Worship Resources for Disaster Recovery, part II

Part II: Worship to Support Long-Term Disaster Recovery

Reverend Libby Janes

Director, SPDR

Part II: Worship to Support Long-Term Disaster Recovery

Much like remembering veterans on Memorial Day or holding special space to remember a loved one each year on the day of their death (or commonly, on the loved one’s birthday), disaster anniversaries are also important days for many to reflect on memories or grief, or the passage of time after a significant event.

Disaster anniversaries can be experienced in a variety of ways, whether as an individual, as a family, or as a community. Time can feel strange in disaster recovery, and it can feel surprising that a year has gone by since the day when for those affected, so much changed very quickly.  Or for others, it may have felt like a very long year.

However they are felt – dreaded reminders of terrible pain, or a feeling of finally reaching a long striven-towards milestone – disaster anniversaries are important for ministry and lay leaders to be mindful of, and to provide pastoral care with gentleness and intention.

In a recent webinar (see Part I of this issue of the SPDR Web blog!), Rev. Dr. Jennifer Lord reflected on a thoughtful discussion she had during an Austin Seminary chapel planning discussion. Contemplating a preaching theme for the upcoming season, a non-student in that discussion suggested, “‘For such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14) - We need to name everything that’s happening to us!”

And speaking now from my own thoughts, this is an understandable and courageous reflection – at times many of us can feel an impulse to name injustices and speak or preach prophetically!

But then in another word of wisdom in that chapel planning conversation, Rev. Dr. Lord said that then a student of color responded with exhaustion, saying, “Some of us are so weary. Can we hear a word of grace?”

I believe that responding to weariness with a word of grace is courageous in its own right. And when we hold space in worship for grief, and solidarity, and memory of what was loved and what was lost, worship can be a space of respite and a reminder that people aren’t alone in what they are feeling in the long-term spiritual and emotional recovery of disasters.

Worship and spiritual practices for commemorating disaster anniversaries can take many forms:

• a special prayer in worship to commemorate a disaster anniversary, or

• an evening prayer service, or

• a candlelit Taizé chant, or

• an open invitation for silent reflection in the chapel, or

• a team of deacons available in the chapel on that day to offer prayer, or

• a reflective walk as a community near the disaster location, or

• a meditative labyrinth walk.

  
  

Thoughtful ideas and creative ministry are welcome in planning, as grief and recovery are dynamic experiences that take many expressions. And local leaders are usually familiar with the needs and preferences of their own community.

Here are some additional disaster recovery liturgy resources I have found helpful that may serve your community’s needs:

This article (https://pcusa.org/news-storytelling/news/2026/4/23/ministering-natural-and-unnatural-disasters) about Reverend Gini Norris-Lane’s advice to church leaders navigating disaster ministry, including the public aspects of ministry through disasters that are front-page news.

This Ukirk Worship Guide (https://ukirk.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/UWorship-2024-2.pdf) Rev. Gini Norris-Lane developed, including a poignant disaster liturgy collection for “Worship We Wish We Didn’t Need.”

Hymns by Presbyterian pastor and hymn writer, Reverend Carolyn Winfrey Gilette. This hymn (https://www.carolynshymns.com/life_can_change_in_just_a_moment.html), “Life Can Change in Just a Moment,” was written in lament of the 2025 Texas flood disaster. Reverend Carolyn gives free permission to churches that want to use this hymn in worship, including streaming online, as long as her name and copyright information is appropriately credited.

Liturgies from Below by Cláudio Carvalhaes (2020) provides liturgies which are grounded entirely in the lived experiences of marginalized communities around the world.

A Liturgy Grieving a National Tragedy” from Every Moment Holy, volume two, by Douglas McKelvey (2020). This prayer is available on this website (https://renovare.org/articles/a-liturgy-for-grieving-a-national-tragedy), but the whole four-book series, including beautiful linocut illustrations by Ned Bustard, is a wonderful resource of prayers to appreciate the holiness of grief, hope, and everyday life.

The little red Book of Common Worship, Daily Prayer (http://www.secondpresabq.org/uploads/5/3/8/3/53833777/book-of-common-worship.pdf) travels with me, so I’m ready any time a word of grace is needed. My favorite section is the Preparation for Worship section of ancient prayers, and my favorite is St. Patrick’s Breastplate, from Patrick of Ireland (who lived in 389-461 CE!)

My favorite scriptures to turn to for disaster-recovery spiritual care are the Psalms. Reading the Psalms, the Spirit of God will always meet me pastorally in them while I process grief, so I can find strength to continue ministering to others.

The Heidelberg Catechism is a confession that grounds me. What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I recommend raising conversations with your church’s worship leaders about being mindful of disaster anniversaries, and consider ways your church may foster reflective spaces for prayer and to process complicated grief from past events. We collectively grieve the loss of so many lives to flood disasters last year. Among others, we remember the disaster anniversaries of July 12th, 2025, when 13 people died in flash floods in San Antonio, and of July 4th, 2025, when 139+ people, including 37 children  around Central Texas died in the heartbreaking flood disaster.

Lift up in your prayers this week also the anxiety and reminder of loss people may experience. Flooding in central, east, and south Texas is ongoing through this week, with more heavy rains in the forecast. Pray that God comfort those who are reminded of frightening experiences. Alarms through the night are rightly jarring, but I encourage everyone to keep your weather radios turned on so we can hear warnings and seek safety when needed. Vigilance can be exhausting, and perhaps we all need a word of grace right now.

How can worship support disaster preparation?

Check out Part One of the SPDR Web Blog!