Today, like Daniel, and Nehemiah we stand in the gap to confess and repent of these sins.

Heavenly Father, Lord, You are good; Your steadfast love endures forever, and Your faithfulness
is to all generations (Ps 100:5). We come tonight on bended knees to acknowledge our utter
dependence upon You, our Creator, God, and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. You are God of
the Old and New Testaments and Your Covenant of love with us who believe is sealed by the
blood of Your Son. Your promise to bless us if we believe, honor and obey You and to judge us
if we do not, continues to be in force (Ps 95:6-7; Rom 5:8-9; Heb 8:10). Lord, tonight we dare to
come, falling on our knees before You, asking You to help us humble ourselves, not only
tonight, but every day. Hear our prayers, forgive our sins and heal us; heal our priests,…. For
whom we have committed ourselves to pray (2 Chr 7:14)!

As individuals, families, churches, nations and as a world, we have been proud and arrogant and
for this we ask your forgiveness.

You have singularly blessed us, but we have taken Your blessing for granted (Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5-
6) and for this we ask your forgiveness.

You are worthy of our love and devotion but instead, we have forgotten You and ignored Your
word. We have not esteemed You as Almighty God, nor have we honored, served and obeyed
You as we ought (Ps 18; Rev 4:11). Few of us are walking in pure devotion to You, worshiping
wholeheartedly, praying without ceasing, and daily feeding upon Your word. So few of us have
given ourselves enthusiastically to do Your will or labor diligently to finish Your work. Rather
we have forsaken You, the Spring of Living water, and drank from the stagnant waters of our
modern culture (Pr 12:24; Jer 2:13; Mt 4:10; Jn 4:34; 1 Th 5:17; 2 Tim 2:15). And for this we
ask your forgiveness.

You call us as priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices, lay leaders and laity to be a light,
to live holy lives, to walk in Christian love and carry the gospel of Christ to the nations. Instead,
we have withheld the grace of Your gospel from your people, our family, friends, neighbors and
co-workers, allowing many of them to face a Christ-less eternity. And for this we ask your
forgiveness.

You command us to bring up and instruct our children and youth in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord, yet they are abandoning the faith in large numbers, and while we are slow to respond
to Your command to preach the gospel, those who serve false gods zealously preach their
message of lies and deceit, trapping our young in eternal darkness and confusion while we sit
around and do nothing And for this we ask your forgiveness.
We have been complacent, apathetic, lazy, disobedient, and unfaithful to Your call (Mt 5:14-16).
You charge us as priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices, and laity to preserve truth and
all that is godly and pure. Instead we have allowed the rot of godless media and entertainment to
be in control. Instead of filling our homes, churches, schools, businesses, halls of government,
our nations and our world with vital Biblical and eternal truth and reality, we have allowed them
to be infected by lies and spiritual darkness. Instead of changing the world, the world has
changed us. We seem impotent and helpless. And for this we ask your forgiveness.

Having failed to be the salt of the earth, we are fast becoming good for nothing except to be cast
out and trodden under the feet of men (Mt 5:13). Lord, the living faith of our foreparents,the zeal
and commitment of the early missionaries in the priesthood and religious life, their love and
devotion to us, and their commitment to future generations compelled them to sacrifice their
lives for us. Yet today, we as priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices, lay leaders and
laity have lost that zeal and we have become the “me generation.” We elect leaders, not for their
righteousness, but their promise to give us benefits. Absorbed with our own lives and material
possessions, we have lost sight of all that is important: God and family, our neighbors, our fellow
countrymen and the people beyond the seas whom You love and for whom You gave Your Son
(Pr 29:2; Ex 18:21). And for this we ask your forgiveness..

Now, because of our indifference and complacency as your people, we fail to set appropriate
boundaries, manifest abuses of power, evident in inappropriate outbursts of anger, backbiting,
murmuring and gossip. We have continually acknowledge and condone alleged sexual
misconduct, and entertain controversies regarding finances within church and state. These
patterns, over the years, have contributed to a culture of secrecy, mistrust, poor communication,
and conflict. You O LORD have watched upon the evils we condone, and today we suffer the
consequences of our sins and your just wrath. We are filled with terror and our cry is one of fear and
panic. Fror these and other offences, we ask your forgiveness

Jesus, You prayed in Your priestly prayer: “Father may they all be one as I am one in You” .
Today Lord the fragmentation of Your church is intense. We have become a church more of
words than of deeds and we fail to be the voice of the voiceless: the poor and the marginalized,
the down trodden and the outcast; we have failed to be a voice which speaks out against
injustices and speaks truth to power. May the voice of the late El Salvadorian Bishop, St. Oscar
Romero rise up again in these times in our priests, bishops and religious leaders to speak in the
name of God of social justice as they address the social ills in our communities, and nations of
the Caribbean region. As church we have deviated from the preaching and teaching of the Word
and hold fast to criticism, social entertainment and dilution of the Gospel of Christ concerning
Sin, Judgement, mercy and Love. We ask pardon and forgiveness for the religious hypocrisy
that exists in our churches, and among our priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices, lay
leaders and laity .the sins of Church leaders, the sins of the laity, our own sins, those of our
families, and those of the ancestors.

Lord we are weak Lord but you are strong. Do not permit us to trade our dignity and relationship
with you for material gain, prestige nor power. Grant our priests…. And ourselves wisdom of
heart that will cause us to make Godly choices and decisions that are life giving to safeguarding
the integrity of your people entrusted to our care. Give us the courage and the fortitude to always
take a stand for You for the preservation of your world and its people.

Unless You, Lord, intervene and bring revival, spiritual reformation and awakening to your
church, persecution will surely become our lot (Ps 85:6; 94:17; Mt 5:13b). Lord, we cry out to
You today. Hear our cry. Help us to seek Your Face. Show us Your Face and help us to turn
from our wicked ways (2 Chr 7:14). Lord, Heal our church, and heal our Land. Show us mercy!
Forgive us our sins and cleanse us! Revive us again. Set our pulpits aflame with righteousness.
Purge compromise, mistrust, disrespect, indifference, blatant disobedience from our homes, our
pews, our presbyteries, convents, seminaries and houses of formation and among the
congregation and cause Your word to go forth to every town and village in our countries. Make
us salt and light again. Raise up godly leaders, holy priests, religious, deacons, seminarians,
novices, lay leaders and laity from among your people in church and in the country. Grant that
we might lead quiet and peaceable lives in godliness and honesty. Help us to return to You and
please Lord, return to us.

Listen Abba Father and act. Do not delay for we are in dire straits. We plead the blood of Jesus
for healing, forgiveness, and cleansing of the stains and consequences of our sins. Restore our
church, our families, our nation back to your original intent for us. Pour out a spirit of holiness
upon all priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices and laity. Enable obedience in us for it
is you who are working in us, both to will and for your pleasure. Help us to rebuild our church,
our lives and families. Cleanse us of all filthiness and impurities and let your righteousness flow
like a never-failing stream. Give us hearts like yours. Thank you for the salvation of the souls of
all your priests, religious, deacons, seminarians, novices, their families and all of us and our
families represented here tonight. Thank you for your healing grace and forgiveness in Jesus’
name.

AMEN
· a lack of appropriate boundaries

· abuses of power, evident in inappropriate outbursts of anger,

· acknowledged and alleged sexual misconduct, and

· controversies regarding finances.

These patterns, over the years, contributed to a culture of secrecy, mistrust, poor communication,
and conflict.

backbiting, murmuring and gossip”

Pope Francis admits he has spoken many times about this disease “but never enough.” He
described it as “a grave disease that begins simply, perhaps by just making a couple of gossips,
but then it takes charge of the person making him become a 'sower of lies' (like Satan), and in
many cases ‘cold blooded murder’ of the fame of their colleagues and fellow brothers.” He
called it “the disease of vile persons that not having the courage to speak directly (to the face)
speak behind the back.” He told the Roman Curia, “Let us guard ourselves against the terrorism
of gossip!"

A Prayer of Repentance on Behalf of the Church

11/28/2021

6 Comments

Today The Orchard Church in Kingsley, Michigan confessed the sins of the modern universal Church
during our worship service.

The idea of confessing for the sins of others is controversial, but this was a prayer in response to our
reading of Daniel 9 - on this first Sunday of Advent. After reading Jeremiah, Daniel prayed a prayer of
confession on behalf of all of Israel. In the same way, in response to reading Daniel 9, The Orchard
Church prayed a prayer of confession on behalf of the Church today.

I wrote the prayer from much input from my friends on social media.

Father, Lord God Almighty – you are the Glorious One who keeps all his promises. We, your Church,
have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and
ordinances. We have not listened to your Word.

Father, all righteousness belongs to you, but this day public shame belongs to us: the people of the
Church, the pastors, and deacons, leaders, and congregations.

We confess and repent.

We have honored you with words, but our hearts are far away. We say we love your Word, but abuse
and neglect it. We ignore the innocent and have embraced sexual brokenness.

We confess and repent.

We have embraced the yeast of Herod – mixing the politics of this world into the faith that was once for
all delivered to the Saints. We have confused the city of man with the Kingdom of God.
We are a double-minded people, swinging from one extreme to the other. Desiring entertainment over
discipleship. Too focused on judgment and condemnation or not mentioning sin at all.

We confess and repent.

We stereotype other churches and see them as competitors instead of co-laborers in the Gospel –
because we are too often focused on ourselves rather than those around us; filled with arrogance and
pride instead of the Great Commission. We have been far too busy building our own empire, rather than
serving in the Kingdom of God.

We confess and repent.

We applaud arrogant, proud, boastful, unloving, and unmerciful people while neglecting the poor, single
people, the divorced, the abandoned, widows, foster children, and orphans. We have failed to be
reconciled to persons of every people, tribe, tongue, and nation as image-bearers of God. We have
made comfort our god while tolerating spiritual abuse from our pastors because they know how to twist
the gospel to numerically grow a congregation. We have accepted hypocrisy while our pastors sexually
abuse the flock because we are more concerned about protecting our name and our reputation than
your truth, your justice, and your care for the powerless.

We have been overcome by evil and responded with fearful anger, rather than the confidence and love
that comes from you.

We confess and repent.

Now, Lord our God – who brought your people out of the land of Egypt, and who redeemed your people
through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus – may your anger and wrath turn away from your
Church. Our sin has made us an object of ridicule to all those around us.

Father God, hear our prayer and petition. May your face shine upon the broken Church. Listen and hear
us, O God. We are not presenting our confession and prayers based on our righteous acts, but based on
your abundant compassion. Our sins are scarlet, in the Name of Jesus make them as clean as snow. Fill
us with your Spirit once again so we might return to our first love and do your will.
Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! Our God, for your own sake, do not delay, because your
Church and your people bear your Name.

In the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord we ask you.

For the times I’ve used others…

For the times I’ve failed to see…
For the times I’ve hardened my heart to a person in need…
For the times I’ve failed to do the right thing…
For the times I’ve given in to peer pressure…
For the times I’ve lied when someone needed me to tell the truth…
For the times I’ve looked away when someone needed my help…
For the times I’ve closed my ears to the cries of the helpless…
For the times I’ve chosen comfort over courage…
For the times I’ve turned my back on someone who was hurting…
For the times I’ve ignored my feelings…
For the times I’ve silenced the cry of my heart…
For the times I haven’t been Your mercy for others…
For the times I’ve invalidated my own feelings…
For the times I’ve believed the lies of others…
For the times I’ve repeated the lies of others…
For the times I’ve suppressed righteous anger…
For the times I’ve given up in despair…
For the times I’ve failed to share You with someone who needed You…
For the times I’ve wrongly hid my faith from others…
For the times I’ve misrepresented You in my words and actions…
For the times I’ve caused scandal by my words or actions…
For the times I’ve brought hatred instead of love…
For the times I’ve brought division instead of peace…
For the times I’ve brought gossip instead of charity…
For the times I’ve torn down when I could have built up…