Kairos USA and United Methodist Kairos Response together offer this collection of worship and devotional resources to clarify and enrich the spiritual connection to the cause of justice in the Holy Land. We encourage faith communities and other justice advocates to use these resources as they see fit in times of worship, personal and community devotions, and other faith-based activities. Check this page frequently, as we are adding new material on a regular basis.
- Advent
- Lent/Holy Week
- Pentecost
- Litanies and liturgies
- Prayers and poems
- Sermons
- Music and choral materials
We welcome submissions!
Please send submissions to worship@kairosresponse.org. Materials will be posted at the discretion of a Kairos USA-United Methodist Kairos Response review team with the goal of providing a wide variety of excellent resources. Our deepest thanks to the authors represented here for allowing us to reprint their materials.
The Kairos USA/United Methodist Kairos Response shared Worship/Devotional Resources webpage will become ever more helpful as more resources are posted. We invite you to submit material (worship@kairosresponse.org) you may write or have on hand as appropriate to the following seasons and days in the 2016 calendar.
The list below includes some of the major occasions for which we hope to offer resources. Submissions will be reviewed and minimal editing provided for consistency. We hope for a wide variety of sermons, prayers, poems, liturgies from across the Church. We hope for Palestinian voices to lead us in worship resources. Please note: items must be submitted as early as possible in advance of these dates (two to three months is ideal) in order to be of the best use to those using the resources.
We are grateful for your efforts in worship leadership and your generosity in sharing resources.
2016 dates:
- Season of Lent: Ash Wednesday Feb. 10, 2016
- World Day of Prayer March 4, 2016
- Holy Week March 20-27, 2016
- Palestinian Land Day March 30, 2016
- Palestinian Prisoners Day April 17, 2016
- Nakba Day (1948) May 15, 2016
- Naksa Day (1967) June 5, 2016
- World Refugee Day June 20, 2016
- World Council of Churches Day of Prayer for Peace in Palestine September 21, 2016
- UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People November 29, 2016
- UN Human Rights Day December 10, 2016
- Advent 2016 begins November 27, 2016
Do you live or work in Palestine? We would like to feature your stories in a category we call Finding Voice. We are especially interested in stories that can be shared this coming Lent season. You can read more about the Finding Voice project here.
“Hope is the capacity to see God in the midst of trouble, and to be co-workers with the Holy Spirit who is dwelling in us.”
—A Moment of Truth, Kairos Palestine document, 2009
Advent
Kairos Palestine Christmas Alert 2015 | View PDF
A set of essays by Palestinian women communicating the heart of the Christmas message in the midst of occupation, interspersed with passages from the Kairos Palestine document, scripture lessons, and powerful photos. By Kairos Palestine
Devotional for Advent 2015 | View PDF
Lectionary-based reflections from past and present missionaries in Palestine and Israel, shared by the Methodist Liaison Office in Jerusalem.
Liturgical resources for Advent 2014 | View PDF
A worship supplement designed for use with the Kairos Palestine Christmas Alert 2014, developed last year by Kairos USA. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Lent/Holy Week
Holding Our Hurting Hearts: Lectionary Meditations for Lent, 2016 | View PDF
Rev. Diane Dulin offers these powerful and heartfelt meditations for each of the six Sundays of Lent, “as inspiration for your preaching, teaching, praying…May we touch the boundless divine yearning for justice, woven into Creation and into humanity by the One who made us.”
2016 Lenten Meditation by Norma Carmi, Palestinian Christian View PDF
Nora Carmi offers a heartful prayer from Jerusalem and the heart of Palestinian suffering:
“Can 2016 be the year when we humbly ask for God’s forgiveness and commit ourselves to make of His Land a promising land where the oppressed are liberated and the oppressor regains, once more, his humanity so that we can avoid further annihilation and disaster as foretold in Luke 19?”
A Litany for Holy Week: Troubling Days in Jerusalem | View PDF
A responsive litany appropriate for Palm Sunday or any day of Holy Week, connecting the drama of the first Holy Week to current realities in Jerusalem. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Devotional for Lent 2015 | View PDF
Reflections from United Methodists serving in Palestine and Israel, shared by the Methodist Liaison Office in Jerusalem.
Devotional for Holy Week 2015 | View PDF
Reflections from United Methodists serving in Palestine and Israel, shared by the Methodist Liaison Office in Jerusalem.
Pentecost
Litany of Spirit and Solidarity for Pentecost | View PDF
A responsive litany that uses Pentecost passages from Acts 2 for contemporary solidarity and spirit. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Litanies and liturgies
The Gaza Bombardment of 2014: It is Now A Year Later… | View PDF
A responsive litany of lament, confession, and Palestinian resilience on the anniversary of Israel’s brutal 2014 attack on Gaza. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Litany of Kairos Questions | View PDF
A responsive litany patterned after the Sermon on the Mount, raising common questions and misguided understandings about Palestine and providing replies. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Liturgy of Public Resistance: The Wall Will Fall | View PDF
Designed for use during the 2015 World Week for Peace in Palestine and Israel but appropriate at any time; it uses passages from Kairos Palestine to highlight the destructive impacts of the Separation Wall. By Rev. Diane Dulin
Prayers and poems
A New Song Even Though | View PDF
A poem prayer for World Communion Sunday written in the midst of violence and despair. By Rev. Loren McGrail
Church of the Checkpoint | View PDF
A description of Checkpoint 300 between Bethlehem and Jerusalem and a prayer for use there, along with other suggestions for public worship at the site. By Rev. Diane Dulin
I Allowed Myself | View PDF
A poem lamenting the heartbreaking death of a small infant. By Rev. Loren McGrail
Prayer for Hem of His Garment | View PDF
A prayer based on Mark 5:21-43, calling forth the courage required for dreaming, hoping, and reaching out for wholeness or for justice. By Rev. Loren McGrail
Sermons
Rebuke, Disrupt, Shout | View PDF
A sermon based on Matthew 25:14-30, presenting the Parable of the Talents as a lesson about power, greed, and corruption. By Rev. Loren McGrail
The Land Defiled | View PDF
A sermon based on the brutal murder of 16-year-old Muhammed Abu Khdeir in the summer of 2014. By Rev. Loren McGrail
Music and choral materials
Build Us a Table | View PDF
Composer Lori True calls this song “musical preaching.” Words by Ruth C. Duck speak of the inclusiveness of the Eucharist and include a call to tear down walls that “keep the world from our eyes and our heart.”
O Spirit of Peace/Yarabba Ssalami | View PDF
A Taizé-style song written by an anonymous Palestinian author and used by Christian churches in Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon during the passing of the peace. The words call for peace to come to every heart and to the land.
Many commonly used hymnals and supplements contain songs that would be very appropriate for a worship focus on Palestine. In The United Methodist Hymnal, possibilities include “What Does the Lord Require of You” and “This Is My Song”; look in the topic index under Justice or Social Concerns for others. In “The Faith We Sing, “We Are Called” and “The Summons” are often used. In the UCC’s New Century Hymnal, look under Peace or Freedom and Liberation.
