God of comfort and refuge, we look to you in times of trouble.
Someone has been lost whom we hold dear.
Lord, we feel emptiness and sadness at the death of the Rev. Dr. Autura Eason-Williams,
and we pray for you to comfort us with your faithful presence.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Creator God, you formed us in your own image, an image of love and grace.
You have called us to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you.
Surround us with your divine presence as we mourn and weep
in the face of yet another death by gun violence.
Lord, in your mercy, make us instruments of your justice and peace.
For the family and loved ones of Dr. Eason-Williams,
for her husband Darrell,
for her children Ayanna, John, TJ, and Gwendolyn,
and for all whose hearts are heavy with the shock
and grief of this horrible tragedy, we pray.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Lord, in her life, Autura was deeply committed to her faith in you.
Answering the call you placed on her heart with passion and conviction,
she ministered to the world as her parish with an abiding love
for Christ and for those whom Christ loves.
For the great void her sudden loss leaves in our shared ministry,
for the people called United Methodist in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference,
and for the churches of the Metro District, we pray.
Lord, in your mercy, make us instruments of your justice and peace.
Jesus, Dr. Eason-Williams was known to us as our
District Superintendent, a spiritual and pastoral leader in our midst, and her death is difficult for us.
Yet, over 100 people are shot and killed in our nation every day. We cry out, “My God, My God, why?”
Still, we pray, and we yearn for change. For every one of your beloved children whose life has been taken, for all whose lives have been changed forever by the lasting trauma of gun violence, for those whose names and lives and stories we do not know, but who are known and loved by you, Jesus, we pray.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of Mercy, we pray this day even for the persons responsible for this violence,
confessing that this is not easy or comfortable for us to do.
Lord, you know the deep pain and hardship that have twisted
these young people’s lives away from your love and towards such senseless violence and evil.
We pray for their families, who are also experiencing grief and pain and anger,
struggling as they wonder how things could have been different.
For all your children who are hurting this day, send help.
Lord, in your mercy, make us instruments of your justice and peace.
Jesus who once burned with righteous anger,
Jesus who wept at his friend’s death,
Jesus who cried out to his Father when he felt abandoned,
be with all of us this day.
Help us to know that it is okay to feel angry,
to feel numb, to feel far from you,
to feel grief in any of its many forms.
Be with us, Lord. Hear our prayers and the sighs of our spirits too deep for words.
Be near to us.
Remind us, as Autura so often did, that we are held in the grip of God’s grace.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Make us instruments of your justice and peace,
And give to us the grace to labor for the things for which we pray.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
A heart of grateful thanks is expressed to Rev. Angela Wells, whose "Litany to Pray in the Wake of Gun Violence," helped give form to this lament.
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