As many of us are reeling from the events that have unfolded in Charlottesville, VA – with stories, images, and reports whirling about and yet developing – words can be tough to come by. When there is so much that can be said, indeed, that must be said in the light of tragic events such as this, Karl Barth instructs us in remembering that…

To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.

It is in that spirit that Rich Villodas has drafted the following responsive prayer that he will be using tomorrow in the services at New Life Fellowship Church in New York City.

We submit this to those of you who lead congregations and communities of faith that will be gathering tomorrow, seeking to worship in the midst of the difficult emotion, confusion, and pain of today’s events and all that undergirds them and that they represent.

Lord, hear our prayer!

Here's a way for our churches to pray together after Charlottesville. Share on X

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Leader: Lord Jesus, your Kingdom is good news for a world caught in racial hostility. We ask that you would give us grace for the deep challenges facing our country.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we confess our anger, our deep sadness, and our collective sense of weakness to see this world healed through our own strength.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we honestly confess that our country has a long history of racial oppression, that racism has been a strategy of evil powers and principalities.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we confess that the gospel is good news for the oppressed and the oppressor. Both are raised up. Both are liberated, but in different ways. The oppressed are raised up from the harsh burden of inferiority. The oppressor from the destructive illusion of superiority.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we confess that the gospel is your power to form a new people not identified by dominance and superiority, but by unity in the Spirit.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we ask that you would help us name our part in this country’s story of racial oppression and hostility. Whether we have sinned against others by seeing them as inferior, or whether we have been silent in the face of evil. Forgive us of our sin.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord we pray for our enemies. For those who have allowed Satanic powers to work through them. Grant them deliverance through your mighty power.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord, we ask that you would form us to be us peacemakers. May we be people who speak the truth in love as we work for a reconciled world.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.

Leader: Lord we commit our lives to you, believing that you are working in the world in spite of destructive powers and principalities. Bring healing to those who are hurt, peace to those who are anxious, and love to those who are fearful. We wait for you, O Lord. Make haste to help us.

Congregation: Oh Lord, only you can make all things new.