A Service of Prayer for Our Nation
February 8, 2024
Cecil B. Day Chapel
The Carter Center
453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE, Atlanta, GA 30307-1406
"Provocative event! Emotionally and mentally provoking. I love when I find unusual space to be spiritual!" - Staci Fox, Atlanta
Rabbi Peter Berg, The Temple Atlanta
"Wow! My heart is so full based on the extraordinary Service of Prayer for Our Nation!" - Ann W. Cramer, Atlanta
We live in an increasingly divided society. How can people of faith help us to ease these divisions and guide us to more peaceful ground?
On February 8, 2024, the Georgia Democracy Resilience Network hosted a "Service of Prayer for Our Nation" in the Carter Center's Cecil B. Day Chapel. The event brought together senior faith leaders from a number of denominations in Georgia to speak on the role of faith in our increasingly polarized communities. The faith leaders discussed ways to come together around common values and ease the divisions existing within our communities and country.
“The things that divide us, the things that are tearing us apart--the wars, and the bickering, and the divisiveness, and the meanness, and the vitriol, and the rancor--it has been revealed to us and it belongs to us to solve.” - Bishop Robin Diese
“Our charge today is to live lives of interconnectedness...to dismantle the forces that seek to disconnect us from each other and build new systems and organizations and societies that grow our interconnectedness.” - Reverend Dr. John Vaughn, Ebenezer Baptist Church
Bishop Robin Dease, North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church
Bishop Rob Wright, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta
Rev. Dr. Randy Rainwater, Grace New Hope
Rev. Dr. John Vaughn, Ebenezer Baptist Church
Ms. Soumaya Khalifa, Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta
Dr. Rashad Richey, Georgia Democracy Resilience Network
Watch The Full Event Here
Sample Prayer for Our Nation
Loving and Gracious God,
We give you thanks for this, our cherished nation that you have entrusted to our care for our children and generations to come.
We live in a time of disharmony and are troubled by our growing divides. We pray for the unity and protection of our country in the year ahead.
Remind us that no matter our beliefs or our views, we are all made in your image, even those with whom we disagree. Together, let each of us commit to seek harmony and reject division. Let us be inspired by the better angels of our natures.
Help us as people of faith to remember our calling to peace and to find the wisdom to make our places of worship into places of healing. Let us reunite in a common commitment to our shared democratic norms and the rejection of violence.
Give us the courage to help ourselves and others to the path of respect and love.
Give us the strength to listen to those with different views so we may better understand their hopes and fears.
Give us an open heart to find common ground and, where we cannot, to disagree well.
We pray for our leaders so they may guide us with love and wisdom for the betterment of all.
These things we ask in the name of all that is holy and good.
Faith Forward Democracy is part of the Georgia Democracy Resilience Network, which is supported by The Carter Center.