Dearest Father-Mother God, we thank you for the fathers of our world, who, in their loving kindness, have committed themselves to peacemaking. Bless and keep them in their homes, workplaces, and in their work of healing around the world.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Father-Mother God, we thank you for our priests, Father Berto and Father Hugh, and for their example of loving-kindness in the church and the larger Orcas community.  Hold and support them, as well as our vestry and lay ministers, as they guide our church.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Father-Mother God, make peacemakers of our state and national leaders, help them to  put the welfare of our people and our precious earth above partisan concerns.  

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Father-Mother God, you remind us, through Job, to beware speaking words without knowledge. Teach us to listen with compassion to those who suffer homelessness, hunger, joblessness, sickness, injury, and injustice, that we might address their needs with humility.

In Christ we pray.

Dearest Father-Mother God, we thank you for the morning stars that sing us awake, for the very foundations of our beautiful earth.  Help us to care for it with the same respect we would bring to our own mothers and fathers, for the earth is your gift to all generations.

In Christ we pray.  

Dearest Father-Mother God, we are encouraged by your words to the disciples who were so afraid of perishing in a storm: “Peace, be still!”  We ask for calming faith and healing from our afflictions — body, mind, and soul.  Be with us and the dear family and friends we now name, silently and aloud (pause), including those on our parish prayer list: