Prayers in Honor of African American History Month

Morning Worship

San Francisco Theological Seminary

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Montgomery Chapel

A Prayer Service Honoring

African-American History Month

Welcome Chaplain Charles Marks

*Call to Worship

O, Lord we come this morning

Knee-bowed and body-bent

Before thy throne of grace.

O Lord – this morning –

Bow our heads beneath our knees,

And our knees in some lonesome valley.

We come this morning --

Like empty pitchers to a full fountain,

With no merits of our own.

O Lord – open a window to heaven,

And lean out far over the battlements of glory,

And listen this morning.

from “Listen Lord A Prayer,” by James Weldon Johnson (1927)

*Hymn (attached) Standin’ in the Need of Prayer

Prayer of Confession

Lord, have mercy on proud and dying sinners—

Sinners hanging over the mouth of hell

Who seem to love their distance well.

Lord – ride by this morning –

Mount your milk-white horse,

And ride-a this morning—

And in your ride, ride by old hell,

Ride by the dingy gates of hell,

And stop poor sinners in their headlong plunge. Amen.

from “Listen Lord A Prayer,” by James Weldon Johnson (1927)

Assurance of Pardon Hymn VU #612 There Is a Balm in Gilead

Scripture Reading Isaiah 63:7-14

⁷I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that God has shown them according to God’s mercy, according to the abundance of God’s steadfast love. ⁸For God said, “Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely”; and God became their savior ⁹in all their distress. It was no messenger or angel but God’s presence that saved them; in God’s love and in God’s pity God redeemed them; God lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved God’s holy spirit; therefore God became their enemy; God fought against them.

¹¹Then they remembered the days of old, of Moses God’s servant. Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who put within them God’s holy spirit, ¹²who caused God’s glorious arm to march at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for Godself an everlasting name, ¹³who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. ¹⁴Like cattle that go down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

A Reading “Credo” by W.E.B. DuBois

I BELIEVE in God who made of one blood all races that dwell on earth. I believe that all people of all races are kin, varying, through Time and Opportunity, in form and gift and feature, but differing in no essential particular, and alike in soul and in the possibility of infinite development.

Especially do I believe in the Negro Race; in the beauty of its genius, the sweetness of its soul, and its strength in that meekness which shall yet inherit this turbulent earth.

I believe in pride of race and lineage and self; in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves; in pride of lineage so great as to despise no one’s mother and father; in pride of race so chivalrous as neither to offer bastardy to the weak nor beg wedlock of the strong, knowing that all may be brothers and sisters in Christ, even though they be not brothers- and sisters-in-law.

I believe in Service -- humble reverent service, from the blackening of boots to the whitening of souls; for Work is Heaven, Idleness Hell, and Wage is the "Well done!" of the Master who summoned all that labor and are heavy laden, making no distinction between the black sweating cotton-hands of Georgia and the First Families of Virginia, since all distinction not based on deed is devilish and not divine.

I believe in the Devil and his angels, who wantonly work to narrow the opportunity of struggling human beings, especially if they be black; who spit in the faces of the fallen, strike them that cannot strike again, believe the worst and work to prove it, hating the image which their Maker stamped on the souls of their brothers and sisters.

I believe in the Prince of Peace. I believe that War is Murder. I believe that armies and navies are at bottom the tinsel and braggadocio of oppression and wrong; and I believe that the wicked conquest of weaker and darker nations by nations whiter and stronger but foreshadows the death of that strength.

I believe in Liberty for all people; the space to stretch their arms and their souls; the right to breathe and the right to vote, the freedom to choose their friends, enjoy the sunshine and ride on the railroads, uncursed by color; thinking, dreaming, working as they will in a kingdom of God and love.

I believe in the training of children black even as white; the leading out of little souls into the green pastures and beside the still waters, not for pelf or peace, but for Life lit by some large vision of beauty and goodness and truth; lest we forget, and generations that follow, like Esau, for mere meat barter their birthright in a mighty nation.

Finally, I believe in Patience -- patience with the weakness of the Weak and the strength of the Strong, the prejudice of the ignorant and the ignorance of the Blind; patience with the tardy triumph of Joy and the mad chastening of Sorrow -- patience with God.

from W.E.B. DuBois, Darkwater:Voices from Within the Veil (1920).

“The Classic African-American Folk Prayer” Chaplain Charles Marks

-as recalled by Melva W. Costen (1981)

A Time for the People to Pray Together

During this time of prayer, all will be invited to come forward, as they feel led, to pray around the table. Please feel free to pray quietly, individually or to pray together in pairs or groups.

*Closing Hymn VU #266 Amazing Grace

*Charge and Benediction

Participants in Worship:

Rev. Dr. Charles Marks, Chaplain

Dr. Dan Hoggatt, Musician

Ms. Mira Chai, Liturgist

Ms. Maxine Millender, Liturgist

Mr. Scott Clark, Chaplain’s Assistant

Historical Notes for this Service

The prayers and readings in this worship service are drawn from the writings of prominent African-American scholars, theologians, and activists.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was an important African-American writer, poet, and activist in the early 1900s. The Call to Worship and Confession in today’s service are drawn from what is one of his most well-known works, God’s Trombones, a book of poems that honors the traditions of African-American folk preaching. James Weldon Johnson also wrote the words for the hymn Lift Every Voice and Sing; his brother composed the music for that hymn.

W.E.B.DuBois (1868-1963) was one of the most important African-American scholars and activists of the early 20th century. Receiving degrees from both Fisk and Harvard Universities, DuBois advocated tirelessly for full equality for African Americans. His many accomplishments include helping to found the NAACP, writing extensively, and publishing many other African-American writers. DuBois’s life spanned an amazing stretch of American history – he was born just a few years after the Civil War and died on the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Melva Wilson Costen is a present-day scholar, theologian, and historian, serving for many years as professor of Music and Worship at the Interdenominational Theological Center. Her “Classic African-American Folk Prayer” (1981) is her remembrance of African-American folk prayers she heard in church growing up. This, and other historic and contemporary African-American prayers can be found in James Melvin Washington’s, Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans (1994).