O God,
We have before us these 500 backpacks, collected in love and faith. We give you thanks for the supplies that were purchased and for the hands who put this all together.
We ask your blessing on these gifts, O Lord.
May the children who receive them, learn and be blessed by the opportunities provided by education. Give them clarity of mind and heart. May they live into the dreams you have for each of them.
We ask that you bless the teachers, aides, and administrators at each of the schools as well. May their guidance and instruction bring stability and blessing into the lives of the children in our communities.
For the gifts of minds and bodies and hearts and souls, we give you thanks.
For the ability to share the blessings we have received, we give you thanks.
For the assurance of things hoped for and the convictions of things not seen, we give you thanks. Call us into deeper faith that we may ever be your workers in this world, bringing your kingdom to earth. Amen.
thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteI have several on my blog. Here are two litanies. This is mostly a collection of prayers with some ideas thrown in. The last one is a Sunday School teacher commissioning combined with Blessing of the backpacks that could easily stand on its own.
ReplyDeletePosted the liturgies I have for blessing backpacks and the kids who wear them in a note on my facebook. https://www.facebook.com/liz.moen?sk=notes#!/notes/liz-moen/backpack-blessings/10152007213410265
ReplyDeleteGo to the Back to School article on my blog at http://www.worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2012/07/back-to-school-in-2012.html for ideas about blessing the backpacks and a few other Back to School worship resources.
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember to explain what you are doing to the congregation. I was stopped by an older woman after a workshop last week. She wanted to know why the church thought it was a good idea to bless backpacks. She thought it was rather crass and commercial. After a few minutes of conversation about how important back to school time is for children and how blessing the bags also blesses them and lets them know that God (and the church) cares about them at school. That seemed to satisfy her. It clearly reminded me that we can't be too clear about what we are doing and why we are doing it in worship.
We bless backpacks and lunch boxes, laptops and Blackberries...the outward signs of not only students, but also teachers and all those who work in schools (we are a parish with an attached school). Including both youth and adults, students and teachers has been a great way to set learning in the context of a community endeavor.
ReplyDelete