Vigil for Uvalde and Buffalo, June 2, 2022
Thanks to the Gettysburg Community, United Lutheran Seminary
Prelude “Melody” C. Gluck
Selected Hymns
Dale Elkiss, - violin; Cathy Elkiss - piano and organ
Welcome & Opening Prayer Rev. Dr. Martin Otto-Zimmann
* Hymn God of Mercy, You Have Shown Us
Text: Copyright © 2009 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the author.
Moment of Silence, Empty Chairs
“The Prayer of the Children” Kurt Bestor
Paul Freundel - soloist
Litany—Rev. Dr. Herbert Sprouse
Leader: We pray in remembrance of those impacted by gun violence, both those who have been injured and those who have been killed in cities and towns across our country, and close to home. We hold their memories dear. We treasure those lives permanently altered through injury or those taken in senseless acts of violence, and we pray that they might find rest and peace. May their lives continue to make a difference in our world.
Together we pray.
All: God of Mercy, heal our broken hearts.
Leader: We raise our prayers in remembrance of the families and friends of the victims of gun violence in our nation. Comfort those who mourn. Dry the tears of those who weep. Sustain those who feel diminished. Impart courage to the hearts of those who feel helpless.
Together we pray.
All: God of Peace, sustain our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray in remembrance of all communities torn apart by gun violence. We are too familiar with places like Uvalde, Buffalo, Parkland, Columbine, Aurora, Orlando, Newtown, Roseburg, Charleston and El Paso, but there are countless others. Each incident of violence affects all of us in our daily lives and work. Renew our resolve to pursue peace in our cities and towns and to respect the dignity of all human beings.
Together we pray.
All: God of Comfort, encourage our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray in remembrance of school teachers and administrators who put their students’ needs ahead of their own safety. We pray for first responders who witness the horror of gun violence while in service to our communities, and we pray for all those with responsibility for law enforcement. We give thanks for their call to protect and serve and to seek justice, which is inspirational to others, and we pray that their emotional wounds will be healed.
Together we pray.
All: God of Courage, inspire our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray for those lives taken by gun violence through suicide, and through accidental shootings, especially when those shootings involve children. We pray for those who are impacted by gun violence through domestic violence during this time of pandemic. Console and strengthen those whose despair is great.
Together we pray.
All: God of Hope, comfort our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray in remembrance of all people impacted by gun violence, as gun violence knows no boundaries but can affect all nationalities, races, cultures, faiths, genders, and socioeconomic classes; it can affect us where we live, where we worship, where we work, where we study, and where we play.
Together we pray.
All: God of Love, transform our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray for those who have committed acts of gun violence and for their families. We remember those suffering from mental illness who have gone untreated, and those suffering from loneliness and isolation. We pray for those who use guns, power and violence rather than respect and dignity to reconcile differences. Grant us the strength to pursue justice with a voice of love.
Together we pray.
All: God of Forgiveness, enlighten our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray for all community leaders and elected officials. We pray especially for the young adult leaders of the gun violence prevention movement. Give them insight, wisdom, and courage to address the epidemic of gun violence. Pour forth your Spirit on all our neighborhoods and break the chains of violence that bind your people.
All: God of Power, strengthen our broken hearts.
Leader: We pray today for ourselves and for others in our lives who have been touched by gun violence.
During the silent pause, I invite you to offer the names (either silently or aloud) of those for whom you pray.
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Together we pray.
All: God of Astonishing Mercy, Compassion and Immeasurable Love, restore our broken hearts and enliven our confidence to find new ways to revive our world to become one of peace. Amen.
(Adapted from Moral Call: a Vermont Interfaith Prayer and Remembrance Vigil)
Sending Song “This America”
Following the vigil, those who wish may carry a sign to the intersection of Buford and Hay streets, either walking or by car.
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Did you miss our April 3 Peacebuilding Online presentation with Fred Vergara? Here is the link to watch, and share!
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Did you miss our February 6 Peacebuilding presentation by Dan Hines? Here is the link to watch, and share!
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Did you miss our January 2 presentation by Dr. Catherine Meeks? Here is the link to watch, and share! Deep racial healing is at hand!
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Did you miss our December 5 presentation by the Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith? Here is the link to watch, and share! Braver Angels: learn to listen and not leave your sacred ground.
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EPF's series of free, one-hour online presentations kicks off on August 1 at 4:00 pm Eastern with the Rev. Rosalind Hughes, priest in the Diocese of Ohio and author of "Whom Shall I Fear?" Register HERE
BEING THE CHURCH IN A FEARFUL TIME
Panic buttons, locked doors, security teams in the aisles. If we can't feel safe in Church, what does that say about our community? There may be more to the fear/violence connection than first meets the eye.The Rev. Rosalind C. Hughes, author of Whom Shall I Fear? will lead us in considering lessons from Scripture and experience as we reflect together on the fears that shape our lives today.
Rev. Hughes was naturalized as a US citizen and ordained an Episcopal priest on either shoulder of a busy weekend in January 2012. Both vocations have called upon her to work for peace, and particularly for an end to gun violence. Her latest book, Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence, examines how the landscape of violence and fear affects our ability to proclaim the gospel of love and grounds itself in scripture to look for paths toward peace within and beyond the congregation.
Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence is designed to help church leaders open and guide gospel-based conversations in a fear-infested world. It assumes that, with God’s help, we can do better than to accept the landscape of violence that surrounds us and build up barriers to protect ourselves. It takes seriously the advice of Paul: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
In this presentation, Rosalind Hughes addresses the fear that would divide us and the Gospel that would unite us, and suggests a Bible-based approach to raising difficult and anxious topics in congregational-type settings to promote courageous conversation and build confidence in the possibilities of peacemaking in an unpeaceful world.
"No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear." -- Edmund Burke
"There is no passion more contagious than fear . . . or doth furiously possess all parts of a (person)." --Michel de Mongaigne
"Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world."
Richard Rohr
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