Leader: Almighty and most Merciful God our Father, You are the God of life that sustains every moment of our being. Today, we thank and praise You for this opportunity to share in this class reunion. We thank You for all of us present today, for our friendships new and old, and for all the good memories we share. We acknowledge that before You stand the living and the dead, we Your children, whose mortal life is but a hand’s breadth, give You thanks and praise: For all those through whom You have blessed our pilgrimage, whose lives have encouraged us, and whose influence have helped us in life…

People: We lift up to You thankful hearts.

Leader: For those dear friends and classmates of our childhood and youth whose faces we see no more, but whose memories are with us forever…

People: We lift up to You thankful hearts.

Leader: For those who have selflessly given themselves for the sake of others…

People: We lift up to You thankful hearts.

Leader: That we may hold them all in loving remembrance and think of them as experiencing eternity with you…

People: We lift up to You thankful hearts.

Leader: With love and thanksgiving we now remember our friends whose lives are no longer lived among us…

Deceased Classmates’ Names are Read:

(Note: Assign different classmates to read the person’s name out loud.)

(A time of silence is observed.)

Leader: A quote from “For the Fallen” by Robert Binyon, 1914, “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them“…

People: We lift to You thankful hearts.

Leader: Almighty and eternal God, we thank and praise You for all the days of our lives and for Your grace and blessings which sustain us; for the many people through whom You have blessed us throughout our lives. We thank You for sharing them with us, and for receiving them in Your love. We thank You that we can envision them in our memories…

People: We lift to You thankful hearts.

Leader: O Lord, Giver of every good gift we thank and praise You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior. And now, we thank and praise You for the provisions of food and refreshments and ask You to bless those who have so generously given them. We pray that You bless our bodies that we might receive these gifts to the nourishment and strengthening of our bodies so that we may go forth and serve You in gladness. And finally, as we go our homeward way, please dear Lord, go before us and grant us all a safe return home. We humbly pray all of this in Jesus‘ holy name,

All: Amen.