Opening Music
“Wade in the Water”
Greeting
Welcome to the journey. Make it your home.
Here Love unbinds chains confining
removes labels defining,
relieves fear’s undermining.
You are welcome to the journey.
Make it your home.
Prayer
When slaves are taken and wars are waged to deny freedom to others, Mother God cries:
Let my people go!
When religion is used to justify terror, when power is used to destroy,
When hatred and suspicion overpower love and acceptance, Father God mourns,
Let my people go!
When innocents are beheaded and school children are taken by radicals as political pawns, Sophia God weeps,
Let my people go!
When Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. Oscar Romero, Harvey Milk, the five women martyrs of El Salvador; Ita, Joan, Dorothy, Maura and Jean, and countless others, both known and unknown, are assassinated because of their courageous stance for freedom and justice for all, Spirit God moans,
Let my people go!
Song
“Go Down Moses”
Reading
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”
“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”
“Twant me, ’twas the Lord. I always told him, ‘I trust to you. I don’t know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,’ and He always did.”
“When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.”
“There was one of two things I had a right to: liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would take the other, for no man should take me alive. I should fight for liberty as long as my strength lasted.”
“God’s time is always near. He gave me my strength and he set the North Star in the heavens; He meant I should be free.”
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” ― attributed to Harriet Tubman
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all are created equal.”
I have a dream that someday my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream that one day every Valley shall be exalted, and every hill and Mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a sense of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
Prayer
In a world where prejudice and power have joined hands to elevate one people at the expense of another,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where the heritage of slavery is still active in people’s lives,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where the evils of hatred and fear infect public discourse and private thought,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where women and girls live with overt and subtle violence at the hands of others and vulnerable are left in danger,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer, intersex, asexual, and questioning people are denied the freedom to live, to love, to work and to create a family,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where we see only disability, and the person remains invisible,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where it is too easy to look away from those who may be homeless, undocumented or refugees,
We pray for reconciliation.
In a world where people, just because they are different, evoke fear and contempt,
We pray for reconciliation.
Sung Lord’s Prayer
Song
“Swing Low Sweet Chariot”
Prayer
O God we are grateful that you call up every person to walk the walk, to confess our complicities, to dare the confrontations.
To sing our faith, to brave the work, to make the sacrifices, to organize the community and to ease the hate.
Keep us faithful to that promise, your dream, for Christ’s sake and for ours.
Amen.
Sending
Sending Forth;
As you go out into the world this night,
Gather the tools you need;
Make your decision at the crossroads;
Be ready to dress up in cotton and satin bowties;
Prepare to double back on your tracks as you follow the star;
Build your safe house;
And always, always remember
You stand on the shoulders of those who came before you
in the fight for freedom, justice and wholeness for all.
Safe House Song
“Draw the Circle Wide”
Worship Notes:
prayers are adapted from the Season of Reconciliation, Church of the Redeemer, Morristown
Drew Theo Chapel 