Note: This prayer has been adapted from numerous prayer services including resources from Pax Christi,
Amnesty International, etc. Please make adaptations as necessary. Y ou will need eight candles for the five
victims and the three men executed since the renewal of the death penalty in Kentucky (1976). The names
of each appear later in this prayer service. Have the candles lit for previous three victims and two men
who have previously been executed (total of 5 lit prior to beginning the prayer service).
Prayer Service
on the Occasion of the Execution of Thomas Clyde Bowling
November 2004
Gathering (Leader/Pastor): This is an evening (day) of prayer and reflection for forgiveness and
reconciliation. It is a time to prayer for people whose lives have been taken from them by another
human being and for their families. It is also an evening for prayer for the men and women on the
death rows of this country and for their families as well.
Weare here to express our prayerful opposition not only to the executive of Thomas C. Bowling, but
also to all other executions that will take place in the United States.
Leader: Loving God, be with us at this moment as we gather to pray for all
those affected by violence.
(Light candles for Tina & Eddie)
We pray for Tina & Eddie Earley, victims of violence.
We pray for the healing of their family and friends. Comfort and heal
all those whose loved ones have died through violence in the state of
Kentucky.
(Light a candle for T.C. Bowling)
We pray for Thomas C. Bowling— who is scheduled to die a violent
death tonight (Tuesday, November 30" or some other date if the execution is
delayed) We pray for his family and friends, for their comfort and consolation. We
pray especially for all others on death row in this state and across the country.
Help our nation, the state of Kentucky, and each of us to tum from revenge to
forgiveness and unconditional love. Bring an end to the death penalty in this
country. Hear our prayer.
All: Amen.
Song: “God of Day and God of Darkness” - vs. 1 & 2
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:43-48
Quiet time... . for reflection
Reader 1: (Pope J ohn Paul II) “ A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity
of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.
Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals a
chance to reform. I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to
end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.” (January 1999)
Pause for a moment of quiet.....
Sung Response: (quietly): Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom.
Reader 2: (Bishops of Kentucky) “God's justice is not blind. It is imbued with mercy. We
ask that you (Governor Fletcher), as a man of faith and as a moral leader in Kentucky,
provide mercy to Thomas Bowling.”
Pause for a moment of quiet ....
Sung Response: (quietly): Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Statements of “Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation” :
Reader 3: Bud Welch, whose daughter, Julie was killed in the Oklahoma City bombing: “. .
. The day my daughter J ulie was killed, I joined a “club” that I wish had no members. The
price of admission is too high. I know the pain of losing a loved one because of a senseless
act of violence.
“The execution of Timothy McVeigh will not bring back Julie or her colleagues, nor
will it end the grieving for any one of the victims of the bombing. Revenge and hate are the
reasons 168 people died that day in 1995. I oppose the death penalty absolutely, in all cases,
because in all cases it is an act of revenge and hatred. . .”
Quite reflection....
Sung Response: (quietly) : Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Reader 4: Marietta Jaeger, whose 7 year old daughter, Susie, was murdered: “The capacity
for mercy and compassion is what sets us apart from the rest of creation. Our laws should
call us to higher moral principles than the practice of primitive acts of more murder to
resolve our conflicts, hatreds, fears, and frustrations. We violate our own honor and dignity
by unabashedly killing a chained, restrained defenseless person, however deserving of death
we deem that person to be. We become that which we deplore—people who kill people—as
an insult to the memory of our beloved victims. Believe me, there is no amounts of retaliatory
acts that will compensate for the loss of my little girl or restore her to my arms. Even to say
that the death of one malfunctioning person is going to be just retribution is an insult to her
immeasurable worth to me.”
Quiet reflection.......
Sung Response: (quietly) : Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Reader 5: Coretta Scott King: “ As one whose husband and mother-in-law have both died
the victims of assassination/murder, | stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death
penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed
in retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of human life. Morality is never upheld
by legalized murder.”
Quiet reflection......
Sung Response: (quietly): Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom.
Prayer of Confession:
Leader: Please respond: Forgive us our sin.
All: Forgive us our sin.
Leader: We recognize that the death penalty is part of the violence in our society. Let
us ask forgiveness for all forms of violence. We acknowledge the violence we
perpetuate in our world: providing weapons; imposing crushing debt payments;
withholding food from governments that we call “enemies.”
All: Forgive us our sin
Leader: We acknowledge the violence within our country: allowing millions of
children and elderly to live in hunger and without homes or shelter; depriving the sick
of adequate health care; imprisoning and executing racial minorities in
disproportionate numbers.
All: Forgive us our sin.
Leader: We acknowledge the violence in our communities and homes: battering
children and abusing women; discriminating against minorities; destroying our
environment; building walls of anger and hatred.
All: Forgive us our sin.
Leader: We invite you to name the acts of violence that lie heavy on your heart.
All: Forgive us our sin.......
All: Forgive us our sinfulness, O God. Heal us of the wounds that afflict us and our
society. Empower us to erase the hatred and violence that continue to scourge people
and creation. Empower those of us gathered here tonight to continue our efforts to
work for an end to the death penalty.
Song: Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom.
Leader: We live in a time of darkness. Many lives have been snuffed out senselessly. Tonight we
remember the victims and those executed in Kentucky in retaliation for their deaths, since the
restitution of the death penalty.
Reader 1: Alice & Edward Harper Sr. (extinguish 2 candles)
Edward Lee Harper Jr.(extinguish 1 candle)
All: Hold them in your care, O God!
Reader 2: Rebecca O’ Heam (extinguish 1 candle)
Harold McQueen (extinguish 1 candle)
All: Hold them in your care, O God!
Reader 3: Tina & Eddie Earley (extinguish 2 candles)
Thomas Clyde Bowling - leave candle burning!
All: Hold them in your care, O God
Prayer (Leader): A Prayer for Murder Victims’ Families by Maria Hines
God of merciful love,
Help these families who are victim of murder
to accept the reality of such senseless acts of violence,
without, at the same time, succumbing to the despair of so great a loss.
May this violence become for them, instead, a steppingstone toward greater union
with you.
Teach them the forgiveness that was exemplified by J esus as he said,
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
And through his redemptive love, show your mercy to the perpetrators of these
crimes.
Fill the emptiness of their victim hearts with the fire of your divine love, so as to
transform their losses into a healing power for themselves and for our world.
Amen.
(Maria Hines, of Louisville, KY, lost her brother, a Virginia State trooper, who was killed in
the line of duty. The man who killed Jerry Hines received a death sentence. Before his
execution, Maria forgave Dennis Eaton and, unsuccessfully, sought clemency for him. She
continues her work as a staunch opponent of the death penalty through her own organization
and through membership in the Kentucky Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.)
Song: Jesus Remember Me
Jesus remember me, when you come into the kingdom.
Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom. (sing 2 times)
Leader: (Invite people to come forward and encircle the candles. As they come forward, they
light their candles from the one left burning. Hum the tune of “Jesus Remember Me”. )
But darkness has not triumphed. Death and suffering are not to triumph over life. Revenge and anger
shall not triumph over forgiveness and love. We pray that God will bless us, and go before us in the
flame of these candles which we carry in our hearts as reminders of our burning desire to be co-
creators of peace and justice in our world.
(Note: if the service is happening around the time of the execution, people would be invited to
remain in prayer and the candle remains lit until the after the time for the execution at such time the
candle can be extinguished.)
Extinguish the candle for T.C. Bowling and leave in silence........
