A few of the resources I gathered and created for worship at Richmond Church of the Brethren on the topic of “Welcome”.
Words and images, stories and songs, bring us into the presence of the Divine and the presence of each other. I invite you to travel with me into the land of poetry, as you hear the words of David Whyte. Listen for the Divine, as we contemplate what it means to be a stranger, and what it means to be present with humanity around us.
Two Strangers
by David Whyte
Two horses
on the wide brow of the hill
and a woman with dark hair
looking toward me
as if she knew me.
Strange and familiar
this silent togetherness,
walking the horses on the tawny heath.
Until she stops,
gathers herself
on that white
litheness and rides
toward the Black Mountains
brooding in the west.
I follow her until
we slow together
on the round
knoll, the silence
between us
like a third companion,
the clouds streaming
from us in a wide sky
and the mountains
framing her face.
My fortieth year,
and I think of time stopped
and time slipping by
and all the other faces
in all the other years
still looking and still waiting
They come to us
Flowering and fading
Through a thousand forms.
And they do not wait
until we are ready.
I remember
the dark rippled cobbles
in an ancient square
and that broken
beggar’s mouth
moving slowly,
as if to open.
That beautiful
breathless woman in blue
turning toward me
in sunlight,
and that daughter
on the flatbed truck
beseeching for her wounded
father.
The world is full
of strangers
who demand our love
and deserve it.
For their mouths
Loving or helpless.
For their eyes,
beautiful or not,
for their hair,
raven or mouse,
and their faces,
clear or clouded
by their past,
and most of all
like this one,
for her courage
who asked me,
a stranger
to join her,
two familiars
who might never
meet again
their faces
in this moment
calm and protected
from suffering,
looking from the white
manes of their
stamping horses,
pilgrims of the
timeless and untraveled,
over the wide curve
of a trembling world.
–David Whyte
Prayer
God of welcome,
God of the stranger.
We come as strangers.
We come as those who you welcome.
We come as those called to welcome.
Christ, who reached across all lines
Messiah who looked the “other” in the eyes with love.
Challenge us with your radical example of love.
Stretch us to engage the way you engage.
Humble us to receive and be.
Spirit who challenges,
Spirit who connects,
Urge us to compassion,
Break down our resistance,
Strengthen our resolve,
Tear open our hearts,
Mobilize our minds,
Flow through our bodies,
As Your
vessels who will be conduits of
welcome,
compassion,
justice
and
love.
Amen
Sharing our lives in prayer
This morning in our time of prayer, you are invited to participate in a bidding prayer. A bidding prayer creates the space for us to focus our prayers together on a few specific themes.
Today we pray together for the concerns we have on our hearts, for those in need of healing, support and care. We pray for the individuals and groups that we have walked past, judged, or failed to welcome, calling out in a spirit of confession and commitment to reach outside of ourselves with humility and welcome. And we offer our prayers of thanksgiving and hope, recognizing where God is working in the world.
I will lead us into each of these three movements, and invite you to call out a name or a sentence prayer after each movement. After each person offers their prayer, as a group we’re invited to respond “hear our prayer”.
Holy One, we recognize and welcome Your presence,
moving in us and among us, between us and through us.
We come to You with hearts that are holding—
holding the people we love who are struggling,
those close to us who are sick,
beloveds who are grieving,
and those we fervently wish healing.
God of healing, we call out to you.
HEAR OUR PRAYER
Holy One, we are humbled by your Spirit of radical welcome, love for all and courage to reach out across boundaries and cultural lines.
We confess that we have failed, individually and collectively,
to always follow in your example.
We have walked past those who are hurting,
we fail to be concisions of the inter-connected nature of our world,
we have judged those that we feel threatened by and that challenge our sense of self,
we have failed to welcome people into our lives that our outside of our comfort zone.
We call out the names of people and groups of people in a spirit of confession, knowing that you hear us and receive us—shortcomings and all. We call out to you with a renewed commitment to reaching outside of ourselves with of humility and welcome.
HEAR OUR PRAYER
Holy One, we recognize you as a God of hope, Creator of life,
Spirit of movement, renewal and resurrection.
We pray in gratitude and with steadfastness hearts,
naming the places we see you moving with life, light and hope.
In our lives, in our community, in our world.
HEAR OUR PRAYER
Holy One, hear our prayers.
For Everyone Born (sung)
For everyone born, a place at the table,
for everyone born, clean water and bread;
a shelter, a space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead.
Refrain:
And God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes God will delight when we are creators of justice, justice and joy.
For woman and man, a place at the table,
revising the roles, deciding the share;
with wisdom and grace dividing the power,
for woman and man, a system that’s fair.
For young and for old, a place at the table,
a voice to be heard, a part in the song;
the hands of a child in hands that are wrinkled,
for young and for old, a right to belong.
For everyone born, a place at the table,
to live without fear, and simply to be,
to work, to speak out, to witness and worship,
for everyone born, the right to be free.
Words by: Shirley Erna Murray, New Zealand
This song can be found at: http://new.gbgm-umc.org/resources/globalpraise/music/?i=18883
Dear Ms. Woofenden,
Have just finished reading your 10/30/11 post. “God of Welcome. God of the Stranger.” It’s beautiful.
I write to ask you for permission to print your prayer from this post in our service bulletin and to read it aloud at our November 3, 2019 Celtic Worship service at St. John’s Church in West Hartford, CT. Naturally, i would attribute the prayer in writing to you, Anna Woofenden.
Here is your prayer I would like to print and read. The format is slightly modified to accommodate our space requirements and grammar conventions:
Prayer by Anna Woofenden
God of welcome,
God of the stranger.
We come as strangers.
We come as those who you welcome.
We come as those called to welcome.
Christ, who reached across all lines
Messiah, who looked the “other” in the eyes with love.
Challenge us with your radical example of love.
Stretch us to engage the way you engage.
Humble us to receive and be.
Spirit who challenges,
Spirit who connects,
Urge us to compassion,
Break down our resistance,
Strengthen our resolve,
Tear open our hearts,
Mobilize our minds,
Flow through our bodies,
As your vessels who will be conduits of
welcome, compassion, justice, and love.
Amen
Please do let me know if you permit me to use this powerful prayer. If you have any questions and/or comments, i stand ready to receive them,
Thanks,
Sarah Kieffer
Volunteer Refugee Advocate
St John’s parishioner
West Hartford, CT