Online 9/11 service focuses on memory and ministry

LOUISVILLE — National staff of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) raised their voices in hymns, a prayer and a reflection Friday on the 25^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Rev. Denise Anderson read Psalm 46, which tells us to “be still, and know that I am God.”

Andrew Yeager-Buckley and the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell read the opening sentences, which included these assurances: “In the midst of grief, you are our comfort. In the face of uncertainty, you are our rock. In the wake of tragedy, you are our hope.”

During the pre-recorded service, Gambrell accompanied himself on “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past,” which has this hope in the fifth verse: “Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all our years away; they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.”

The Rev. Dr. John Wilkinson shared a reflection and prayer during the 19-minute service. On 9/11 he was attending a symposium at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, when someone rolled in a large television and everyone watched the news as it unfolded. “We had no way of comprehending the full scope,” he said. “What I knew was that I wanted to get home.”

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With the grounding of every commercial aircraft, Wilkinson rode with “a kindly elder” to Charlottesville, then rented a car to return home to Rochester, New York, where he was reunited with his spouse and two young children.

At the church he was serving, “we held worship services every night that week. I did not preach that next Sunday,” Wilkinson said. “What on earth would I say?” During Sunday worship, “I prayed a long and emotional prayer.” The children’s time focused on fear, “and how it was OK to be afraid, and in fact we were all afraid,” he said. “We shared the 46^th Psalm, as we just have done, sang hymns and held onto one another.”

Wilkinson said he wonders what’s changed in the past 25 years and what hasn’t changed. “What have we learned? What is the contour of our witness now, we who follow the One who heals, the One who calls us into this broken and fearful world?” he asked.

“I am hopeful that we who serve the church and the world for such a time as this may address these questions in this moment with faith, and with hope and with courage.”

“Our faith teaches us the Spirit gives us courage to pray without ceasing,” he said, and then he offered a prayer that included these petitions:

“We come to you on this day of remembrance, seeking your presence,” he prayed. “In sleeping and in waking, in despair and in hope, in silence and in sound, you hear the cries of our hearts. What we have, we bring: our memories, our hopes, our fears, our doubts, our certainties.”

“We remember those who died that day, in Washington, D.C., in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in New York City. We thank you for all they meant to so many, and we entrust them to your care, O God, for all eternity. We pray for those whose hearts are heavy, who continue yet to grieve and mourn their loss of family members, friends and co-workers.”

“We pray for the wounded, whose lives were damaged in body and spirit, and who yet suffer and seek healing these many years later.”

Wilkinson gave thanks “for all who rushed in, who placed themselves in harm’s way — the helpers, including those whose lives were lost in service to others,” including first responders, police officers, firefighters, EMTs, emergency workers, doctors, nurses, technicians and aides, and airline personnel.

“We remember the spirit of unity in this nation and the outpouring of support and compassion from around the world,” Wilkinson said, “and we ask for your guidance now in helping us to rekindle that spirit.”

“We pray for politicians and all who occupy corridors of power in this nation and around the world,” Wilkinson asked the Almighty. “Place in them a vision of peace, of concord, of justice, of reconciliation.”

“May we, O God, who are blessed to be peacemakers, take up that mantle again in new ways, that in the face of all that may divide us, we may persevere toward the wholeness that you intend for us and all Creation.”

“O God, you have been our dwelling place in all generations,” he said. “Dwell with us now as we remember, as we grieve, as we give thanks. Dwell with us now and grant us your peace, for we would pray in the name of the One who is the Prince of Peace, even Christ Jesus our Lord, who taught us to pray together with one voice by saying,” leading those gathered in the Lord’s Prayer.

A recording of First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska’s “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” followed the prayer. The service concluded with closing sentences read by Gambrell and Meg Rift, including: “See, the home of God is among mortals. God will dwell with them, and they will be God’s people. God will be with them and will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”