Last Updated on January 13, 2024 by Kittredge Cherry
Q Spirit founder Kittredge Cherry is honored that her prayer was part of the Washington National Cathedral’s annual worship service for Matthew Shepard on Nov. 30, 3023. They also included her prayer in 2021 and 2022.
The prayer begins, “Loving God of the rainbow promise,” and the congregation repeats that phrase as a response throughout the prayer.
Shepard is a modern gay martyr who brought international attention to anti-LGBTQ hate crimes when he was murdered 25 years ago. The service commemorates his birthday and marks the anniversary of his murder.
The 2023 service leaflet and video are available online. “I was amazed when Bishop Gene Robinson was one of the readers for my prayer,” Cherry said. “It seemed too good to be true, but miracles do happen.” He is renowned worldwide as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. He took turns with canon for worship Rosemarie Logan Duncan and associate priest Patrick Keyser in reading the prayer aloud to the congregation in 2023.
Bishop Gene Robinson, left, and Rosemarie Logan Duncan read Kittredge Cherry’s prayer in a screenshot from the 2023 service at the National Cathedral.
Here is the prayer as it was read at the cathedral:
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Loving God of the rainbow promise,
Thank you for creating us in your holy image, with a wide range of genders and sexualities that reflect your own sacred diversities. May we hear your voice and embody your love today and always.
Loving God of the rainbow promise,
We pray for an end to hatred and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex people in every nation. Bring strength and comfort to the LGBTQ people who experience violence, poverty, job loss, homelessness and other forms of discrimination because of who they love and who they are.
Loving God of the rainbow promise,
We acknowledge our own brokenness and invite you to heal the wounds, ease the pain and calm the fears in every human heart. Be known to us even in the midst of every storm and illuminate a way in our wilderness.
Loving God of the rainbow promise,
We pledge to help build a world where love means love, a world where justice and peace kiss each other. As a rainbow community, we give thanks for friends, families and allies who join us in the journey to protect and celebrate sexual and gender diversities worldwide. In your many names we pray, Amen.
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Annual service honors Shepard at National Cathedral
The prayer has staying power because it was read at the cathedral for three years in a row (2021-23). Cherry was not able to attend in person, but every year her prayer was read aloud by others at the cathedral. Her prayer was interpreted simultaneously in sign language, which can be seen in the right lower corner of the videos.
The cathedral posted the 2021 service leaflet and 2022 service leaflet online, plus the 2021 video and 2022 video of the worship services. The full text of the prayer is included in the worship service leaflets for all three years.
Rosemarie Logan Duncan, canon for worship, reads the prayer by Kittredge Cherry at the Washington National Cathedral in the official video in 2022.
In 2022 Rosemarie Logan Duncan, canon for worship (pictured above), and Patrick Keyser, associate priest (pictured below), took turns reading alternate sections of her prayer. For all three years the speakers at the service included Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, and Matthew’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, co-founders of the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
A commissioned portrait of Shepard by artist Kelly Latimore was displayed and dedicated at the 2022 service. More info on the portrait is included in Q Spirit’s profile of Matthew Shepard.
Patrick Keyser reading the prayer in 2022.
“I am deeply honored that the National Cathedral contacted me out of nowhere and asked to use my prayer,” Cherry said in 2021. “The worship leaders did an excellent job of reading it out loud, setting just the right tone. I wrote the prayer last May for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). One of my inspirations was a request from friends at an LGBTQ church in Russia. But it fits perfectly as the closing prayer for Matthew’s service. I like to think that Matthew and all the other queer souls were present with us as we prayed. ”
After the service people were welcome to reflect at St. Joseph’s Chapel. It is the lowest place in the cathedral and the final resting place of Matthew Shepard, as well as disability activist Helen Keller, her teacher Anne Sullivan, and many others. On Matthew’s birthday in 2021 the chapel was opened for the first time since the pandemic closed the cathedral almost two years earlier. The 2022 service was held in the chapel itself.
As stated in the order of worship in the service leaflet, Cherry is publisher of Qspirit.net and author of “Equal Rites” and “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision.”
The National Cathedral is the main church of Anglicanism in United States and the site of the cathedra (chair) of the presiding bishop. More info on how they honor Matthew Shepard is at: https://cathedral.org/calendar/a-service-honoring-matthew-shepard/
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Top image credit:
Video of the 2023 service for Matthew Shepard at the Washington National Cathedral.
This article was originally published on Q Spirit in December 2021, was expanded over time, and was most recently updated on Dec. 1, 2023.
Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
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