Prayer for Ukraine

As Ukraine faces an invasion by Russia, our Associate Conference Minister, Jonathan Roach, offers the following prayer.

Prayer for Ukraine from the Hawaiʻi Conference:

Lord, today we pray with our eyes wide open

We see this world in all its brokenness

We see the blood and tears and pain

We see the suffering that this war is causing

Lord, we pray with our eyes wide open and today

We pray for the people of Ukraine.

Creator, today we pray with our ears wide open

We hear the drums of war in their seemingly endless pounding

As we have heard many, many times

And now we hear the cries, the begging, the pleading

Lord, we pray with our ears wide open and today

We pray for the people of Ukraine.

Savior, today we pray with our hearts wide open

Let us feel not just as bystanders

Let us pray with faith, hope, and love

Lord, we pray with our hearts wide open and today

We pray for the people of Ukraine.

Living-Breath, today we pray with our mouths open and our feet ready

We pray with our eyes wide open but we only see through screens and images

We pray with our ears wide open but we hear as bystanders far, far away

Lord, from our comfort and from our safety, please

Let us pray with our mouths open and our feet ready

Let us be peacemakers who will not be silent

Let us be peacemakers who will not sit passively

Let us be peacemakers who will not turn our hearts inward to ourselves

But outward for the people of Ukraine

But outward for the people of Russia

Make me a response to this prayer for Ukraine, for Russia

For the dead and for the living, we pray.

Statement on Ukraine from UCC National Officers

The national officers of the United Church of Christ (UCC) have shared a prayer for Ukraine.

The UCC has also issued an appeal for Ukraine, in collaboration with our close partners in the Reformed Church of Hungary (RCH). "The RCH is involved in response through its agency, Hungarian Reformed Church Aid (HRCA). HRCA has been active since the beginning of the war, and is able to work with elderly and other vulnerable communities, such as IDPs (internally displaced persons), inside the Ukraine who have not been able to leave. This includes immigrants and migrant populations who are experiencing difficulties crossing into other European countries. HRCA is also working though a humanitarian corridor to provide assistance in the Ukraine and work with refugees who are leaving."