Emerge | Blessings and Rituals for Unsheltering

Prayers and Liturgies

The global pandemic disrupted daily routines and faith routines, educational life and professional life and home life. Joys were interrupted. Injustices were amplified. Personal connections took on new forms.

We sheltered ourselves with masks and gloves and social distance.

Now slowly, carefully, we are reentering the places we avoided at the pandemic's initial rise. We are taking our masked-and-gloved protection into social places and work spaces. We are unsheltering our hearts from their fearful bunkers, where shadows of worry and suspicion loomed.

Emerge: Blessings and Rituals for Unsheltering is a down-to-earth resource to bless the complexities of reentry. Rituals and prayers include:

• Blessing for Bats
• Jigsaw Puzzle Antiphon
• Ritual for Returning to the Office
• Prayer for the Suddenly Lonely Pooch
• Blessing for Still-Empty Pews
• Prayer from Someone Who Already Knew Scarcity
• Daily Mantra If the Virus Lasts Longer than I Think I Can
• and more.

For each door reopened, for each body re-hugged, for each ritual reimagined, for each fresh wave of fear, Emerge provides the reminder that the Holy is present through every change.

About the Writers

The Stillspeaking Writers' Group is made up of United Church of Christ ministers, pastors, and authors who collaborate on a variety of resources for people in the church, outside the church, and not so sure about the church. Their motto: "Hearing God where you live (and other surprising places)."

Paperback booklet
ISBN 978-0-8298-2167-3

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