‘Responsive Reading “Black History Observance” Minister: Oh God, you have heard the anguished cries of our ancestors. Their souls echo and penetrate time to remind us of our fore parents who were brutally | captured and forcibly enslaved, as they left the peaceful womb of their African homeland. Congregation: "Stony the road we trod." Minister: Oh God, you have seen the millions of dark bodies buried beneath the tumultuous waves of the deep. Bodies of African men and women who held the seeds of greatness. You have seen women's dreams for a united family vanish as they were sold at auction blocks. You have seen the legacy of the African . } American family decimated and demeaned by those who have attempted to control our destiny. Congregation: "Bitter the unborn had died." chastening rod, felt in the days when hope Minister: Oh God, you have ignited the sparks within us into a blazing demand for freedom, equality and justice. Congregation: "Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet, come to the place for which our fathers sighed?" Minister: Oh God, you have seen our tears. You have been pained by the evil of human hearts. Yet, you loved humanity enough that you sent you’re only Son to identify with the outcast, marginalized and rejected. As the cries of Jesus pierced | your heart, so have the cries of your people--cries from different cultures and in. different languages. Congregation: "God of our weary years, God of our silent tears." Minister: Oh God, you answered us during our exodus from Africa. You wiped | every teardrop during our exile in captivity. Our fore parents dared to dream that one day, on these shores, we would become politicians, preachers, educators, doctors, writers, scientists, artists, and so much more. Congregation: "Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee." All Together: Our ancestors' hard work, their cou rage, their convictions, and their belief in You paved the way for our emancipation and education. But it is clear, | You have liberated us. You have set us free. "Free at last, free at last, thank God | Almighty, I'm free at last!" |