Prayers and Blessings for Healthcare Workers

MANDY MIZELLE is a chaplain, minister, writer, retreat leader, perpetual procrastinator, and imperfection advocate who lives in Durham, North Carolina. A lifelong lover of words—especially poetry—her favorite sacred texts are the everyday stories of our lives. MARTHA SPONG is executive director of RevGalBlogPals, an international online community with more than 4,000 members. She contributes to The Christian Century and The Huffington Post. An ordained United Church of Christ minister married to a Presbyterian minister, Spong and her family live in central Pennsylvania. GINNY WILDER is a poet, musician, and Episcopal priest currently serving as the Rector of St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Passionate about taking the good news of Jesus Christ out into the city and beyond, she hosts a weekly Bible study in a bar, plays at local venues, and openly asks people about their prayer life. She has seven CDs and has performed in various venues, festivals, and churches on East Coast. GAYLE FISHER-STEWART, editor of Preaching Black Lives (Matter) serves currently as the interim rector at the historically Black, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. Prior to becoming ordained, she served with the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC, and later taught at the university level while consulting with local and federal government agencies. She lives in Maryland. DAVID FINNEGAN-HOSEY is the College Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministries at Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina. He is the author of Christ on the Psych Ward. In 2011, David was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. David lives in Wilson with his wife, Leigh, and their dog, Penny Lane. JENNIFER GRANT is the author of several books including the picture book Maybe God Is Like That Too. which won a gold medal from the Moonbeam Spirit Awards for excellence in children's literature and was named a book of the year finalist in the Foreword Indies awards. Her second picture book, Maybe I Can Love My Neighbor Too, was named a Junior Library Guild official gold standard selection. She lives in Chicago, Illinois. INEDA P. ADESANYA is an American Baptist minister and spiritual director. Ineda holds masters degrees from San Francisco Theological Seminary and Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She provides spiritual direction, retreats, an annual Spirituality and Hermeneutics Forum, and a weekly blog. She teaches at the Interfaith Chaplaincy Institute, and is a pastoral counselor and spiritual director for the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, SFTS, and in private practice. She lives in Oakland, California. BARBARA CAWTHORNE CRAFTON is a popular preacher, retreat leader, and writer who teaches at Marble Collegiate Church and at the General Theological Seminary in New York City. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times, Reader's Digest, Episcopal Life, and many other publications. She is the author of many books, including Called, The Courage to Grow Old, The Sewing Room, Living Lent, and many others. She lives in Metuchen, New Jersey. Catherine Meeks, PhD, is Executive Director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing. She is the retired Clara Carter Acree Distinguished Professor of Socio-Cultural Studies from Wesleyan College and Founding Executive Director of the Lane Center for Community Engagement and Service. She is frequently asked to present commentaries on Georgia Public Radio and other radio and television programs. She is the author of six books and one inspirational CD and is the editor of Living Into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America and co-author of Passionate for Justice: Ida B Wells as Prophet for Our Times. She is the winner of The President Joseph R. Biden Lifetime Achievement Award and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Clark Atlanta University and PhD from Emory University. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry is the Episcopal Church’s 27th Presiding Bishop. He was the Bishop of North Carolina from 2000 to 2015. Bishop Curry has a national preaching and teaching ministry and is a regular on TV and radio and a frequent speaker at conferences around the country. His books include Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus; Following the Way of Jesus: Church’s Teachings for a Changing World; and Love Is the Way: Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times.

Introduction

A Note about Language and Editing

For Your Grounding

Front and Center / Nathan Brown

A Love Song to All the Helpers / Rev. Laura Martin

Prayer for a New Day / Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund

A Prayer Before Commencing a Shift / Rabbi Brian T. Nelson

Blessing for Donning and Doffing / Rev .Hadley Kifner

For Those Who Walk in the Footsteps / Rev .Paula A. Wells

For Parents Who Leave Their Children at Home to Care for Others and You Feel as Though You Are the Cobbler and Your Children Have No Shoes / Rev. Traci Smith

Prayer for Those Who Step into the Mess / Rev. Elizabeth Felicetti

Blessing in a Pandemic / Rev. Ruth McMeekin Skjerseth

For Those Who Keep the Ceiling From Falling In and Floors From Falling Out / Rev. Sonya Gravlee

A Blessing for Caregivers / Rev. Kathy Bozzuti-Jones

Prayer for Leaning / Rev. Mark Wingfield

A Prayer for All During Coronavirus / Dr.Virgil Fry

Reminders / Rev. Keith A. Menhinick

For Your Hands

A Prayer for the Young Man (Who Makes Not Much an Hour for Hazardous Duty) / Rev. Kevin M. Roberts

Blessing for Your Hands / Rev. Hadley Kifner

A Tuesday Afternoon in 2020 / Rev. Laura D. Johnson

Vespers / Rev. Molly Bolton

Bedside Prayers / Leslie Deslauriers

Blessing of Nursing and Caregiving Hands / Rev. Ally Vertigan and Rev. Mishca R. Russell-Smith

COVID Collects / Rev. David Finnegan-Hosey

Prayer for an EMT / The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry

Seen All Along: A Sestina for the Helpers / Jennifer Grant

For the One I Cannot Visit / Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton

Remembrance Gathering: A Way to Honor and Release Patients Who Have Died / Rev. Katherine K. Henderson

A Meditation for Releasing Those Who Have Died / Rev. Ellen M. Swinford

Blessing for the End of This Year / Rev. Laura Martin

For Your Heart

A Prayer in Times of Grief / Rev. Chelsea Brooke Yarborough

Ora Pro Nobis / Catherine McNiel

A Prayer for Naming When It Hurts / Rev. Molly Brummett Wudel

Lament / Rev. Molly Bolton

Blessing for Anger / Rev. James Adams

Prayer for Grief’s Lessons / Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund

Wilderness (How Hagar Felt) / Rev. Dr. Danielle J. Buhuro

Intercessory Prayer for Pandemic Frontline Workers / Heather Bachelder

A Lament for Composting Hard Truths / Rev. Kelly Gregory

A COVID-19 Compline / Catherine McNiel

Embracing Humankind / Rabbi Deborah Jill Schloss

I Pray / Rev. Ineda Pearl Adesanya

Prayer for the Dead / Rev. Randy Lewis

A Litany for Those Who Have Cared for COVID-19 Patients and Their Families / Rev. Hadley Kifner

Written on Your Heart / Rev. Drew Phillips

Healers Needing Healing / Hayden Dawes

Metta Meditation: A Practice of Loving-Kindness / Rev. Ellen M. Swinford

Two Blessings for Troubled Times (and Troubled Hearts) / Rev. Katherine K. Henderson

For Your Breath

My Lord, What a Morning / Rev. Molly Bolton

Breath Prayer / Rev. David Finnegan-Hosey

They Say This Time Is Invaluable / Leenah Safi

It Is OK to Scream / Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart

A Blessing for the Weary / Catherine McNiel

Blessing for the Night / Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund

A Prayer for Pandemic Times / Rev. Paul Roberts Abernathy

Here / Rev. Kari Pellegrino

A Collect for Parents Working on the Front Lines / Rev. Traci Smith

For Those Who Wait / Rev. Sheila P. Spencer

If Words Could Heal / Jessica Covil

A Prayer for a Long Shift / Rev. Katherine Willis Pershey

InFINITE / Rabbi Deborah Jill Schloss

Companioning One / Rev. Arianne Braithwaite Lehn

God of It All / Rev. Hadley Kifner

A Prayer at the Conclusion of a Shift / Rabbi Brian T. Nelson

An Invitation to Breath & Mystery & Courage / Rev. Ellen M. Swinford

Slow Exhale / Rev. Martha Spong

For Your Becoming

Instructions for Anxious Days / Rev. Laura Martin

Litany for Incarnation / Claire Repsholdt

Sunrise / Jamie R. Rivera

Invocation of Opening the Curtains / Rev. Jessica Stokes

An Invitation / Dr. Catherine Meeks

Life Prevails / Rev. Randy Lewis

Prayer for the Covering / Rev. Dr. Sarah Griffith Lund

God Is Everywhere / Rev. Malcolm L. Marler

As You Love the Only World We Have / Rev. Keith A. Menhinick

Beloved, You Are / Rev. Ginny Wilder

Contributors