Prayers of Adoration & Confession

Watch or 12:42

Prayer of Adoration
Our land is alive with the glory of God;
desert sands hum and gum trees dance.
Brown grasses sing
and mountains breathe their stillness.
All created things add their rhythms of delight
and even stones rap out their praise.
Let our voices mingle with those of the earth; may our hearts join the beat of her joy,
for our triune God is with us:
the Source of all being surrounds and upholds us.
Christ Jesus walks beside and before us.
The Spirit moves within and between us.
Blessed be God, our wonder and delight.Amen

(from UCA Uniting in Worship)

Time of Confession
Now is a time for confession for Second Peoples’, whilst acknowledging the presence of any First Peoples here today. We will do this by listening to & reflecting upon a powerful First nations poet

VIDEO: Steven Oliver – An Acknowledgement Of | Live on Q+A.mp4

God of Grace, we acknowledge before you all that needs healing in us and in our land. Hear our prayer, grant us the forgiveness that empowers change. In the name of Jesus, compassionate healer. Amen.

Declaration of Forgiveness
This is the best of all:
when we are empty, God fills us;
when we are disheartened, God is compassionate;
when we are wounded, God brings healing;
when we take responsibility,
and commit to heal the wrongs we and our ancestors have done or benefitted from,
God forgives.

In Christ, through Christ and because of Christ, we are forgiven.
Thanks be to God. Amen

offered for worship by Claire Foley and Jenne Perlstein, 29/01/2023, Day of Mourning

Prayers of the people

Watch or 1:03:47

“This is the time we bring our joys and concerns to God. Today I will share a spoken prayer, and after that I will take the candle to the back, you are welcome to light a taper and offer your personal prayers during the last hymn or at the end of the service”.

Loving, grieving God.
There are many things to be held in our hearts as we reflect and pray today.
Too many to name or do justice to…
But as we sit with you, we know and trust that you see all. For those people and things both named and unnamed, in our words and our hearts, we pray.

For many in our community, this is a time of deep grief and pain – felt whilst many others celebrate.
For those who have been struggling – we pray for comfort, peace and rest.

During this anniversary of invasion, we also remember the beginning of a long history of suffering and loss for First Nations peoples.
A history of stolen culture and Country…
Of genocide…
Of slavery, indentured servitude and stolen wages…
Of assimilation, and stolen children…

We also acknowledge this history of suffering that continues today.
Sacred sites that are disrespected and destroyed…

Atrocious inequalities in health, housing, life expectancy and incarceration…
Lives lost in custody…
Young lives taken while walking home from school…

Alongside each of these injustices, there are stories. People.
We pray for Cassius Turvey and his family, and all kids who do not feel safe simply walking down the street.
We remember Uncle Archie Roach and Uncle Jack Charles, and all those stolen from their families, their culture.
Our hearts ache for the families of Tanya Day, Wayne Fella Morrison, David Dungay Jr… lives taken too soon, in custody.
And for many more unnamed, but known to you – those who have had their culture, land, names, identities, health, families and lives taken from them – we pray.

God of justice, we also recognise the incredible strength and leadership of First Nations peoples in the fight for justice, and their surviving and thriving cultures.
May these be respected and celebrated by all who live in these lands now called Australia.

Please help the hearts and minds of all second peoples be opened to the human stories of our past and our present, and help us to listen deeply to the wisdom and leadership of First Nations peoples, so that we might all work with love towards finding true justice, healing and conciliation.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, your son and our brother,

Amen.

Abi Benham-Bannon, offered for worship 29/01/2023, Day of Mourning