A Litany for the Work Ahead

Our Task Force on Race and Welcome has continued working diligently and faithfully.

We gave a report back to Session in January, and members of our team led our Session in this prayer. The prayer names a ecumenical group of pastors in our community who have been leaders on the road to racial justice. This was a moving moment for many of our staff, elders, and other lay-leaders.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, according to your great love. Be with us, cleanse us, renew us; wash us of our iniquity and, in your mercy, shepherd us into righteousness. (Psalm 51)

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Expectant Lord, you have created the earth and all that is in it. You have entrusted us as stewards of this bountiful world and of all her resources. You have made the abundance, diversity, and equity of your Creation to be its joy. But often we have sought too much for ourselves and not enough for our neighbor. Actively or passively, we have benefitted from processes that privilege a few rather than all. Our individual prosperity has too often come at the expense of the marginalized and the outcast.

Lord, in your mercy, make us righteous.

Revealing Light, shine into our hearts, our communities, our city, and our world. When we forget your liberation, tempted by the voices of our former Pharaohs, stop us in our tracks. Open our eyes and ears to know those who have not yet been invited to our table. Open our hearts and lives to those who have intimately known the injustice of racism – for jobs lost, loved ones imprisoned, and lives ended. Convict us of this cause, Dear Lord. Hearing the voices and powers that threaten to dehumanize your beloved children, give us the courage to, right now, say “no more.”

Lord, in your mercy, make us brave.

Loving King, you are not finished with us yet, and even now you are writing the next chapter of Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis. And we do not walk this road alone. We give you thanks for leaders, pastors, and teachers who walk with us -- for Reverends R. Janae Pitts-Murdock and Nicole Caldwell-Gross, for Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Dr Winterbourne Harrison-Jones, and others. God, remind us that the Church is not ours but yours. Just as we have found a home in you, make this community a shelter for all.

Lord, in your mercy, surround us with friends.

Maker and Friend, make us to be worthy of the calling that you have laid upon our shoulders. Give us the strength to identify our biases, and the perseverance to seek our repair. Make our refinement an act of gratitude for the life you have generously given. Right now, we are tired; clear the fog of indifference from our heads. Make our leadership an offering to the abundance, diversity, and equity of your Kingdom. Anoint our heads, our hands, and our hearts, to the building of justice. For you have called us to this moment, and you have called us for a reason.

Lord, in your mercy, build your Kingdom. Amen.