Voice of the People

Delivered on July 26 by Brian Cubbage, Elder

Merciful, loving, and gracious God,

We are people of the Way, and we are on your way. But we have sought protection and salvation by taking on the trappings of Empire—its stories, its timetables, its tokens of power.

May we begin to prepare your new way. May we gather together to tell a new story: a story of liberation to captives. May our loins remain girded and our staves in hand. Help us to remain vigilant even as we tire. Help us to learn to carry with us only what we need.

We lift up in joy the birth of William Francis Carter, newborn son of Ben and Sarah Carter. May your love surround him as his life among us begins.

This day we pray for all those members and friends of our community of faith who have need.

We pray for all, in our community and in our nation, who suffer from police and state violence and the injustice of mass incarceration. We pray especially for the friends and family of Sandra Bland of Naperville, Illinois, who died in official custody in Hempstead, Texas on July 13.

We pray for all of those who endure the hatred and oppression of others on account of their race; their ethnicity; their nationality; their gender expression; their sexual orientation; their religion. We pray especially for transgender and gender nonconforming persons, who face heightened risks of violence. We lift up especially in prayer the family and friends of India Clarke, murdered this week, and the tenth transgender woman to be murdered in the United States this year.

We pray finally for all those whose joys and woes and needs are known only to you, God, that you may shelter those deep within your heart.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.