Steve Godsall-Myers of Advent Lutheran Church in Harleysville, PA wrote the following “Call to Confession and Forgiveness” for upcoming Election Day Communion services:

Gracious God, we come to this place, your house, on an important day for our nation.

We acknowledge that you are the God of our lives, yet we also acknowledge that we entrust others with the responsibility of guiding our nation for the benefit of all. We come humbly to your Table this night, having seen and heard so much during a long political campaign. We come together, knowing that there are differences among us, knowing that we have not all voted the same way, knowing that we have not all supported the same candidates. But we come knowing that we are yours, your children for whom Christ died. We acknowledge that our lives are finally in your hands and in your keeping.

Hear us as we humbly confess and acknowledge the sinfulness of a long campaign:

We confess our unkind thoughts and our unfair judgments,
O Lord, hear us and heal us.

We confess our anger and our pride,
O Lord, hear us and heal us.

We confess our lack of courage to speak out,
O Lord, hear us and heal us.

We confess our lack of civility in speaking out,
O Lord, hear us and heal us.

O God, we come to you and
we confess forgetting our common humanity,

O God, we come to you and
we confess neglecting to consider others and their needs,

O God, we come to you and
we confess demonizing those created in your image,

O God, we come to you and
we confess putting the words and actions of others in the worst light.

O Lord, hear us and heal us.

God does hear us, and God offers us the healing grace of forgiveness through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May we live in God’s grace as we come to the Table this night, as we share from this Table, and as we leave this Table and this place. May Christ dwelling within us inspire and empower us to encourage and support our elected officials to speak, act and decide for the welfare of all. May Christ dwelling within us help us to live into the unity that Jesus commanded and the fellowship that he promises. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.