RESPONSIVE READING
 
Let us remember all who have been harmed by violence. 
We acknowledge the strength of those who survived and of those still struggling to heal. 
 
For their sake and for ours, we commit ourselves to building each other up and to healing together. 
Let us remember the families and loved ones of those who have died in violent crimes. 
 
We acknowledge their pain and their deep grief. 
They too are part of our community and need our love and help towards healing. 
 
Let us remember the perpetrators, and the families of those who commit violent crimes. 
We acknowledge that their lives too are devastated and their hopes dashed. 
 
For their sake, and for ours, we remember that pain goes out in many directions from each act of violence. 
We will stand up to violence. 
 
We stand together expressing our unity, 
Our connection to each other and to God, 
 
Our hope for healing and for transformation. 
Let the Spirit of our Creator move through us. 
 
Help us to transform and heal our communities, 
And let us begin by transforming ourselves. 
We go in peace and with hope. Amen.
 
(adapted from “Words of Prayer,” www.godnotguns.org)

PRAYER OF CONFESSION
 
Gracious God,
We confess that in our lives we do not always choose the way of peace.  We spread gossip which fans the flames of hatred.  We are ready to make any sacrifice when the world demands, but few when God invites.  We worship the false god of security.  We are tempted to trust in locks, security systems, and guns for our protection.  We hold out one hand in friendship, but keep a weapon in the other behind our back.  We have divided our communities into those we trust and those we do not.  Huge problems challenge us in the world and in our own communities, but our greed, fear and
selfishness prevent us from uniting to solve them.  Lord, we need your help and forgiveness, your healing and reconciling power.  Help us all to lay down our weapons and take up your cross.  Amen. 
 
(adapted from National Council of Churches of Christ, “An Ecumenical Celebration of the Word,” www.ncccusa.org/2004ecumenicalcelebration.html)

A Prayer of Confession
 
O God of all people,
We know that you are as near as our next breath. 
Wherever we go, you are already there.
Thank you for creating us in your image, and claiming us as your children.
 
O Lord, we confess that we have forgotten who we are; that each of us belongs to you.
We confess that we have forsaken your peaceable kingdom, and allowed gun violence to shatter our communities.
 
Forgive us O God.
Remind us that your love is more powerful than any gun and that your spirit will sustain us as nothing else can.
Let us desire, as you desire, forgiveness rather than revenge, reconciliation rather than retribution.
 
Give us the courage to live not by the gun but by your spirit.
Open our hearts to you so that we also may open them to each other.
Guide us on the path of peace.
 
In the name of all who love you, we pray, Amen.
 
(Rachel Smith, Vigils Against Violence)

A Prayer for an End to Violence 
 
God of life, 
Every act of violence in our world, in our communities, between myself and others, destroys a part of your creation. 
Stir in my heart a renewed sense of reverence for all life. 
Give me the vision to recognize your spirit in every human being, however they behave towards me. 
Make possible the impossible by cultivating in me the fertile seed of healing love. 
May I play my part in breaking the cycle of violence by realizing that peace begins with me.  
In the name of Christ, who is our peace, Amen.
 
(adapted from St. Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace, “Prayer for an End to Violence,” www.stethelburgas.org/prayer.html)

A Prayer of Hope
 
Beloved God, we give you thanks for the life and message of Jesus, Jesus the Rebel, who remains our guide and inspiration and the promise of Hope in our time.
 
For Jesus calls us to love in a time of indifference, to nonviolence in a time of injustice, and to life in a time of death.  He teaches us not only how to live, but how to die; how to transform not only the world, but our own broken hearts, as well.  His revolution transcends all our dreams for a better world and declares your reign here and now, at this very moment in human history.  
 
In Jesus, we meet you, our beloved God.  We see your true face.  From now on we know that you are not a God of despair but of hope, not a God of wrath but of mercy, not a God of condemnation but of compassion, not a God of imperial power but of suffering, not a God of domination but of loving service,  not a God of oppression but of liberation, not a God who blesses injustice but the God of justice,  not a God of war but of peace, not a God of violence but of nonviolence,  not a God of death but of Life.  From now on we know that we all have been created to share in the fullness of life, in your love and unending mercy.
 
We step forward into the future, supporting each other, building community, making peace, practicing nonviolence, resisting the forces of war, and reconciling with our enemies, come what may.  We have met Jesus the Rebel.  He is alive and goes before us, summoning us to carry on the mission of nonviolence.  We have been changed forever.  Beloved God, you have begun the revolution within us.  Our hearts burn with the fire of Hope.  Amen. 
 
(adapted from Janet Chisholm, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, www.epfnational.org/publish/cat_index_56.shtml)