Collects for Various Occasions
Courtesy of D. Daniel
Sternbergh
- For Integrity
- For Integrity
- For Human Rights
- For Those who are Oppressed
- For Social Justice
- For Tolerance
- For Integrity
- For Joy
- For Responsible Behavior
- For Those with AIDS
- For Those who Care for Persons with AIDS and ARC
- For God's Blessing on a Covenant of Love
- 1. For Integrity
- ALMIGHTY GOD, you have called us by your prophets to bring justice to
the peoples, and have chosen us for friendship in your son Jesus Christ:
Give us grace to witness to your love with Integrity of spirit, and power
to sing a new song to you in Dignity of life; through the same Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, for
ever and ever. Amen.
- (c) 1975, The Rev. Grant Gallup
- 2. For Integrity
- GRACIOUS GOD, we pray to you for the mission and ministry of Integrity.
Grant that we, seeing the image of God in one another, may be guided in
the way of justice and truth, united in bonds of love, and strengthened to
struggle against oppression; that all lesbians and gay men may know that
peace which is the fruit of righteousness and show the power of your
love to all among whom they live; through Jesus Christ, our Lover and
Liberator. Amen.
- (c) 1987, The Rev. L. Paul Woodrum
- 3. For Human Rights
- O HOLY GOD, you love righteousness and hate iniquity:
Strengthen, we pray, the hands of all who strive for justice throughout
the world, and, seeing that all human beings are your offspring, move us
to share the pain of those who are oppressed, and to promote the dignity
and freedom of every person; through Jesus Christ the Liberator, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
- (c) 1987, The Rev. L. Paul Woodrum
- 4. For Those who are Oppressed
- O RIGHTEOUS GOD, you sent your Christ to establish the reign of justice,
on earth as in heaven: Prosper every effort to root out arrogance,
intolerance, and prejudice, and to eliminate all forms of discrimination,
degradation, and oppression; through him who died at the oppressors'
hands, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
- (c) 1987, The Rev. L. Paul Woodrum
- 5. For Social Justice
V. Give judgment for me, O Lord, for I have lived with integrity;
R. I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.
- NURTURE US, O LOVING GOD, in the dignity and worth you give to all
your creatures. Keep us in the discipline you command, that we may
respect the diversity and richness of your creation; that we may honor
the persons who come to us; that we may refuse to use or to be used
as objects of selfish gratification; and that we may work for equity and
justice for all people; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 6. For Tolerance
V. As for me, I will live with integrity:
R. Redeem me, O Lord, and have pity on me.
- BLESS US, O GOD, your gay and lesbian people, and help us to love
those who live in hatred and fear of our very existence; keep us from
the pride and prejudice which we find so burdensome in others; put
down our temptations to violence and recrimination; teach us to
understand irrational and ignorant opponents and to minister to them in
mercy and honesty; and reconcile us according to your highest demands
for integrity and uprightness, through Jesus Christ, our Reconciliation
and our Hope. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 7. For Integrity
V. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
R. For my hope has been in you.
- O GOD OUR HOPE, you make yourself known in the flesh: live in us as
surely as we have found our life in you; listen and speak through us as
persons you have made; touch and see through us as ministers of your
mercy; and love through us as witnesses of your joy; for the sake of him
who creates and empowers us now and forever. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 8. For Joy
V. Let the faithful rejoice in triumph;
R. Let them be joyful on their beds.
- O GOD OUR CREATOR, you created us in love to rejoice in your creation.
You gave us sex with which to bless loving. You gave us life to share
in making love happen. Free us from the fear of commitment and from
the guilt of enjoyment, that we may be most truly ourselves and most
fully your people; for the sake of him who lives in our flesh. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 9. For Responsible Behavior
V. Our soul waits for the Lord;
R. He is our help and our shield.
- KEEP US FAITHFUL, O GOD, to our duty of love; make us responsible for
the proper use of our hearts and bodies; fill our minds and souls with
your wisdom and peace; and give us the courage of sincere commitment
to you and to those we love. Help us to communicate the knowledge of
safer sex practices without judgment or superiority, and keep us
responsible to our own health and that of others, through our Savior
Jesus Christ. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 10. For Those With AIDS
V. In my integrity you hold me fast,
R. And shall set me before your face forever.
- MOST MERCIFUL GOD, you hold all souls in life: look upon your servants
NN, and all who lie in pain and fear because of AIDS. Keep them in your
presence, O God, where no evil can abide; minister to them your love
through us and all who love them; treat them gently through the nurses
and doctors and those committed to their care; and bring them and us all
into new and glorious life forever, through Jesus Christ who offered
himself for us. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 11. For Those who Care for Persons with AIDS and ARC
V. No good thing will the Lord withhold
R. From those who walk with integrity.
- BIND UP, O GOD, the broken hearts of those who offer themselves to the
love and care of persons with AIDS and ARC; ease the burdens of those
who suffer with the suffering; encourage those whose spirits flag; give
hope to those who waver in despair; and reveal your Son in the flesh to
those with AIDS and ARC; for his sake, and ours. Amen.
- (c) 1985, The Rev. James K. Taylor
- 12. For God's Blessing on a Covenant of Love
- MOST LOVING GOD, we thank you for consecrating our union of love
and we pray that, our wills being knit together in your will, our spirits in
your Spirit, we may be graced with your wisdom in the ordering of our
common life, in strengthening one another in sorrow and in joy, and be
so fulfilled in our mutual affection, that our home may be a haven of
blessing and peace for all with whom we are bonded in a common
humanity; through Jesus Christ, our way, our truth, and our life. Amen.
- (c) 1987, The Rev. L. Paul Woodrum
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Last updated 16 January 1996
Kate Monteiro, ac210@osfn.rhilinet.gov