DOWNLOAD INCLUDES:

• 9 pg PDF print-ready file of the poems (for you to print and distribute to members, or copy/paste for worship liturgy).
  PDF includes seven poetic prayers with the following titles and themes:

  • Joy and Celebration | You are a blessing

  • “When Will You Be Back?” | We can’t go alone

  • Harvest | Do the good that is yours to do

  • Despite It All | Hope is worth the risk

  • Lessons from the Schoolyard | Hope is worth the risk

  • “Hey Love” | Love knows your name

  • Holy & Unhindered | Don’t forget to laugh

  • Field Notes | The road isn’t straight

USES:

• Print the poems and distribute them to members in your community

• Adapt the poems as your Call to Worship or opening prayer for worship

• Use the poetry in a bible study group or Sunday school

• Use the poetry as a meditation during the sermon

• Use the poetry to inspire your own liturgy and sermon writing

• Print the poetry in your bulletin (perhaps as the bulletin cover)

EXCERPT:

You are a blessing.
If you hear nothing else,
if the wind howls,
if your brain runs amok,
if rebuttals and denials line up like little toy soldiers,
then hear this—
you are a blessing.

I knew it the first moment I met you / heard your name / learned there are 7 billion of us
on this planet.
I knew it in my bones,
the way my feet know the way home.
You are a blessing.

For our creating God
breathed life into your being.
And there is simply no way that,
along with that life,
some of God’s goodness
didn’t slip right in…

—Rev. Sarah (Are) Speed, excerpt from “Joy and Celebration”

CREDIT INFO:

When printing and sharing online or in worship, please always include the following credits:
Poem by Rev. Sarah Speed | A Sanctified Art LLC | sanctifiedart.org