Blessing of the LGBTQ+ Graduates | Monday Invocation

Over the last month and throughout the next couple of weeks, LGBTQ+ graduates are walking across the stage and receiving their diplomas after years of grueling work. The majority of them experienced many hours of Zoom school and isolation that made the last couple of years especially hard. Yet they overcame, and it’s time to celebrate them! 

Today we offer a blessing for all of our LGBTQ+ graduates and their communities. We hope that you will join us not only in praying for them but in surrounding them in beloved community as they embark on this next chapter in their lives.

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God of new beginnings,

You have been with each of us every step of our educational journeys. You have guided our steps and continue to do so.

We call out to you to bless our LGBTQ+ Graduates as they graduate from high school, trade school, undergraduate, and master’s degree programs. Be with them as they celebrate this momentous occasion in their own way. 

Be with them as they step into a world that will tell them they are not your beloved children. Allow them to find the loving faith communities that will uplift them as your beloveds, showing through their actions, “Blessed are those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, queer, and everywhere else in-between.” Let the truth of love transform us all from the inside out.

Reveal your presence with them as they step into their next phase in life. Hold them close when their hearts are yearning for what they once knew. Give them the hope to step into the future with open hearts for a changed world. Allow them to use their learned skills and talents to help transform the world, realizing that we all have a part to play.

And Holy God, give them rest. In the midst of all of their struggles, all of their celebrations, all of their joy and sorrow, help them to seek rest, restoration, and rejuvenation in you. And help them to rise again, renewed by your Holy Spirit. 

Bless our community of believers as we continue to encourage and support them in their journey. Help us to be the best versions of ourselves as we love one another through our heartbreaks and joys. 

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.