Worship Resources for Native American Heritage Month

During the month of November, many communities will offer opportunities to observe and honor Native American Heritage Month. One way local churches can participate in Native American Heritage Month is by lifting up the voices of Native Peoples in our worship services. Below you will find liturgical resources written by United Methodists from different Native American tribal affiliations. Consider how you might use these prayers in worship this month and throughout the year. May God use them to shape your local congregation and the worldwide United Methodist Church into the church we are becoming.

Call to Worship

Honor Creator and Creation

Jeff Ramsland
Mohawk

Creator made all that is, and proclaimed that 'it is good.'
Creator, help us to discover in all You have made in Nature,
the good wisdom about the
interconnectedness of all things,
about balance and about living in harmony.

We are not above nature, we are part of Creation;
we live by the same laws as all of nature,
and need to learn from what God has made.
Creator, help us discover the power
that lies in the wisdom and understanding
of our role in the Great Mystery,
and in honoring every living thing as a teacher.

ALL: Creator God, may our spirits be in harmony with Yours
as we gather in Your worship!

(On our website: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/21st-century-worship-resources-for-native-american-ministries-sunday)

Opening Prayer

A Directional Prayer

Ray Buckley
Tlingit/Lakota

Here,
in this place,
You have chosen to be with us.

We turn to the east,
where the morning sun awaits us,
and Your light is there.

We turn to the south,
from which warm winds blow,
and Your spirit warms us.

We turn to the west
the place of the unknown,
and Your certainty awaits us.

We turn to the north
the place of wisdom,
and find Your wisdom is already here.

Around, before, and behind us,
Your presence is here.
We open our arms and our hearts,
so that You may come inside.

See that we are a good place for You to live.
See that we are Your children,
and you are our God.
Live in us.

Amen.

Copyright 1999/Ray Buckley. Used by permission.

Creed

Kimberlee Medicine Horn Jackson
Yankton Sioux Tribe

I believe in Creator, in God the Father, in the one who made everything.

I believe the One from Above knows our struggles with unbelief, so He made a way for us to know Him walking on earth by sending his Son. That’s how much He loves us.

I believe in Jesus, the Waymaker, the Prince of Peace, the Living Water who lived among us, taught us, loved us, healed us, forgave us, and gave his life for us because that was the way from the One from Above.

I believe in three days, the Waymaker conquered death and sits at Creator’s right side, watching us, and bending His ear to us.

I believe Waymaker knew us so well that after He walked on from this earth, He gifted us with Spirit to be our eyes to see Creator in everything, ears to hear the whispers, the laughter, and tears of Creator in ways only we understand, in language only we know.

I believe our hearts have been opened to accept and give love.

I believe Creator, the Waymaker, and Spirit are all one—

One that never ends, One who meets us wherever we go and wherever we come from, I believe.

I believe.

Prayer of Confession

We Are Weak and Feeble

Nathan Sam-Whistler
Tohono O’odham/Paiute

One: O’ Great Spirit hear our hearts. We are weak and feeble.
Many: We have been wronged and we have wronged others.
One: Help us, to forgive others and to forgive ourselves.
Many: Many things bother us--some of these things we can talk about
--others we cannot.
One: Set our feet upon solid ground so that we might again walk in a good way.
Many: Creator, we come to you with a repentant heart.
Deliver us from our pain.
One: In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you are forgiven.
All: Amen.

Benediction

Send Blessings Upon Us

Justin Matthew Phillips
Cherokee/Ponca

Dear God,
Look out for us today as we travel into the unknown.
Stand by us and point us in the right direction as we look for answers.
Bless our minds so that our thoughts can render good actions to give to the world.
We trust your judgment just like you trust ours…thank you.
In Jesus’ name we pray.
Amen.

Hymn Suggestions

The United Methodist Hymnal

• Alleluia, 186
• Amazing Grace, 378
• Daw-Kee, Aim Daw-Tsi-Taw, 330
• Heleluyan, 78
• Many and Great, O God, 148
• Prayer to the Holy Spirit, 329
• Psalm 8, Response 2, 743
• 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime, 244
  

The United Methodist Book of Worship

• Heleluyan, 176
• Kiowa Hymn: A Call to Worship, 184
• Shawnee Traveling Song, 197
• May the Warm Winds of Heaven, 198 and 200