Mother's Day Prayers for Worship: For Celebration and for Those Who Grieve

Break out the carnations! Mother's Day is coming. Mother's Day is a little tricky for pastors, though. It's a spring morning, things are finally warming up (in Northern climes, anyway), and who doesn't want to recognize the mothers in our churches? But just as spring brings flowers, it brings clouds.

Just as many members of your congregation can't wait to celebrate mothers, some look forward to Mother's day with a knot of dread in their stomach. Members of your congregation may be grieving a deceased or estranged mother, grieving children lost or estranged, some may be grieving infertility or miscarriage, and you may have no idea who is who.

Your liturgy can help. Even amid the gratitude and praise we give to mothers we can acknowledge those who suffer. That's why we're offering these two prayers from Ryan Bundrick to use freely in your services this Mother's Day. (Both prayers are free to use in your services. Instructions for offering credit are included with the prayers.)

(Also: Don't miss Ryan Bundrick's companion post, which offers some sermon angles for some verses that find motherhood in God.)

Looking for more Mother's Day resources? Go to our gateway to all our Mother's Day resources, our Mother's Day Worship Guide→

One of the great joys of Mother's Day is thanking the mothers in our congregations publicly. Mothers often express their love in our congregations by service, not only for their own children, but across our whole communities. And they're often unseen. We may take them for granted.

So, this prayer focuses on the nurture and sacrifices, putting them in the context of the God whose love they mirror to us, asking us what our response is to them—and not just on Mother's Day. It also gently acknowledges the grief that some members of your congregation may be feeling on this day, embracing them along with mothers.

This prayer could be used to open the service, as part of a special recognition for mothers, or among your intercessions.

We've already mentioned that Mother's Day often brings grief with it. This is complicated by the fact that many suffering on this day may also be celebrating or be celebrated. It's that deeply human mix of joy and grief that is at the heart of a faith that calls the saddest Friday in history "Good."

This prayer acknowledges the grief people feel on this day, bringing the complexity of motherhood before God together and interceding for all who struggle with Mother's Day and motherhood. We remember not only those who grieve death or infertility, but also those mothers whose motherhood is a source of pain through neglect or conflict.

Did you use these prayers in your Mother's Day Services?

Let us know how it went! We'd love to know what helped you or that you felt you needed to change so that we can continually offer even better liturgy that helps working pastors and ministry professionals.