Our Prayer
This past week was filled with moments of grief for many of us. In response to our grief, our Friday Circle of Practice collectively wrote this prayer. Please pray with us.
I have no answers, only questions.

Is it denial or acceptance?

Where are you, God?

How do I honor the victims?

When I can see the end coming, what do I do? How do I say goodbye?
How do I let myself feel hope, when it might all crumble again?

How do I find the truth about why?

How am I complicit?
Where is my silence harmful?

Am I putting my head in the sand, or am I stemming my curiosity about things I don’t need to know?
How do I take care of myself, and care for the people around me?

How do we become the church, instead of being in the church?

Jesus taught us what to do by doing it.
Feed.
Heal.
Teach.
Visit.
Rest.
So go. Do that.

Sometimes I want to say, “All I can do is pray.” As if that is a small thing.
Praying for my own heart to be opened, because sometimes I hate people.
Praying for my enemies.
Praying for the person who one day may murder me.

Hear the names we offer to you, O Lord: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, and Yong Ae Yue.

For the lives that stopped in the flash of gunfire. May the names of the fallen stay on our lips. That the citizens of Acworth and Atlanta remain in our prayers as they mourn the lives lost, but also the loss of security as they go about daily life. For the children who are now afraid to be out in public.

Praying that we take our part in creating a collective love that overcomes the fear and evil which lead to violence that we don’t understand.

For the comfort and support of the families – that we acknowledge and uphold their grief.
That each act of violence open us all to a broader sense of our shared brother and sisterhood.

Leaning into trusting that God understands, far beyond our understanding, the evil we can’t explain.

God grant us the insight to understand our own complicity, and the complicity of our society for the acts of violence that are perpetrated against others.

And may the people say, “I will with God’s help.”

Lead us toward true accountability that breaks down our inner and societal barriers.

And may the people say, “I will with God’s help.”

Through the wilderness of complicity and the renewal of accountability may we embody the liberation of the Way of Love, forging freedom for all in love.

May all God’s people say, “We will with God’s help.”
Presiding Bishop Curry gave a sermon at the House of Bishops, which met virtually March 9-12, 2021. He reflects on the past year, as well as the current moment.

“When anything besides Jesus, his teaching, his way of love and his life, comes to the center of the Christian faith, the Christian faith has been abandoned, no matter how holy and sanctimonious it may look, my brothers and sisters.”
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View the March Becoming Beloved Community report presented at Diocesan Council.
Explore your personal story in the context of our weekly Gospel reading. Where do you see yourself in the story? All are welcome!
Our weekly Circles of Practice continue to meet. Join anytime!
Our diocesan-wide Sacred Ground dialogue series wrapped up on February 28. Every other week, 45 people met to discuss the film and readings-based series. Betsy Schram, co-facilitator, offers a reflection on her experience.
Spring is arriving and with it a new year of Good News Gardens ministry!
Presiding Bishop Curry describes Good News Gardens as “A way of planting seeds for a new heaven and a new earth,” in this video invitation to join with others in this transformational agrarian ministry that feeds body, mind, and spirit.
Prophetic Voices: Preaching and Teaching Beloved Community explores where dialogue about race, truth, justice, and healing intersects with our faith. You’ll hear ancient texts interpreted in new ways, find fodder for preaching and teaching, and make present-day connections to the prophetic voices of the Bible.

New episodes for Holy Week out now!

This year's Absalom Jones Annual Symposium and Worship featured an incredible panel of educators, social justice champions, and faith leaders. The program focused on the impact of racial inequities on environmental justice here in America.
Ohio Council of Churches Advocacy Day: A Day of Public Witness will take place on Tuesday, March 23. Join the Ohio Council of Churches and the Hunger Network of Ohio for a day of public witness regarding the State Biennial Budget. Budgets are moral documents that establish Ohio's priorities for the next two years. Come be inspired as we prepare for meetings with members of the Ohio General Assembly to speak against hunger, homelessness, and inequity.
Diocese of Southern Ohio
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Please email Nicole at nhershey@dsobeloved.org. Thanks!