Invocation of Celebration and Lament

This invocation was written for a 2019 Ecumenical Leader’s Gathering at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Center honoring the life of Rev. Robina Winbush. It was read by Dr. Kathryn Johnson, representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Feel free to use with credit.

As we gather together in this space to celebrate God’s work through the lives of God’s diverse peoples, let us bring the whole of ourselves to God.

Sustaining Spirit,
We thank you for the ways in which you move among us, holding us together in times of celebration and sorrow. In the moments when we can see your vision of the world so close at hand and in the times when the work seems long and hard.
Fill us with a breath of hope.
Stir us to seek love in community.
Remind us that in all things that have been and are to come, you are the foundation from which we go into the world as your disciples.
Amen.