Leader: We gather this day for a special remembrance of the gifts and graces offered to the world by our Native American brothers and sisters.
People: Let us share the spirit and the blessing offered through Native traditions and ways of being.
Leader: We have entered this holy place to worship and to praise our Creator.
People: It is you who have made us.
Leader: We come with a spirit of humility.
People: You shaped us from the dust and the clay.
Leader: We come with offerings of song and praise and prayer.
People: Hear us, know us, receive us.
Leader: We come with our hands open and our hearts reaching for you.
People: Make us one in relationship with you.
Leader: We come with our arms reaching to touch another human being.
People: Make us one in relationship with one another.
Leader: Creator God, you have shown us the good road.
People: You have shown us the good way of being.
Leader: Our brother, Jesus Christ, lived and loved.
People: Let us live and love in his footsteps.

All: As your children, we thank you, we praise you, we love you.

Amen.

Litany of dedication

Leader: Our God and Creator asks, “How will you live the life I have given to you?
People: Like a still, deep pool in the desert, we will live in a way that reflects your love back onto your world.
Leader: Our God and Creator asks, “How will you walk this path I have given to you?”
People: Like the creatures of the forest, we will walk in a way that respects all life created by your hand.
Leader: Our God and Creator asks, “How will you reach out to the world beyond yourselves?”
People: Like the branches of a sapling tree, we will strive to reach beyond the safe and the familiar, touching the world in your name.

All: Help us to remember we all are connected through the endless circle of life and creation. Teach us to trust and to follow the example of Jesus Christ who lived a life of sacrifice, walked a path of goodness and mercy, and reached beyond human differences.

Amen.

Prayer

American Ministries Sunday. It is for the holy purposes of worship, covenant and commitment that we gather in your name. We worship you. We remember the stories of your mighty presence upon this earth. We see you in the mountain and the valley. You patiently wait as the sun rises in the day and as the moon rises in the night. We hear your sacred song as the river passes through the rock. Native American people have experienced your sacred presence for as long as time and memory have existed. Thank you for making your presence known to all peoples in the midst of creation. We covenant with you and with one another. We remember the example of Jesus Christ, who spoke about the birds of the air and the fruit of the earth; who taught about the lilies of the field and the mustard seed. He chose a little child and a widow’s mite to show us the path, and he invited to his table all who were outcast and rejected. Help us to remember that the covenant you have made with us, your children, also must be reflected in our relationships with each other. We remember today the ministries with Native American peoples, tribes and communities. We commit ourselves to living out the covenant we have made with you and with one another. We commit to respect the created world in its vast variety. We commit to honor the life you create in its many shapes and forms. We commit to love brothers and sisters who are like us and who are very different from us. And on this day of celebrating Native American Ministries Sunday, we remember the beauty and dignity of your people called Native Americans. In the name of Christ we pray.

Amen.

Suggested hymns

Selections are from The United Methodist Hymnal (UMH) and The Faith We Sing (FWS).

“Amazing Grace,” #378 (UMH)

“Alleluia,” #186 (UMH)

“Heleluyan” (“Alleluia”), #78 (UMH)

“Jesus, Name Above All Names,” #2071 (FWS)

“Many Gifts, One Spirit,” #114 (UMH)

“Morning Has Broken,” #145 (UMH)

Lectionary readings

2007: Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19
2008: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35

Benediction

Creator of all tribes, peoples and colors, journey with us now into the wide world. Scatter us to the four directions that we might live and love as your children. Let us be a blessing to every path we may cross, and bring us back together when the time is right. Go forth in peace. Amen.

The Rev. Anita Phillips is pastor of Fife Memorial United Methodist Church and dean of students at Bacone College, both in Muskogee, Okla. Currently working on her doctorate in ministry, she is a clergy member of the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference.