams of our pilgrim mothers and fathers - a land of opportunity, where anyone can be president, and everyone can find a safe place to live out their hopes and dreams.

Be with us, then, dear God, in the remains of this day … whether it’s back to work, or back to bed, or out to celebrate Father’s Day … help us, we pray, to be of good cheer, love much, think deeply,  read widely, forgive quickly … brave in the face of adversity and kind in all our ways, eager to put our hand to the plow and never ever look back … Amen and Amen!