Only when we recognize the divine image in one another can we build a truly just and inclusive world.
Deepening Our Engagement
A 1-minute version of the video is available on YouTube. Consider linking to it from your church website, e-newsletter, or social media.
Prayer
Gracious and Loving God,
You are the One who created all that is, shaping the universe with intention, beauty, and diversity. You breathe life through every language spoken on earth, move with grace through every culture, and dwell within every shade of human skin. From the very beginning, you chose to speak life not in uniformity, but through multitudes. You shaped humanity as a vast mosaic—each tone, each dialect, each culture bearing your image and your presence.
In this time of shifting demographics, generational transformation, and widening global connection, we offer our thanks to you. We thank you for languages both ancient and newly evolving, for cultures deeply rooted and those still emerging, and for the wide variety of human expression through which your Spirit continues to move. We give thanks for the blessing of difference, and for the even greater blessing of what it means to be in relationship with one another across that difference.
Yet, we also come with confession.
You already know the ways we have fallen short. We have inherited harmful narratives and have continued to live them out. Too often, we have valued One Specific language above other languages and equated particular race/ethnicity with what is good or acceptable. We have made assumptions about one another—based on speech, skin tone, clothing, names, or cultural practices—and have failed to recognize your image in those who are different from ourselves.
Forgive us, God.
Forgive us for every table we have left too small, every voice we have silenced or ignored, and every language we have failed to honour simply because we did not understand or refused to try. Liberate us from the myth that sameness is sacred, and from the lie that some lives carry more worth than others.
We affirm today that your Spirit is alive and active beyond our limitations. You are not confined to one era or one way of being. You speak fluently across generations and cultures—from sacred scripture to everyday conversation. You move through Arabic, Tagalog, Mohawk, Urdu, Cree, Spanish, French, Portuguese, American Sign Language, and many more languages. You are a God who is always present and never out of touch.
So we ask, O God: May your Church reflect that same expansive grace.
Let our communities of faith become places where laughter is heard in many accents, where our prayers are shaped by many rhythms, and where leadership reflects the rich diversity of your people. May our worship cross generational lines—honouring the hymns of our elders and the music that resonates with our youth. May our learning be decolonized, our theology be inclusive, and our hearts remain open to continual growth.
We know we are not yet who we are called to be, but we trust that your Spirit holds us as we become. Guide us, shape us, and encourage us to continue the journey.
Help us to unlearn what does not serve love. Help us to relearn what justice and compassion require. Teach us to walk humbly in faith—with open spirits to listen, open hands to share, and open hearts to love.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ—
the Word who became flesh,
the One who built bridges instead of walls,
the One who embraced difference and made room for all.
Thine is the One who still speaks through every voice and meets us in every language.
Amen.
Congregational Responses
- Damber shares that confronting racism needs collective action. Invite people in your community of faith to take collective action about racism and anti-racism! Before worship one Sunday, share some sticky notes or small pieces of paper, pens, and pencils. When it is time for the offering, invite people to write down an action that they think the congregation could do in response to anti-racism. Invite people to put their papers in the offering plate. Collect all the ideas and write them up. Invite a small group to read them through and decide which ideas you might do when—develop a plan! Then, in a future week, report back to the congregation the ideas and plan.
- Damber highlights the importance of love. He asks how we love, and also that our human response to racism includes justice, dignity, and love. During a gathering time or coffee hour, post some large chart papers in the room. Write: “love of neighbourhood,” “love of self,” “love of neighbour,” and “love of God” on the different papers. Invite people to move around the room and write down their ideas on how they could live out these different types of love as individuals or as a church community.
Credits
- Prayer: Damber Khadka
- Congregational responses: Adele Halliday
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