O Thou who art the shield of our hopes,
the tower of strength of our souls,
the guide of our hands,
the vision of our courage,
and the love in our hearts;
Thou who art the source of the law of righteousness,
the disciplines of character that build
the foundations of a just humanity:
Strengthen Thou the skills of our mind
and the devotion of our hearts,
so that we shall be the revealers of Thy truth
and the instruments of Thy guidance
unto our fellow men.

Lift up our hearts,
so that we shall never forget
that man lives not by bread alone
but by the integrities of our lives,
by the high standards of our skills,
by the truth of our conscience,
by the good will of our souls,
and by the will for the common good
beyond the line of duty.

Stiffen Thou the sinews of our lives,
so that we shall guard the altars of our community
from the expediency that corrupts
and the apathy that kills,
from the treachery that takes in vain the name of freedom
and the apostasy that, would sell our heritage
for a mess of pottage,
from the partisanship that would make us the tools of slander
and reduce us to the self-righteousness
that would inflict cruelty against
those who differ with us
in the counsels of free men.

Guide us in our deliberations
and guard us in our utterances,
so that winning the next election
will not take priority over our duty
as witnesses to the next generation,
as testimony of the gracious spirit of free men.

Lead us so that from this gathering
there shall come new light into our age
and the vision of days of new blessing yet to be,
when the world shall be filled
with the knowledge of a righteous God,
even as the waters cover the seas.^[1] Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14. 
Amen.