We call upon you Prince of Peace, Savior and King. We confess that you are all powerful and all present, great and gentle, firm and forgiving, holy and healing. You who created us and sustains us, who call us to live in peace and love, hear our prayer. And for hearing our prayer, we thank you.
We remember all who have died in fields of war, those whose hearts were known to you alone.
We remember their loved ones, those left to finish their lives without the company of their beloved lost to war. Meet them in their remembrance and bring them a special sense of your peace.
Create in Your people, in us, a longing for a time when the promised words of Isaiah who said that you, our Lord will once and for all “settle disputes among the nations and provide arbitration for many peoples. They will turn their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will never again train for war.” (Isaiah 2:4)
Help us remember our baptisms, that this world you are re-making through the resurrection and ascended Christ is beginning now. And even now we are called to lay down the arms of war and turn our swords into ploughshares for a harvest of justice and peace.
Hear our prayer this Memorial Day weekend, and in your mercy answer us and convict our hearts as we call upon you, our Prince of Peace, Savior and King, Jesus our Lord, amen.
Fred came to serve greater Williamsburg and WCC as lead pastor in October of 2010 and is grateful to be a part of the family. He is a husband, father, certified trauma professional, S.T.A.R. (strategies for trauma awareness & resilience) practitioner, community organizer, TEDx alum, founder of 3e Restoration, Inc. and co-owner of Philoxenia Culture LLC. He received his B.S. in Ministry/Bible at Amridge University and his Master’s of Religious Education in Missional Leadership from Rochester University. Currently he is a candidate for a Doctorate of Ministry in Contextual Theology in at Northern Seminary in Chicago. Fred has also served as an adjunct professor for Rochester University and Regent University where taught courses in philosophy, ethics, leadership, pastoral care, intro to Christianity, and ethnography. He has also served as a guest lecturer on the subjects of racialized cultural systems, poverty, and missiology at various universities, such as William & Mary and Oklahoma Christian University. Fred has authored on book (Racialized Cultural Systems, Social Displacement and Christian Hospitality) and several curriculum offerings, including The FloorPlan: Living Toward Restoration & Resilience.
Fred enjoys hanging out with his family anytime, anywhere. He is deeply grateful for how God graciously works through the Church in all her various forms, despite our brokenness. He is passionate about seeing the last, least, and lonely of every neighborhood, city and nation experience God’s in-breaking kingdom, and come to know Jesus as King. Oh, and his favorite season is Advent and Christmas.
Fred is a founding member of the board of directors for Virginia Racial Healing Institute, a member of the leadership team for Williamsburg's local chapter of Coming to the Table, and a member of Greater Williamsburg Trauma-Informed Community Network's Racial Trauma Committee and Training Committee.
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