Disciple: The Prayers of Our Youth

Genesis is a middle school event held each year, during which young people in grades 6-8 are encouraged to learn more and grow deeper in their faith through talks and the leadership of high school-age youth.

Genesis 2023 took place March 24-25 at Holy Comforter, Burlington. The gathering’s theme was Creation Care, where attending youth held conversations about the environment, took part in activities, and, as part of the closing worship, offered prayers for creation and the world at large, and shared thoughts on what we, as a Church, can do to care for it.

[Image: Scenes from this year’s Creation Care-themed Genesis middle school youth gathering in March: hanging out with new friends. Photos throughout by Lisa Aycock]

Dear God, let this church and all people of the world have the courage and will to help each other and our world.

Dear God, please help us to restore the earth back to what it was before. Guide us to know how to do so.

Dear Jesus, thank you for everything that you have given us and please forgive the people in the world who have made this world really bad but we can still make it back to normal and will be good.

Dear God, I pray and hope that this world be a better place and good again. I pray for you to keep me safe and pray for the world to be at peace. I pray that you keep me with you always.

God, I pray for all the bad things to be fixed.

Dear God, thank you for providing us with your creation, and sustain us with the earth we call home. Call us to sustain the earth as it has helped us and is the reason for our life. Guide us with your light to effectively improve the soil we walk upon, and the water we drink.

Lord, thank you for making this amazing planet and making us.

Dear Jesus, I pray that we will not only know not to pollute the earth, but we will learn to share your goodness about how you created the earth.

God, thank you for this weekend and us all able to be here.

I pray that [we] as people will do something good for this earth while we are living on it.

I pray that the earth can be how we found it instead of the polluted mess we have now.

Thank you for this world, my family and animals.

For clean air, for people to care about the issues, for people to be willing to help.

That you will give us courage to stand up for the environment and take care of the world you have made for us, and give us hope that there is work we can do to repair the damage we have done.

I pray for the people that feel like they are not enough and hope they can find someone who can love them and make them feel worthy.

I pray for my friends going through hard times.

For everyone with Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia, for anyone facing oppression. For people with depression or mental health issues.

[Image: Scenes from this year’s Creation Care-themed Genesis middle school youth gathering in March: creating and cleaning up water pollution.]

Why is Creation Care important, and what can we as a church do about it?

We should protect the earth so that the youth have a future to look forward to. Our church can stop using single-use plastics, and we can use solar panels to power the churches.

Creation care is important to us because if we act now, we get a better future and for the kids growing up.

We should be aware of how much plastic the church uses and try to keep it under a certain amount.

The Church should help by taking people on a trip to go pick up trash.

We should as a Church take trips to help clean the ocean. Creation care is important to the youth because we love the environment.

Creation Care is very important because we only have one earth and since we are the future we need to have a clean future. The Church can help by adopting highways to clean and also converting to non-plastic dishes.