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Becky Knight, Guest Liturgist and Outreach Committee

Eternal God—we thank you for the wonders of everyday—for moonlight across water, for sunrise and sunset—for the expansive blue of Lake Michigan, for summer flowers and green, growing things. God of laughter, love, music, love, and friendship—we thank you for these gifts of ordinary life.

How grateful we are for this place of worship—for the quiet of the sanctuary—and the active sounds of this church in motion—for all the parts that make up the whole—for the work of every hand, for worship and prayer, planning and leadership, for the setting up, and the cleaning up—for the ones who came before us throughout the generations. We thank you for the community and connection we have found here.

Loving God today we celebrate and thank you for our fathers for grandfathers—for those who have been like fathers to us—for the steady, strong, and affirming love that enables growth.

We also pray your solace to those who miss or mourn their fathers, who long to be fathers, or for those who have not experienced the blessing of a loving father—we pray for those who feel fatherless.

Please Loving God, be present for those living where violence and guns are not an issue to discuss, but a real threat to everyday life. Please be with those who don’t know where they will sleep tonight, are not sure where they will eat, or how they will adequately feed their children. Please be present to the hurting, the lonely, to those in pain, alongside those who are grieving and vulnerable, to the anxious, helpless, or hopeless.

Please look with compassion O loving God on all who suffer.

Motivate and inspire us to reach out in welcome, comfort and support, sharing our plenty with others.

Humbly we ask that you might renew us, the world, and this nation in your ways of justice and peace. Help us to listen intently, to speak respectfully, and to seek harmony.

Please restore in us gracious God, a love for the earth and help us live in balance with all of your creation.

And with all that you have provided for us, we ask that you continue to give us strength, patience, a sturdy faith—and a daily awareness and joyful gratitude for all your extravagant and tender mercies.

We hold fast to your promise always to be near us, as we join our voices as one to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father…Amen.

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