Seeking Wisdom: Inclusive Blessings and Prayers for Public Occasions

by Jann Aldredge-Clanton

Seeking Inclusive Blessings and Prayers for Public Occasions provides clergy and laypersons with a unique resource to use in community settings, healthcare institutions, and faith communities. These blessings and prayers respect people from diverse religious traditions and use gender-inclusive language for humanity and divinity. Predominant themes are peace, justice, healing, hope, liberation, partnership in relationships, and caring for the earth. This collection includes blessings for such events as community Thanksgiving services, Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations, Women's History Month celebrations, Holocaust Remembrance Day services, breast cancer survivors celebrations, transplant survivors celebrations, chapel dedications, memorial services, lay ministers dedications, baby dedications, pastoral prayers, invocations, calls to worship, offertory prayers, benedictions, a lament for violence against women and girls, and a lament for other forms of injustice. This book also includes pastoral prayers, invocations, calls to worship, offertory prayers, benedictions, a lament for violence against women and girls, and a lament for other forms of injustice. Seeking Wisdom includes more than two hundred inclusive, interfaith blessings and prayers for public occasions. These blessings and prayers can be adapted or combined to fit specific occasions, providing a valuable resource for clergy and laypersons.

204 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2010

About the author

Jann Aldredge-Clanton is an ordained minister, author, teacher, and chaplain. She currently serves as adjunct professor at Perkins School of Theology and Richland Community College, Dallas, Texas. A native of Louisiana, Jann received the B.A. degree from Louisiana Polytechnic University, the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Texas Christian University, and the M.Div. from Southwestern Theological Seminary.

She is the author of Changing Church: Stories of Liberating Ministers (Cascade Books, 2011); Inclusive Hymns for Liberation, Peace, and Justice (Eakin Press, 2011); Seeking Wisdom: Inclusive Blessings and Prayers for Public Occasions (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2010); Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians (Eakin Press, 2006); Breaking Free: The Story of a Feminist Baptist Minister (Eakin Press, 2002); In Search of the Christ-Sophia: An Inclusive Christology for Liberating Christians (Twenty-Third Publications, 1995; Eakin Press, 2004); Imagine God! A Children's Musical Exploring and Expressing Images of God (Choristers Guild, 2004); In Whose Image? God and Gender (Crossroad, 1990, 2001); Praying with Christ-Sophia: Services for Healing and Renewal (Twenty-Third Publications, 1996; Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007); Counseling People with Cancer (Westminster John Knox, 1998); God, A Word for Girls and Boys (Glad River, 1993; Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2007). She has also published articles in The Journal of Pastoral Care, The Christian Ministry, and elsewhere.

Her lectures include The School of Theology for the Laity, Perkins School of Theology Women's Week, Texas Christian University Women's Week, United Methodist Fall University, Baptist Women in Ministry Annual Conference, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Annual Conference, Alliance of Baptists Annual Conference, American Association of Pastoral Counselors Conference, The Hymn Society Annual Conference, and Faith and Feminism/Womanist/Mujerista Annual Conference. Her diverse career includes serving as consultant in the internship programs at Perkins School of Theology and Brite Divinity School; Associate Pastor, St. John's United Methodist Church, Waco, Texas; Executive Director, Waco Conference of Christians and Jews; Pastoral Counselor, Samaritan Counseling Center of Central Texas; Chaplain, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; Chaplain, Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Waco, Texas; English professor, Dallas Baptist University.