Sunday, June 20, 2021

CALL TO WORSHIP
Psalm 48

MUSIC
Curated by Justina Gendy
Elevation Worship - Graves Into Gardens
Worship Circle - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Bethel Music - Goodness of God
Phil Wickham - Living Hope

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY PRAYER
Written by Yelena Pakhomova

June 21st, is National Indigenous Peoples Day.
For many generations, Indigenous peoples and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on or around the summer solstice. And marking this day gives all of us living in Canada - either long-term settlers or recent immigrants like myself - a chance to acknowledge the history of this land we call home,
and to set our intentions on the individual and communal work of truth and reconciliation. As part of our worship today, I invite you to join me in a prayer with three movements: lament, repentance and solidarity.
And after each section, I will invite you into silent reflection followed by the response, in which you’re welcome to join me.

The response will go like this:
Lord, have mercy,
Christ have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.

Let us pray: Creator God,
maker of heaven and earth,
and every child,
these past weeks have confronted us with such evil,
pain and suffering that we struggle to put our feelings into words.
But we know that we cannot and must not turn away
from the truth of unmarked burial sites,
from the stories and voices of survivors.
We know that we cannot and must not allow this moment
to become just another cultural moment from which we move on.
It is right for us to stay here and grieve
with the families and communities who lost their future and their loved ones.
And so we take a moment of silence to honour the children
who never made it home.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Spirit of Truth,
keeper of wisdom,
you call us to be truth-tellers,
so, we confess our complicity in the origin of Canada.
Our stories are entwined
with the history of dehumanizing Indigenous people,
erasing their cultures and languages, and intending harm.
We confess the complicity of the Christian church in this history,
That complicity is also part of our legacy as those who profess Christ.
And so, we take a moment to be silent and to repent
as a Christian community and as people who want to be truthful
about our own racism and biases.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus the Healer,
Divine love in action,
May our lament and repentance move us
toward seeking reconciliation and mending relationships
with Indigenous people - our neighbours, our brothers and sisters.
May we resist the urge to speak and be quick to listen.
May we be open to the stories of brokenness that fill this land.
May we not deny the sins of the past and the present,
the sins of those who’ve come before us and our own.
And may we commit to doing right,
walking in solidarity, and growing in intercultural understanding.
May we do our part in this holy work, individually and as a church.
Jesus, would you help us stay true to our resolve.

We take a moment now to reflect on what solidarity can look like for us.
And we listen for a part of this prayer we can pray as our own.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Amen