A Service of Remembrance For those who died at The Pulse Nightclub - June 12, 2021 All Saints Episcopal Church Fort Lauderdale, Florida
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A Service of Remembrance
For those who died at
The Pulse Nightclub
June 12, 2021
All Saints Episcopal Church
Fort Lauderdale, FloridaIn the early morning hours on Sunday, June 12, 2016, a gunman entered the Pulse Nightclub in
Orlando killing 49 people and wounding 53 others. This was an act of violence targeting a gay
nightclub that served as a refuge for the LGBTQ community in Orlando and its surrounding area.
It must also be spoken that many of the victims were people of color, Black and Latinx individuals
who came to Pulse because of Latin Night, one of the few places, if not the only place, where they
could gather with friends, revel, and simply be more fully themselves.
Today, we gather in remembrance of those who died and in remembrance of those who live and
bear the scars of that night.
Officiant Come, you who are weary, come to the table. compassion and strength.
People Blessed be God, now and forever.
Officiant The Lord be with you.
People And also with you.
Officiant Let us pray.
Eternal God, in whose perfect reign no weapon is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no
strength known but the strength of love: Guide us with your cloud by day and your fire by night,
and grant us wisdom and courage for the facing of this hour. All this we ask for the sake of your
love. Amen.
A reading from the Book of Ruth.
Orpah said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your
sister-in-law.” But Ruth said,
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die—
there will I be buried.
May the Lord do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more to her. (Ruth 1:15-18)
Reader The Word of the Lord.
People Thanks be to God.
Psalm 1391 LORD, you have searched me out and known me; *
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places *
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips, *
but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before *
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; *
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit? *
where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there; *
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning *
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me *
and your right hand hold me fast.
10 If I say, "Surely the darkness will cover me, *
and the light around me turn to night,"
11 Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day; *
darkness and light to you are both alike.
12 For you yourself created my inmost parts; *
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
13 I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.
14 My body was not hidden from you, *
while I was being made in secret
and woven in the depths of the earth.
15 Your eyes beheld my limbs, yet unfinished in the womb;
all of them were written in your book; *
they were fashioned day by day,
when as yet there was none of them.
16 How deep I find your thoughts, O God! *
how great is the sum of them!
17 If I were to count them, they would be more in number
than the sand; *
to count them all, my life span would need to
be like yours.
A reading from the Gospel according to John.Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” (John 16:31-33) Reader The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God. The Homily The Rev. Leslie J. Hague As our Savior Jesus Christ taught us, we now pray, Officiant and People Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world! Your heavenly will be done by all created beings! Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth. With the bread we need for today, feed us. In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us. In times of temptation and test, strengthen us. From trials too great to endure, spare us. From the grip of all that is evil, free us. For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and for ever. Amen. Officiant The Lord be with you. People And also with you. Officiant Let us pray. We gather as a community to stand in solidarity with those who grieve, with those who mourn. We mourn the 49 lives that were lost to an act of violence perpetrated by one man. We grieve with the families, both biological and chosen, who have lost loved ones. We grieve with the city of Orlando where the violence and fear took place. We grieve with a nation who is reminded, yet again, of how it has enabled another person’s fear and hate to result in death. We stand with the victims and their families. We stand with their community and our community. We stand to bear their burden in Jesus’ name.
We resist narratives that too narrowly define people, communities, identities, and religions. We resist narratives that externalize and divide, breeding Islamophobia and xenophobia. We resist our numbness to another act of gun violence. We resist our denial of a system of injustice and a climate of fear and bigotry and hate toward the LGBTQ community. We pray for the victims and their families. We pray for their community and our community. We pray in the name of the Spirit to be near. We confess our silence as people who are too often silent in the face of bias, bigotry, and injustice. We confess our silence as people who often choose not to speak against theologies and politics that marginalize, divide, and oppress. We confess that in our silence, systems of injustice and inequity continue. We confess our silence. We cry out for those who were lost. We cry out for their families. We cry out for their community and our own. We cry out for those who still feel the wounds of the gunshots in their bodies and their spirits. We cry out for those who were present who feel traumatized each time they hear of another mass shooting. We cry out for justice and peace to come. We declare together, oh Lord With hearts breaking, eyes weeping, and souls stirring. We will continue to stand and cry and weep with our brothers and sisters. We will continue to make a place of peace for even our enemies at our table. We will continue to open our doors and our hearts to those who enter them. We will continue to seek to forgive as we have been forgiven. We will continue to love in Jesus’ name, because you taught us that love conquers all. We declare our love for you, our Sisters. We declare our love for you, our Brothers. We declare our love for you, our Siblings. We declare our love for you, their families. We declare our love as one body, one Lord, one faith. We declare they do not grieve alone today. Often events such as this impact us deeply. Our silence is a response to our disorientation. Silence houses our fears, anger, grief, and rage. Our silence creates space to simply be present with experiences. Silence must eventually be broken. Often we break our silence first with prayer, asking the Spirit to come. Prayers give us words that link experiences to impact and to meaning, which can and need to be taken into the world.
We invite you to join us in this space as we remember and speak aloud the names of those we have lost, ringing a bell for each soul: Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old Amanda Alvear, 25 years old Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26 years old Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old Cory James Connell, 21 years old Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old Frank Hernandez, 27 years old Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old Kimberly Morris, 37 years old Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old As our Lord taught us to pray for our enemies, we pray for the gunman, a man consumed by hate. May we stand together in love, for it is in love that hate will be overcome. A Collect for the Human Family O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Blessing Officiant Let us bless the Lord. People Thanks be to God.
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