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2 months ago

December 10 International Human Rights Day

Last Day of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence

Almighty God, who created all of humanity in your own image: Grant us grace fearlessly to contend against all forms of gender-based oppression and violence, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual; may we reverently seek justice, healing and new life for those who have been victims of such oppression and violence, seeing in all affected the very body of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Margaret Light, deacon-in-training;

The Rev. Joy Walker-Miller, a transitional deacon;

and Rev. Deacon Tracie Middleton, (Association for Episcopal Deacons),

the team of diaconal ministers serving at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Beaumont

2 months ago

December 9 --

15th Day of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence

God of wisdom, God of strength.

We are loved and accepted by you.

You see beyond our earthly woes

to the heart and soul of who we are and who you created us to be.

Help us define ourselves by love.

Help us to be wise when we approach one another and act with kindness.

Let us appreciate one another for the beauty within each of us and

for the gifts we have to share with the world.

Let us gain strength by lifting one another up and

triumphing over the pains of ignorance and damaging words.

Let our words be ones of honor and grace not hate and bigotry.

As God’s love seeps into the world, in every corner and place,

may we be open to receiving it.

May we be the momentum of harmony and reconciliation

towards a world filled with respect and dignity.

Amen

Deacon Kelly Brooks, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

2 months ago

December 7 - Day 13 in 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence

Oh God, we pray for all victims of gender violence.

Be with them as they painfully struggle for equality.

Comfort them and their families.

Hear our pleas for women,

especially those oppressed in countries where women are enslaved and treated as objects, property, mutilated and killed,

just because they are female.

Help us to be instruments of your justice.

We pray for those who are persecuted due to their sexual identity,

sexual orientation and/or gender.

Instill in them the knowledge that they are beloved children,

made in the image of God's goodness.

God, let your love engulf and empower those who are and have been persecuted,

so they may proudly be voices for change.

We pray fervently, that those in power (governing officials as well as our church leaders),

will promote and protect the rights of gender, sexually vulnerable people,

encouraging and enacting laws on their behalf, by calling a halt to abuse,

(be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual).

Call us all to be advocates on their behalf.

Remind all humanity, that God's love, calls for peace, compassion, justice, and equality.

God embraces diversity in all creation.

Continue to shine your light of compassion in the hearts of the mistreated and oppressed,

calling them to become bright beacons of hope.

Deaconess Ruth Dyer, Lutheran Diaconal Association

2 months ago

December 6 National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women (Canada)

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On this day, in 1989, 14 young women at Polytechnique Montréal (Quebec, Canada) were murdered in an act of violent misogyny. In Canada, December 6 has been declared The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

You are invited to light one, or six candles, as part of this time of remembering. We mourn over the loss of life and the violence inflicted and remember with gratitude the courage and conviction of those who work for the end of misogyny and hatred.

(Begin by lighting a candle and sitting for a moment in silence.)

Womb of Hope

We remember our foremothers

who taught us that to have faith is to have the courage

to lift up the lowly and cast the mighty to the ground.

For them we say,

We remember

(Sit for a moment of silence, option to light another candle)

Heart of Brokenness

We remember all those whose lives have ended because of male violence.

We will not forget the fourteen women who were killed in Montreal:

Genevieve Bergeron, Helene Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Maria Klucznik, Maryse Laganiere, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michele Richard, Annie St. Arneault, Annie Turcotte.

For them we say,

We remember

(Sit for a moment of silence, option to light another candle)

Embracing Compassion

We remember the women who hold the hurting,

Bind up the wounds of the victimized,

Pick up the pieces of lives lost,

And offer love to heal.

For them we say

We remember

(Sit for a moment of silence, option to light another candle)

Voice of Justice

We remember the women who dare to step forward and lead,

who challenge deeply embedded and destructive stereotypes about gender,

who accept the consequences of action with courage.

For them we say,

We remember

(Sit for a moment of silence, option to light another candle)

Bearer of Righteousness

We remember all those who

Proclaim life over death,

Hope over fear

And love over hate.

For them we say,

We remember

(Sit for a moment of silence, option to light another candle)

Amen

Caryn Douglas, Diakonia of The United Church of Canada

2 months ago

December 5

Creator God, you designed the world so that it would live in harmony.

You designed humanity and gave each a unique soul

so that we would strengthen each other and enhance each gift you gave.

But with a free will, we have abused your trust in us and

we have sinned against the earth and humanity.

We crave for your forgiving Spirit to enter us and make us whole.

Today, O God, we pray for those who suffer gender- based violence or discrimination.

Your tender heart cries with them in their pain.

May your healing Spirit tend to their wounds and heal their injuries.

May your strong presence stand with them when they confront their abusers or

share their stories.

We thank you for those who tell the stories and expose the truth.

Give them courage to persist when they are blocked.

Help them to be sensitive to those in pain and

those who dare to reveal the truth of their lives.

We pray for those who give their lives in pursuit of justice.

Forgive us, O God, for being apathetic to or ignoring gender-based violence

when it doesn’t touch our life.

The world is our neighbourhood and

we cannot remain complacent to the injustices inflicted upon sisters and brothers.

We pray for those who inflict harm upon another human being.

O God, quell their need for power and control.

We pray that one day they will confess their sin.

The future is in your hands, O God, and

we pray that soon a new generation will take a stand against violence of all kinds and your children will live in safety, peace and harmony.

We pray in the name of Jesus, the Compassionate Christ. Amen

Lynda Reid, Order of Diaconal Ministries, Presbyterian Church in Canada

2 months ago

December 4 Advent 2

Waiting God,

You are with us in this season of waiting.

We live in the midst of chaos and disorder, greed and uncertainty.

And we wait for good news.

Our brains can tell us that the birth of Christ is on the horizon.

But sometimes, it's hard for our hearts to remember.

Breathe into us, as we wait.

Breathe hope, courage, and a renewed call for justice.

Remind us that we are called to share the good news with those around us.

Remind us that we are called to share in the work of justice.

And as we wait, remind us that You are always with us.

Amen.

Deacon Gretchen Peterson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada