Affirming Litanies and Prayers
Inclusive Liturgy
Bringing Hope and Love to Today's Churches
Pentecost Litany
Inclusive Liturgy
Litany (This may be adapted into a prayer or call to worship as well)
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One: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together, all with one purpose, men and women alike, teaching, praying, thinking... choosing who would walk with them on the journey ahead.
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Many: We are also planning, hoping, wondering, waiting— They were gathered together, each with their own thoughts and their own experiences, just like us.
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One: They had been chosen from different walks of life.
Before their calling, they had not shared worship or theology or dreams, but God knew their hearts, and they were drawn together into a community of believers.
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Many: Just as we are drawn together—unique, yet all made in the image of God.
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One: And a wind moved through the room, and tongues as of fire moved to each person, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the promise of God to send a presence, a Holy Presence, to fill our souls and give voice to dreams and visions, to turn one common voice into tongues of many, not to divide, but to include the foreign as well as the native.
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Many: Just as we bring together the familiar with the yet to be known by us—yet all known by God.
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One: And people were astonished at this occurrence, this noise in the room they labeled as drunkenness, and some questioned, “Can this be of God?” Yet Peter knew the answer as he proclaimed that this was an ancient promise now being fulfilled in that time, in that room, with those people—the promise that the Spirit of God would never stop giving voice and hope to the gathered faithful.
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Many: Just as the Spirit gives us our voice to proclaim hope to those gathered today— just as we find our courage to call out to the Spirit to bring new voices to our gathering. When others question if the Spirit guiding us through these times of change is of God, we continue to embrace the ancient promise of love and grace for all of God’s children.
One: And what appeared to be chaos was a Holy Spirit-filled stirring that brought awe to those gathered and gave those in the room a renewed vision for what togetherness could look like, and they saw the shared gifts of all the people, and they recognized the goodness in the ones in the fellowship, the group that now poured from the room and into homes and into new communities.
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Many: Just as we extend our fellowship to those outside of our church walls.
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One: What once was seen as group with shared experiences with Jesus now became a fellowship that poured across gender lines and national boundaries, moved across skin tones and races and identities and became a fellowship that was one built from the many, and the Spirit moved with many and with the one, and allowed the gifts of each one to be shared with the body of the fellowship.
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Many: Just as we recognize the unique gifts of our diverse members and are blessed by each.
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One: And the Spirit still moves within our fellowship and draws the many into one—the transgender and cisgender, the male, female, and nonbinary members, those who love across identities, those who choose singleness, those who reflect the diversity of the home in which they learned to claim and embrace their beauty and wholeness—we bring our voices given by the Spirit and celebrate both our oneness and our diversity, and we open doors to hope and healing for all.
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Many: Just as the Spirit tossed open doors that day and grew the fellowship with one breath of love.
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One: We proclaim today the day the Spirit reawakens our souls. We proclaim today the day the Spirit lifts our voices of hope and love.
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Many: We proclaim today the day the Spirit breathes new life into our fellowship. We proclaim today the day the Spirit lifts up the dreams of all who walk with God. We proclaim today the day the Spirit reminds us of the blessing of the uniqueness of each member—
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One: The day the Spirit teaches us to grasp the beauty of the Holy Spirit-filled stirring others may call chaos—the day that each voice is raised up and brought a message of hope and love so different that the world calls it drunkenness, yet God calls it blessed—a day that breaks the norms of expected religious gatherings and becomes the new dance of the generations of faithful moving through the world with God’s Spirit.
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Many: Amen and amen.
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Chris Pepple © 2021
Pride Pentecost Litany
In the time of uncertainty and unclear paths,
we gather in common spaces wondering together
what the path forward holds for us.
We can’t imagine what steps to take forward
because our thoughts are limited by our own experiences.
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We cry out together to God, This is Your movement—we wait for Your move.
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As we cling to our faith and hold on to hope,
we begin to see God’s movement in our space.
We feel the breath that first moved through the room with Peter and the other apostles also clinging
to their faith and seeking answers for the future.
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They cried out together in new tongues,
This is Your movement, God—this must be Your move.
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And they were filled with a Spirit that came in as flames
and brought the light of renewed hope and brought
the voices of the dreams of all who had believed before
and all who dreamed new dreams of where faith could lead and they spoke with new voices and saw new visions of hope.
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And they cried out with their new Spirit-filled souls, This is Your Spirit, God—this must be Your voice.
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As this Spirit breathes new hope into our souls, we, too, see the faith of all of those who have gone before us and of all who walk with us now and who speak with tongues that tell us in their own unique ways who they are as we also proclaim our identity and our voices and our inclusive faith and see the Spirit of our Holy Creator in all gathered here.
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And we cry out together with our Spirit-filled voices, This is Your gift, God—we speak with Your voice.
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As we claim this gift of the Spirit, we celebrate the beginning of new hopes, new dreams, and new paths to follow—
the continuation of an ancient faith that fills a new generation. We accept the voice and the wisdom of the Spirit as we look into the eyes of those standing with us
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And proclaim together with a new vision of the path forward, this is your movement—this next move is yours to take with God.
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​Chris Pepple © 2021
Because I Love
Because I Love
I will meet you where you are...
Because I love,
I will offer you a seat at the table...
Because I love,
I will listen as you tell me your story...
Because I love,
I will offer compassion to you as we share conversations...
Because I love,
I will see the Light in you and recognize the gifts you have to offer...
Because I love,
I will be a bearer of grace to myself and to others, acknowledging that we all have growing edges and moments when we have interrupted the building of community rather than strengthening the community we gather in...
Because I love,
I will keep good thoughts and good energies in the forefront of my mind and heart rather than allowing them to be buried by the circumstances around me or past habits that pulled me away from the path of compassion...
Because I love,
I will be a life-long learner, willing to see and hear others while opening myself to personal growth. Amen.
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Chris Pepple © 2022
Compassion
The more that I live out this reality that compassion is a superpower we need in this world,
the more I will be able to connect with others living compassionate lives.
We are more compassionate together
and can be sources of light and hope in this world.
The light from our compassion can weave through the darkness,
bringing hope and light to others.
We must embody compassion daily
if we are to bring peace to this world in need of change.
When I connect with the light that is behind the dark clouds,
I am reminded that the struggles and pain don't define me or others.
The light defines me.
Love defines me.
Compassion defines me.
I can pray with every breath and remember that I can live in the light,
and I can see the light in others and help spark the light in those who cannot see their own. Amen.
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Chris Pepple © 2022
Joining the Jubilee
(Leviticus 25:10)
Call the people from across the land
Sound the ram’s horn now.
Call us to hear the voices of today--
The young, the old, the tired, the hungry,
The homeless, the lonely, the oppressed, the enslaved.
And for those voices declare this time sacred
And it shall be a jubilee for you.
Call all people to arise
Sound the ram’s horn now.
Call us to see the sights of our times--
All of the struggling, all of the dying,
All of the crying children of God.
And for those visions declare this time sacred
And it shall be a jubilee for you.
Call all people to freedom
Sound the ram’s horn now.
Inaugurate our search for justice--
Our search for answers pulsing through our lands.
Call us to search together hand-in-hand.
And for this searching declare this time sacred
And it shall be a jubilee for you.
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Chris Pepple © 1993
Dreamer of Dreams
(In Memory of All We Lost to AIDS)
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I will miss you,
dreamer of dreams,
the one who taught me
to look past
what others misunderstand
and reach out
despite what others fear
and to hear
those who are silenced
and see all that is good
and all that is possible
Yet, we lost your possibilities
and the visions you saw
when you could look
at a blank space
and see hope and color
and you created beauty
from nothingness
just as our
Holy Creator did
in the beginning of time
And this should have been
your beginning,
this time of youth
that became your time
to leave us here without you
But I will remember
and hold on to all
of the goodness you brought
and I will remember your
courage as you
spoke your truth
and discovered yourself
and defined your life
and redefined family
and loved ever so deeply
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You spoke truth
boldly and loudly
when the world
wanted you and
those you loved silenced,
and when they feared you
and blamed you,
you still found love
and created communities
where all could
be cared for and known,
and you showed grace
to those of us who loved you
and brought joy and laughter
into a suffering community
and your music still echoes
through my heart and soul
as I carry your name with me
and know that God always
had your name etched
in the palm of God’s hand…
forever and always,
to the generation
and the lives
that will never be
truly lost
because we will
remember.
I love you.
–Chris Pepple ©2021
Transgender Day of Visibility
Today let’s all rise up and
celebrate visibility for the ones braver than those
who deny you,
stronger than the ones
who want you to hide,
more loving than the ones who
seek their own self-interests...
I see you
I love you
I stand with you
I march for you and with you
because you are undeniably real,
you are co-creators of hope
and designers of joy
and light bearers in this world
as you carve the path for your
own belonging through the rock walls designed to deny you your rights,
but you go forward
with strength and with love
and I see you.
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—Chris Pepple @2022
Silent Night
A Christmas Eve Litany
Holy One, we come together tonight to remember Your works in this world—
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We are remembering the birth of the One who loves us enough to be present with us—
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The One who gave up privilege to understand the whole of humanity—to feel pain as those who suffer do, to feel misunderstood as those who are marginalized do, to cry as those who grieve do, and to walk the same paths as those who seek hope do—
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We are remembering the miracle of Jesus’s birth and the diverse community who gathered to celebrate the hope and love that was born that night—
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The shepherds, the angels, and the even lost wanderers who stumbled onto the scene seeking the light on the dark and silent night.
Holy One, You know our hearts.
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You know the journey we have been on and the journey ahead of us.
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During this advent season, we remember the journeys of Mary and Joseph, of the shepherds, and of the Wise Men and all who traveled with them.
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All were restless and waiting—they were searching for answers in themselves, through each other, through friends and family, and even in the stars. They waited until the answer came on that silent and holy night.
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As we journey forward, grant us peace during the silence when we are searching for a purpose, looking for answers, and sitting with uncertainty.
Holy One, You meet us here in the waiting and in the silence. You meet us when we feel uncertain about what our world will look like today, tomorrow, and into the future.
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You meet us when we are waiting for someone to hear us and understand us and love us. You meet us when we are waiting for hate to stop and love to swoop down and bring an everlasting peace for all people in our communities.
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You meet us in waiting rooms when the news isn’t good and in wedding venues when our true love says, “I do.” You meet us in Pride marches and Black Lives Matter vigils and on Native American lands and in nations fighting for freedom.
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You meet us when we have no idea what we are waiting for because we can’t even picture what joy and love would look like because it has been so long since we felt safe in our homes and in our communities.
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But you, Holy Mother, hold us and comfort us just as Mary held her newborn baby after waiting so long for the moment of his birth. You wait with us.
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You understand the hurt from a hope overdue.
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You wait with us.
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You empower us to be the ones to bring hope into our communities.
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You wait with us.
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You bring love and light. Let us carry that love and light with us through this season and beyond. Amen.
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—Chris Pepple @2022
Advent and Waiting
Advent—a time to wait, a time to prepare
Advent—a time to hold on to hope, a time to believe love wins
Advent—a time to celebrate the One who was born into this world on a silent, holy night generations ago, the One who brought us a perfect example of love, the One who taught us how to listen, the One who spoke with patience and respect, the One who taught us what holy anger looks like when greed was disguised as love and hope
Advent—a time to see true love and hope in us
Advent—a time to believe that healing is possible and that hope will return and that love will overcome injustices and that grace will allow us to grow from the failures of the past to claim a better tomorrow
Advent—at time to prepare ourselves to be co-creators with the Holy One to redesign this world in a way that brings the love and joy, the peace and grace, and the justice and hope of the Holy One into every community on this earth.
For hours, we have waited…
For months, we have waited…
For years, we have waited…
For generations, people waited…
…for this moment to declare that love is born anew in this season.
—Chris Pepple ©2022
Inclusive Blessing of the Meal
For this occasion, when we are gathered around the table, we acknowledge the blessings of the moment, the blessings that we have experienced in the past, and the blessings we trust are to come. We are thankful for the blessing of love and all the many ways it is shown. We are thankful for nourishment—for the nourishment from the food and for the nourishment we give and receive from each other that encourages us and brings us hope. We are thankful for the gifts of laughter and joy. Our family and friends and community members share the joy with us on our journeys and bring us healing laughter that echoes through our lives and brings a memory to be cherished. As we share this meal, let us be grateful for the memories of joy and laughter we bring to the table, and let us be bearers of love and hope for the people here and for the people we will meet on our journeys ahead.