Peace Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Leading in Worship

Song of Peace Prayer

December 11, 2016

Thank you for the gift of music,
for melodies and harmonies, for voices of every pitch.
Thank you for composers and poets,
for instruments and musicians.
Music is the soundtrack of our lives,
it delights us and helps us express our deepest emotions.
You give each of us a song to sing each week:
we confess that we abandon your score,
giving up your loving notes in favour of our own tune.
We fail to harmonize with those around us.
We want to be part of the work you are composing,

A Settler Prayer for Peace

November 27, 2016

Creator God, hear our prayer for settlers everywhere;
for people living on land stolen
and traded unfairly from Indigenous peoples.
You know our cruelties, our disregard for cultures and histories,
our cavalier dismissal of treaty rights,
our personal prejudices, our institutional racism.
The colonial system is so insidious, we who benefit
often don’t even see it, even when it’s in front of our faces.
You are a God who names, and a God who hears.
You know the name of every missing and murdered indigenous woman.
You heard the cries of every child in every residential school.

Call to Freedom Call to Worship

June 27, 2015

Psalm 102:18-22 and
God of grace,
we are a people gathered together in your name.
In your name we pray, we sing,
in your company we find peace.
Bless each person who has come today
with the knowledge that they are heard.
Help us to hear your call to freedom
ringing out over all the earth. Amen.

An Everlasting Light: Prayer for Bethlehem

December 24, 2014

God of grace, today we pray for peace for the city of Bethlehem.
It has had more than its share of conflict,
as it changed from a little town

to a bustling city visited by millions each year.
You know the walls that separate people in Bethlehem;
walls of concrete, walls of prejudice, walls of hatred,
walls between Israeli and Palestinian,

walls between Jew and Christian and Muslim,
walls between cultures and languages.
We can hardly think of another place on earth
with such high walls and such deep hostility.
Yet this is where you were born:

Palm Sunday Congregational Prayer

March 16, 2012

Thank you God for your triumphal entry into our world each and every day.
The slow motion explosion of buds on the trees proclaim “Hosanna!”
Rushing water, falling from heaven, gurgling to the sea, proclaims “Hosanna!”
The fragrance of spring in the morning air proclaims, “Hosanna!”
And the beauty of a baby’s fingers, the softness of their cheek proclaims your praise!

We long to join this chorus, giving you thanks and praise for who you are,
for all you have created, all you are creating.
Thank you for sending Jesus, who showed us your love for all creation,
your love for us….

Peace with Our Own Two Hands

August 21, 2010

God of Wisdom,
As we remember the atomic blasts, the gas chambers, the killing fields,
as we remember the war machines and the military establishments,
as we remember Hitler and Pol Pot, Jim Crow and the Indian Act,
call us to account for our own whispered innuendo,
our own snubs, our own finger pointing,
our own eyes averted from injustice, our own cutting words,
our own shove, our own furtive slap.
Do not allow the grandstand atrocities to blind us to our own cruelties.
From the darkness of our bedrooms to skyscraper boardrooms,
from schools and churches to houses of parliament,
give us ears to hear your call to peace in our time,
peace with our own two hands.

The Foreseeable Future

August 21, 2010

A hymn of praise for fists uncurled!
Alleluias on our lips for ammunition abandoned!
Guns dropped, forgotten,
bombs defused, harmless!
Fervent thanks for tanks rusting,
for jet fighters permanently grounded!
This future, peace-bright,
hovers on the horizon of your kingdom.
It will dawn the day we remember
there are no soldiers—
only your children, beloved and loving,
there are no borders—

Prayer for Peace in Afghanistan

November 28, 2009

As we wait for the anniversary of your birth, Lord Jesus,

we are waiting for peace in Afghanistan.

We have created a war that goes on and on;

military operations come and go,

bombs get dropped or planted,

hospitals fill up and empty,

graveyards in Afghanistan and around the world

are visited by those who mourn.

And we have not found peace.

Saviour, where is your relief?

We need your strength and consolation.

We need release from fear and sin.

God Save the Children

November 11, 2009

God, save the children tonight.

Save them from empty stomachs and hunger pangs.

Preserve them from beatings and harsh words.

Protect them from bullets and bombs.

Shield them from sexual abuse.

Guard them from pain and disease.

Shelter them from anger and discord.

In their innocence, grant them peace.

God saves the children tonight.

Saves them when someone sends food for body and soul.

Preserves them when a neighbour intervenes….

About Carol Penner

I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.

I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com

Peace

Song of Peace Prayer

A Settler Prayer for Peace

Call to Freedom Call to Worship

An Everlasting Light: Prayer for Bethlehem

Palm Sunday Congregational Prayer

Peace with Our Own Two Hands

The Foreseeable Future

Prayer for Peace in Afghanistan

God Save the Children

About Carol Penner

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