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The following appears in the 2022 African Descent Ministries Annual Report to remember the nine members of Emanuel American Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 2015. The liturgy was written by Jia Starr Brown.
Correlating Scriptures:
- a.Mark 4:1-20 (the scripture worshippers were studying the night of the shooting)
- b.Psalm 46:1-6,10 (God is our refuge and strength)
- c.Psalm 13 (“How Long, O Lord?”)
Explanation of the day
On June 17, 2015, a white supremacist (and fellow Lutheran) named Dylan Roof walked into Emanuel American Methodist Church, known to be the oldest African American churches in the southern United States. Congregation members, in the middle of a Bible Study, welcomed Dylan; as soon as they bowed their heads for prayer he opened fire, killing nine.
Grief abounds. Like the first Last Supper, friends gathered around the Bread on that heartwrenching day, unaware that life – and meals – would forever be altered. On this day, we gather for the anniversary lament of fallen humanity in our world. This annual repast meal brings us together in thankfulness for models of such holy hospitality, to remember and mourn spilled Blood that still matters, and to recommit our love and ministry to collective liberation for all.
Benediction:
As we leave this place, may we share the same peace and love that Jesus shares with us.
May we look and perceive.
May we hear and understand.
May we turn and be forgiven. (Mark 4:12b)
Amen. May it be so.
Prayer of Confession:
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and one another.
Creator God,
You lovingly created every person in Your beautiful image. We confess that we have not loved and protected Your beloved creation well. Racism and hate continue to blossom, disfiguring Your beautiful and divine plan for human life.
Help our unbelief, O God, in the realities of racism and oppression; remove the scales from our eyes and our hearts. Forgive us for our participation, both knowingly and unknowingly, in its flourishing. Give us the courage to remember and share these true stories of cruelty and injustice, and those who, because of it, lost their lives and freedom. Grant us determination and an accountable community to interrupt these unjust systems. Help us to use our voices, our agency, and our faith to advocate for justice.
Amen.
Communion Prayer:
God of the Oppressed,
You desire for all people to be liberated and whole. We believe that wherever there are broken spirits or broken bodies, You are there. We believe that Your love flows for us just as Your tears fall with ours in the midst and memory of racialized violence.
We thank You for this holy table that makes room for the myriad of emotions that fall underneath the stormy umbrella of lament. May the blood of Jesus cover and heal all of the scars and wounds incurred from bigotry and hatred.
As the world selectively observes and scrutinizes, we are grateful for Your ever present witness. Thank You for the holy conviction to embody the liberating gospel that embraces each one of us every single day. Revive us, O Lord.
Renew us, and ready us for the work of anti-racism. Amen.
Intercessory Prayer:
Thank You for filling our world with a beautiful array of diverse people and voices. Inspire in us an appreciation for all of humanity, and to see Your face in
those who differ from us.
God, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for Your Church, broken and riddled with the burdensome history of its involvement in the perpetuation of hate, and the violence that it creates.
Heal us, O Lord, by granting us the courage to name and address our mistakes.
God, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for our institutions, infused with the DNA of institutional racism at every turn. Inspire in both educators and leaders both wisdom and community to dismantle the rusty and rusted frameworks that continue to condone and enforce subjugation.
God, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray for all lives affected by racism. We lament the lives altered and the lives lost to racialized violence. Help us to remember their names and their stories. May their loved ones experience holy unexplainable peace in the midst of this turbulent storm.
God, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
We ask for Your help in remembering the names and stories of. Help us to carry and continue their hope for collective justice and liberation for everyone.
Into your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
