The
following resources are provided by the Union of Black Episcopalians in
recognition of the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the first
enslaved Africans in Jamestown, Virginia.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, you who have brought
us thus far on the way; Give us grace to honor the lives of your
precious children, enslaved in body yet free in mind. May we forever
stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and make no peace
with oppression, that children of slaves and former slave owners may one
day live in harmony; through Jesus Christ our liberator, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.
Lector: Repairing God, help us to lift every voice and sing, ‘til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of Liberty for all your children, that our divisions may cease and we may be one. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Reconciling God, we have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, give us grace to see in each other the face of Christ. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Resilient God, keep us forever in your path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met you in gift of friend and stranger, in the crucible of fortitude and struggle, that we never forget the ancestors who have brought us thus far by faith. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Restoring God, yet with a steady beat, our weary feet have come to the places for which our parents sighed, inspire us with the energy to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, keeping our eyes fixed on you. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Presider: God of Hope, stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, born in the day that hope unborn had died, revive in us your people that sense of hope that never fails so that we can make new this old world in the name of Jesus our brother. Amen.
Learn more about the history here:
https://hampton.gov/DocumentCenter/View/24075/1619-Virginias-First-Africans (PDF)
A Poem to Remember the Journey:
https://poets.org/poem/lift-every-voice-and-sing
History
The year 1619, extensively linked to Jamestown, Virginia, marked the start of slavery in what is now the United States of America. In August 1619, a woman and a man were aboard a ship known as The White Lion. They were among the “20 and odd Negroes” that disembarked in Virginia. They were Africans who were “brought for victuall [food],” as recorded by a merchant. Sometime after, the woman and the man, named Isabell Negro and Antoney Negro, had a son named William who was baptized, according to the 1624 census.
Collect for the African Diaspora
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, you who have brought
us thus far on the way; Give us grace to honor the lives of your
precious children, enslaved in body yet free in mind. May we forever
stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and make no peace
with oppression, that children of slaves and former slave owners may one
day live in harmony; through Jesus Christ our liberator, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, One God for ever and ever. Amen.Prayers of the People
Presider: As we commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619, the church invites us to give thanks for the resilience and cultural contributions of people from the African diaspora. Therefore, let us offer our prayers to our Loving, Liberating and Life-giving God.Lector: Repairing God, help us to lift every voice and sing, ‘til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of Liberty for all your children, that our divisions may cease and we may be one. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Reconciling God, we have come over a way that with tears has been watered, we have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, give us grace to see in each other the face of Christ. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Resilient God, keep us forever in your path, we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met you in gift of friend and stranger, in the crucible of fortitude and struggle, that we never forget the ancestors who have brought us thus far by faith. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Lector: Restoring God, yet with a steady beat, our weary feet have come to the places for which our parents sighed, inspire us with the energy to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, keeping our eyes fixed on you. By your might;
People: Lead us into the light.
Presider: God of Hope, stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod, born in the day that hope unborn had died, revive in us your people that sense of hope that never fails so that we can make new this old world in the name of Jesus our brother. Amen.
Learn more about the history here:
https://hampton.gov/DocumentCenter/View/24075/1619-Virginias-First-Africans (PDF)
A Poem to Remember the Journey:
https://poets.org/poem/lift-every-voice-and-sing
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