God of love and compassion whose Son revealed your presence among us by restoring health and giving life: 

We you thank for the Children’s Bereavement Center; their compassion, care, and concern; and their vision for a center of healing and new life in Uvalde.

We thank you for the donors, suppliers, architects, engineers, contractors, workers, artists, volunteers, and all whose good will and generosity with their time, skills and abilities, materials and money, have made this vision a reality. 

We thank you for the gift of healers among us; the staff and mental health professionals of the Children’s Bereavement Center; and their gifts of deep listening, wise counsel, and compassionate companionship.

We give you thanks, O God, for the gifts of your people, and the work of many hands, that have brought us to this moment of celebration and once again revealed your presence among us. 

Pour out your blessing upon this building that each room may be a place of warmth and welcome, light and life, healing and hope. May it stand as symbol of transformation and the promise of new life. 

We hold before you this day the community of Uvalde and all who live here. Prosper the work of the Children’s Bereavement Center that it may be a source of healing our divisions, restoring our trust in one another, and renewing our bonds of affection so that peace may prevail with righteousness, justice with order, and all people my find with one another the fulfillment of their humanity.

Bless the staff and mental health professionals of the Children’s Bereavement Center. Fill them with wisdom, patience, and courage, as they care for others. Give them strength when they are weary, hope when they despair, faith when they doubt, and light when they stand in darkness. Grant them times of renewal and refreshment, and give them the grace to love and care for themselves as they do so for others. 

Your Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus: draw near to all who are living through times of grief, sorrow, and anguish. Remember them in your mercy, restore them to wholeness, and grant them life and life abundant. Nourish them with patience, give them strength to meet the days ahead, and courage to do the work before them. Lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace.

Bless this place, O God, to be a sanctuary of healing and wholeness. To all who enter this sanctuary, who work here, and who seek healing here, send your holy angels to stand guard and keep watch over them. May their names be always on the lips of your saints in prayer.

Direct us in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help, that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy name and serve your people. 

Lord, hear the prayers we have spoken aloud and the ones we have offered in the silence of our hearts, for we offer them with thanksgiving and hope in the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.