Invocation for the Mayor’s State of the City Address

It was an honor to give the invocation at the Mayor’s State of the City Address today. I thank Mayor Price for this invitation. I am grateful to live in this wonderful city and to be working alongside so many others to make it an even better place for all. 

Below is the text of my prayer:

Gracious God of all people everywhere,

We give you thanks and praise for all your goodness to us and to this our beloved city of Fort Worth. We are grateful for our prosperity and growth and the vision you have set before us to be a City that is — in the words of the Race and Culture Task Force — indeed “inclusive, equitable, respectful, communal, and compassionate” towards all its residents. 

We know what it is required: “to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly”, and to always “do unto to others as we would have them do unto us”.  Strengthen us as we work hard in these endeavors; and exhort us to strive even harder when we fall short. 

We pray for our leaders, for Mayor Price and the City Council, City employees, Civic Board Members, Law Enforcement Officers, First Responders, Educators, community servants, and all persons of civic goodwill. Help us to work together, to hold each other accountable, and — both as individual members and also as one unified body — to aspire always to make the City of Fort not only a great place for ourselves, but also even more, a good and decent one for our neighbors as well.

We ask these things together,

as one United Fort Worth family.

Amen. And Amen.