Healing the Wounds of Trauma

❂❂ EXERCISE 1. Personal repentance: Take time alone to ask God to show you any sins that have not yet been forgiven. These may have happened during a time of crisis, or just as part of ordinary life. Write these down on a piece of paper. 2. Group repentance: Divide into groups according to the prob- lem: by ethnicity, church, gender, and so on. Ask God to show you any sins your group has committed against others. These could be things done by your group long ago. Write these down on a piece of paper. 3. In the large group, confess these sins and ask forgiveness if individuals or groups you have sinned against are present. 4. Accept God’s forgiveness of these sins. The leader says a prayer that acknowledges God’s forgiveness for those who have repented. The following prayer from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer may be used: Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have offended against your holy laws, we have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us, spare those who confess their faults, restore those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord; and grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

3. Forgiving others The leader should give a brief summary of Lesson 9, reminding them of what forgiveness is and what it is not, and why God wants us to forgive people. The leader should then read Romans 12.17–21 aloud:

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Forgiveness Ceremony