A Prayer for Children Who Just Want to Be Children

My father warned me very strongly not to fly it,” Muhammad said, 
“He told me, ‘If you fly it, you will be bombed immediately.’
I want to play. I don’t want to die.”

When a child flying a kite is deemed an act of war,
how are children to be children anymore?
When a child's plaything can lead to deadly drone strikes,
how are children to be innocent anymore?

God, cast your watchful protection over the children of Gaza--
those whose childhoods have been stolen by three years of genocide,
those whose innocence has been stolen by guns, tanks, and drones,
those for whom even the simplest joys have been stolen. 

God, we pray that children could be children again, 
that they could experience small joys and innocent play
without fear of death, injury, or loss. 
We pray that children could be children again. 
May it be so, 
Amen. 

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A prayer for the space between settlers and homes

As a breath becomes a rallying cry,
we shout: Stay out of Palestinian homes. Keep away, troops!

Merciful One, may the oozing, slow roll of settler colonial violence
disrupt and haunt families in the West Bank no longer.

We pray abundant space and calm for the families who look out their windows and see
the armed ghost of violence.

For the sacred lives within these homes, for the healing to occur when stasis lives,
We pray for space. To breathe, to worship freely, to reset and renew.

Space, space, space, amen.

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for Displaced Persons

"Where are we supposed to go?"

This is the cry of refugees,
displaced not once, 
but over and over again.
In Gaza.
In Jenin.
In Qalandia. 
Throughout the West Bank.

How long, O Lord,
must the Palestinian people suffer displacement?
How long must they endure
raids of their communities
the demolition of their homes
the imprisonment of their youth?
How long must they bear it?

We pray,
O God who is our ultimate home,
that the Palestinian people would be able to build homes and live in them.
That they could plant gardens and freely cultivate their land.
That they might live under their own vine and fig tree,
no longer afraid. 

We pray for those who are far off, 
that they may come home. 
We pray for those living in terror
that they may finally live in peace. 
Bring them home, O God,
Bring them home. 

Amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Lament for the Road Closures & Checkpoint Delays Endangering Palestinians in Need of Medical Attention

Spirit of Attention and Intention:

We know the broad strokes.
We see the most horrific points pop up in our newsfeeds.
We hear the constant cries for aid, even as that aid is constantly delayed.

But there are everyday abominations occurring in the shadows, smaller stories that don’t make it to the top of our myopic, distracted media lists:
Over 50 instances, between January and June, of Israeli checkpoints and road closures delaying Palestinian ambulances carrying Palestinian souls, resulting in death, degradation, and dehumanizing dismissal.

Breathe life into these stories so that they do not get lost in the genocide-denying noise, but rather become the beating human heart at the center of our continuing, necessary, never-ending, blockade-dissolving work to heal and free Palestine so that we might all actually be healed and free.

Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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A Prayer for Safe Passage

Swift wind of God, hear the voices of Palestinian souls looking to evacuate.
Families are seeking a place to land. Orphans are learning where their new home will be.

We pray in the mighty name of epiphany,

An end to suffering from the injustice of red tape.
Lay down and repent, bureaucracy.
Bottlenecks, open up to compassion.

We pray for ease, traveling mercies, and the softest place to land for Palestinians seeking refuge.
We repent from the systems in which we're complicit, keeping innocent lives subjugated.

May the mercy of a rush of wind lead us to needed change.

Amen

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for Those Who Mourn

They had gathered to mourn.
How could they have known
that their grief was but a honing beacon for more bombs?
Seven souls were stolen
and 22 bodies were wounded
as the funeral was hit with an air strike. 

Oh God, 
how can human beings be so cruel
as to take advantage of a funeral
as an opportunity to inflict more harm?

Oh God, 
You have told us 
blessed are those who mourn, 
for they will be comforted.
Does your comfort come with bombs and blood?
Is your blessing worth more than tears?

Protect those who mourn, O God.
Sheild them from violence.
Deliver them from evil. 
End this madness.
God in your mercy, 
may it be so,
soon and very soon.

Amen. 

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Prayer for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and All Who Are Imprisoned by Israel

Spirit of Solidarity and Liberation:

Encircle every Palestinian detained, disappeared, and dehumanized with the certainty that an expanding web of attentive supporters are hearing them, even as their voices are silenced by the banal norms of torture.

Shed light on every corner of darkness,
Instill strength in every abused body,
Bring hope to those who wonder if we have forgotten their plight.
Awaken the weary conscience of the world
Until truth is not only believed but embodied.

Replace impunity with accountability,
	cruelty with compassion,
	and fear with freedom.

And may we, those with the privilege to make the choice, choose deep intention, now, here, as the lives of our captive siblings cry out for more than words, more than worry, until our collective responsibility reshapes our collective rage into continuing collective action.

Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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A prayer for sacred rest in Palestine

God who is sanctuary,
we recognize and name how surveillance has been used against Palestinians during war.
There's another way, we cry.

We pray for ceasefire and calm.
Not in headlines or smokescreen, but the deep sleep that all children deserve.

We pray for blue skies unclouded by drones or the threat of bombs.
We pray for houses untargeted by IDF command systems, left alone.
We pray for the economic and civic relief of flotillas to reach their destinations.

We ask in the name of the almighty that the medical teams, the hope of a wounded people, the plant and animal life all find sanctuary rest.

Cover, shield, protect. Amen

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for Palestinian Hostages

"I was a prisoner, and you visited me." (Matthew 25:36)

For the nearly 10,000 Palestinians being held hostage in Israeli prisons, 
we pray for liberation--
not just for the body, but for the mind and spirit,
which can often feel colonized and controlled even after release. 

For the 350 children being held in detention 
without the right to see their families,
we pray for a joyful reunion with siblings, parents, cousins, and friends.
We pray for the day when children can be children again.

For the prisoner who dreams of a single slice of bread, 
we pray for a generous table spread with culinary delights--
hummus, pita, falafel, kebabs, and heaping piles of maqluba--
for them to enjoy when they are finally allowed to return home. 

We pray for those prisoners being brutally tortured.
May our world stand up and say NO
to the inhumane treatment of any person,
knowing they are created in the image of the Divine,
knowing that whatever we do, or don't do, for them,
we do, or don't do, for Christ himself. 

Amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Prayer in the Wake of the Election of Pro-Palestine Candidates in the United States

God of seismic shifts and steady rumblings,
Amid the turning of seasons and turning of hearts, we mark this moment of attention and intention.

Loud voices are rising,
and all who are fighting to see the realities of Palestinians uplifted now lift our sights toward a hopeful horizon.

May those entrusted with leadership move humbly and confidently toward long-unheard truth and long-delayed justice.

May celebration give way to determination.
May this moment be more than a momentary triumph.
May it stretch far wider than politics,
Sowing cracks in our inhumane establishments,
Establishing embodied protections for Palestine that must also lead to lasting liberation.

Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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A Prayer for Palestinian Land

Merciful One,

We've heard this week of apartheid real estate events that are annexing and selling Palestinian land.

What of the soil, crying out? Speak, voice of love. Speak through protest; speak through lawmakers drafting sanctions against unlawful occupation.

What of the displaced? Move, breath of life. Move through Palestinian families, youth protests, towards advocacy and wholeness.

We pray in unified solidarity for Palestinian land -- the soil that nourishes and encourages so many beloved children of God -- to remain unchallenged, uncontested by manifest destiny.

We await the day when the comforts of home renew and refresh Palestinian lives, woven together as a rich tapestry.

We choose peace, we leave space, we find the next breath.

Amen

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for the Village of Taybeh

The earth burns.
The land smolders with hate.
Creation groans under such abuse.
Your people cry out,
how long, O Lord, how long?

God of the oppressed, 
We know you hear the cries of your people.
Help us to hear them as well.
Amplify their voices in the halls of power,
in the sanctuaries of our churches
in the deep recesses of our hearts. 

May their prayers become our prayers.
May their cries become our cries.
May we weep over the destruction of their land
and the burning of their fields. 
And if we are silenced,
may the very rocks cry out for justice. 

Amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Lament for the Two Palestinians Killed and Four Palestinians Injured in the Targeted Israeli Drone Strike in Central Gaza this Week

Spirit of mourning cries that must lead to lasting liberation,
May the murdered register as more than numbers.
May the harmed be heard as more than statistics.
May the media never numb us to the realities of such suffering.
May the silence of our leaders echo until we lift up every story and every life that has been threatened with erasure.

May every system of colonization and violence be disturbed and disrupted,
May resistant and persistent courage spring from every wound,
And may the words, “Free Palestine,” never settle into being simply a slogan but rather a rallying imperative that demands constant accountability, even and especially as it meets us in the ache of continuing atrocities.
Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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A prayer towards listening

Voice of mercy, what if we decide to listen?
The tongues of fire are visible above our neighbors in the Gaza Strip.
Stories are being told, the cry of liberation breaks through the hum of conquest.
May we listen well.

Hope beyond hope, the words speak us sometimes.
We read, we pray, we stay informed so that we can speak truth to power.
And all of our machinations and efforts will come to naught if we do not stop speaking, some days.
May we listen well.

Draw us ever inward to quiet stillness, so that we can hear the women providing for their families.
Decolonize our spirits, align us with the ever-awakening voice of the youth who speak with boldness.
Still our tongues when we’re missing the point. Onward, onward, onward towards peace.
May we listen well.

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for Pentecost

God of all peoples, we long for the day when all nations shall be gathered into a great and diverse multitude, all speaking the language of love. We pray for the day when the people will speak-- in multiple tongues but in one voice, in unity not uniformity-- a word of peace. May the sound be a holy cacophony that causes apartheid barriers to crumble. May checkpoints that restrict be dismantled. May bars that detain be broken. May your people move as freely as your spirit, recognizing that your love, grace, and mercy are not bound by human borders. As it was so on that first Pentecost, may it be so today.

Inshallah, Amen

~ Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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Prayer of Invocation

God of all peoples, we long for the day when all nations shall be gathered into a great and diverse multitude, all speaking the language of love. We pray for the day when the people will speak-- in multiple tongues but in one voice, in unity not uniformity-- a word of peace. May the sound be a holy cacophony that causes apartheid barriers to crumble. May checkpoints that restrict be dismantled. May bars that detain be broken. May your people move as freely as your spirit, recognizing that your love, grace, and mercy are not bound by human borders. As it was so on that first Pentecost, may it be so today. Inshallah, amen.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

A Meditation on Listening Well

In May 2026, about 75 people bore witness to humanity’s resiliency and courage during a student-led “People’s Graduation” in Rochester New York.

As the testimony and creativity of our Palestinian, Somali, Muslim, Jewish, Christian students rings in our hearts, we honor the spirit and soul of Pentecost in prayer. Here’s a contemplative meditation inspired by the class of 2026 and their flickering flames:

Mothering God, it can be so hard to listen. It can be so easy to close off our hearts in order to “be right.”

What if being right was about what we create? Can that be possible, divine love? Surely there’s a form of being right that starts with creative, audacious peacemaking. There must be sacred alignment between how we protest and how we dance.

Can the suffering of Palestinians be heard with the bruised heart of empathy? It’s our choice to listen in love. It’s a human choice to occupy and oppress and conquest, to fuel the fires of false scarcity and hatred.

This season of Pentecost -- when sneering and the hollow posturing of outrage can earn billions -- we take on the sacred responsibility to keep listening.

May we listen to the voices of our students, protesting in prismatic love.

May we slow ourselves enough to hear the voice of Hind Rajab, blessed be.

May our anxious and tired youth hear our efforts to support their hard work; may they always know the solidarity and grace we offer.

And within it all: Between rivers and seas where liberation will flow like honey, we listen for the voice of God.

We listen, we move forward in love.

Amen.

Rev. Sam Kinsman

Sermon Starter for Pentecost Sunday

Text: Revelation 7:9-17

Reclaiming Revelation for Pentecost

Revelation 7 is not the traditional or expected text for Pentecost Sunday, but it’s a text that gives us a way to reclaim a book that has been greatly misused and abused. Certain popular interpretations, including those of Christian Zionists, have fueled harmful theologies that support violence rather than oppose it. Revelation, perhaps more than any other biblical book, has been weaponized against Palestinians and other communities in South Asia and Northern Africa. These interpretations have provided religious cover for the genocide in Gaza, the annexation of the West Bank, the war in Iran, and now the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.

Pentecost is supposed to be the day the Spirit breaks down walls. Revelation 7 shows us what those broken walls look like when the work is finally complete.

The Multitude as Pentecost Fulfilled

In many ways, the multitude in Revelation 7 is the fulfillment of the Pentecost story from Acts 2. C. Wess Daniels puts it beautifully: “the multitude is a beautiful tapestry woven together of all of humanity, with the oppressed and minoritized at the center.” What begins at Pentecost—in many languages, many peoples, all hearing good news—comes to its fullness in this vision.

The multitude is not a homogenized crowd. It is a diverse community gathered around God’s presence precisely in their differences, not in spite of them.

Empire vs. Beloved Community

Revelation continually exposes the religion of empire: a system that thrives on separation and only produces unity through uniformity, coercion, and deceit. Empire gathers people only when they have been made the same. It excludes, divides, and marginalizes.

Revelation 7 imagines the opposite: a future where those who have been pushed aside, victimized, and scattered by empire are gathered into one beloved community. This includes Palestinians, but also all Indigenous peoples who have endured genocide and erasure. It includes immigrants, migrants, and refugees seeking welcome. It includes human rights advocates who have been sanctioned for speaking truth. It includes people of color who have struggled for civil rights across generations.

The Power of the Multitude

This multitude finds its power in its diversity and its strength in the non-violent way of the Lamb. It does not mirror empire. It refuses empire’s tools. It rejects scapegoating. It resists the logic of domination.

The Lamb leads not through violence but through vulnerability, mercy, and radical love. The multitude follows in that same way.

Manifesting the Multitude Now

And here is the good news: we do not have to wait for the end of the world for this community to appear. Revelation is not asking us to sit back and wait; it is inviting us to live into this vision now.

We can practice beloved community today by standing in solidarity with the victims of empire today. We do not create the multitude ourselves—that is God’s work. But we can join it. We can participate in it. We can invite others into it.

The multitude is a community of collective solidarity. It works for the liberation of all creation. And we join it by walking in the way of Jesus—the one who suffered at the hands of empire, and who showed us that victory does not come through violence or domination, but through mercy, justice, and love that refuses every boundary.

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Prayer for the 3,000 Palestinian-planted trees uprooted by Israeli settlers this week

Steadfast Sustainer —

We not only grieve the tearing up of physical roots
But the ripping apart of what those roots represent:
The hardy hope of a people,
   carefully tended through generations,
   now carelessly rended by ruthlessness.

May this symbolism not be lost,
May witnesses not be fooled,
May the story of the land not be silenced,
And may every empty, desecrated space
   be refilled with solidarity.

Where beloved life has been sapped from the soil,
   may courage and resolve be sown again,
Until new breath rises, resilient and unbowed,
   flourishing even and especially where
   hate tries its hardest to steal its spirit.

Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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A prayer for the 300 couples who just got married in Gaza

Newlyweds,

We pray for the blessing beyond blessings to lift up and sustain your marriage.
(You looked exquisite in your dresses, the suits were sharp.)

Your marriage reminds us what ritual can do to align human creativity with time-honored tradition.
May the covenant of marriage serve you each day.
May you honor your spouse and feel the embrace of your family and friends.

We turn our eye away from the false pageantry of Bezos Galas towards the godly grandeur of fresh, vibrant love.
We hear you, beloved. We see your love, your marriage!

We pray with our whole family for your whole family as something new begins.

Amen

~ Rev. Sam Kinsman

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A Prayer for the Night Guard

They call themselves the night guard.
They watch, wait, pray, and protect.
While the children and elderly sleep, 
the night guard remains steadfast
in their commitment to stay awake.

God, shelter these Palestinian volunteers
as they wait in the shadows, 
alert to any threat coming towards their village. 
Strengthen these guardians of humanity, 
these defenders of dignity. 
May their presence be a deterrent to violence.
May their presence alert the international community
to the terrors they face every day. 

And God, stir in our own hearts
a desire to be in solidarity with them.
May we also stay alert and awake to their suffering,
and may we also cast a protective presence
with and among the vulnerable in our own local villages,
and throughout the wider village we call the human race. 

Amen

Rev. Sara Ofner-Seals

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A Prayer for Aws Al-Naasan, 14, and Jihad Abu Naim, 32, murdered by an Israeli settler this week

May we say your names loudly and clearly, never satisfied to simply add your number to the countless unnamed numbers.

May your loved ones be held in the solidarity of an ever-widening circle of supporters that stretches across borders and oceans.

May your spirits echo in our collective heart, never satisfied to stay anonymous but calling us, again and again, to pay embodied attention.

And even as you are laid to rest, may we never be allowed to rest, until all are liberated from the violence of colonialism and quiet.

Amen

~ Rev. Micah Bucey

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