Leader:
We gather in the name of the God who created us in Blackness and brilliance,
in struggle and in song.
People:
We gather in the name of the God who liberates,
who breaks chains,
who lifts the bowed head.
Leader:
From the shores of Africa to the fields of the diaspora,
God has anointed Black women as prophets, preachers, organizers, and healers.
People:
We remember them.
We honor them.
We rise because they rose.
Leader:
When the auction block tried to silence our mothers—
People:
God placed freedom in their wombs and fire in their bones.
Leader:
We remember Sojourner Truth,
who stood in the face of racism and patriarchy and asked,
“Ain’t I a Woman?”
People:
Yes, you are!
And we are because you were!
Leader:
We remember Harriet Tubman,
Moses of her people,
who followed the North Star and the Spirit’s voice.
People:
Guide our feet, O God,
as you guided hers through the wilderness.
Leader:
We remember Jarena Lee,
who heard the call of God when the church said “No.”
People:
Give us courage to preach when doors are closed,
to testify when voices are dismissed.
Leader:
We remember Nannie Helen Burroughs,
builder of schools and builder of dignity.
People:
Teach us to build institutions that honor our girls and protect our futures.
Leader:
We remember Ella Baker,
who taught us that strong people do not need strong leaders.
People:
Make us strong people, O God—
organized, wise, and unafraid.
Leader:
We remember Fannie Lou Hamer,
who declared she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
People:
Heal our weariness,
but do not take away our holy discontent.
Leader:
We remember Pauli Murray,
priest, lawyer, prophet of justice.
People:
Expand our understanding of who can serve at your altar, O God.
Leader:
We remember Shirley Chisholm,
unbought and unbossed.
People:
Make us unbought.
Make us unbossed.
Make us faithful to justice.
Leader:
We remember Katie Geneva Cannon,
who taught us that Black women’s ethics are holy ground.
People:
Let our theology rise from kitchens and pews,
from protests and prayer circles.
Leader:
We remember Bishop Vashti McKenzie,
who broke stained-glass ceilings.
People:
Break every ceiling that limits your daughters, O God.
Leader:
We give thanks for living witnesses—
for organizers, pastors, scholars, mothers, daughters—
for those whose names are known and those heaven alone records.
People:
Their faith is our foundation.
Their struggle is our inheritance.
Their victory is our calling.
Leader:
In this Women’s History Month,
we confess the ways the church has silenced women.
People:
Forgive us, O God,
and make us a church where Black women flourish.
Leader:
We proclaim a gospel of liberation—
good news to Black women who labor,
good news to Black girls who dream,
good news to elders who have carried us this far.
People:
Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Leader:
God of Hagar and Hannah,
God of Mary and the mothers of the movement,
pour out your Spirit on your daughters.
People:
We will prophesy.
We will organize.
We will preach.
We will vote.
We will build.
We will love.
Leader:
For the same Spirit that sustained our foremothers—
People:
Lives in us.
Leader:
And the God who liberated yesterday—
People:
Is liberating still.
All:
Amen.
And Ashe.
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