About 100 people gathered to pray for the Gulf Coast in a July 7 vigil organized by the Massachusetts Council of Churches.
Episcopalians were among the 100 people who gathered outside of Old South Church in Boston on July 7 to pray for the oil-soaked Gulf Coast, a vigil that Bishop Gayle E. Harris of the Diocese of Massachusetts described as confession, intercession and call to action “across our Christian witnesses and traditions.”
“We are complicit in this disaster by our action and inaction, including how we invest, how we support policies, by our ignorance and turning away. We are called to love our neighbors, and future generations are our neighbors,” Harris reflected afterward. “The vigil reminded us of the wonderful understanding we share with other faiths that God’s creation is good and that we are called to be its stewards. We have forgotten that we are stewards.”
As the vigil ended, with passersby looking on in curiosity, Harris spontaneously started singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands,” and soon the group was improvising verses that put the Gulf’s whales, dolphins, fishes and birds in God’s hands.
“Sometimes the Spirit just hits you,” Harris said.
Bishop Gayle E. Harris (at left) of the Diocese of Massachusetts lights a candle during the vigil.
The vigil was organized by the Massachusetts Council of Churches, which counts 17 of the state’s Protestant and Orthodox denominations as members, in association with four Roman Catholic dioceses.
About $700 was collected at the vigil for Gulf relief via Church World Service.
The “Prayer for the Gulf of Mexico” by the Rev. John Stendahl, used at the vigil, is available at www.masscouncilofchurches.org.
Additional prayers and liturgical resources are available from the Episcopal Church at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/119103_123121_ENG_HTM.htm.
--Tracy J. Sukraw