Spirit of Life and Love, God of Many Names,
we gather in awareness of the opportunity before us as Unitarian Universalists.
We have been given many chances before today to heal the wounds of the racism and oppression that have beset our denomination for many years,
and held us back from realizing the inherent worth and dignity of all Unitarian Universalists.
We have made some progress but we still have a long way to go.
We have an opportunity today to renew our commitment to this work and we embrace it fully and thankfully. We come together to listen to the voices of those whose contributions to our faith have been neglected for far too long. We welcome them home into a new Unitarian Universalism – into a faith that embraces and includes all of us…. and brings us closer to the Beloved Community of which we dream.
We know we have much work to do; that everyone has a role to play if we are to live fully into our principles and achieve our highest aspirations.
We pray for healing of the wounds of the past and present.
We pray for open hearts and minds that we may envision what is possible.
We pray for the courage not only to speak up,
but also to listen, even when the words are hard to hear.
We pray for compassion and understanding.
We pray for resilience and determination and for the fearlessness to take risks,
to make mistakes and to keep trying.
In gratitude for the opportunities we have been given and the promise of what we can achieve together… and in the name of all that is holy, we say amen.