Remembering the Children: Sept. 30 National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools
At the 2025 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, voting members overwhelmingly adopted a memorial addressing the sin and injustice of Indian Boarding Schools and the enduring trauma these institutions caused Native communities. As part of our church’s public commitment to truth-telling and healing, September 30—or a nearby Sunday—has been set aside as the National Day of Remembrance for Indian Boarding Schools.
We invite all congregations in the Grand Canyon Synod to observe this day on Sunday, September 28 or another nearby date. Suggested actions include:
Offering the prayer below during worship
Wearing orange shirts or raising orange flags
Sharing a photo on social media in solidarity
Exploring educational resources from the ELCA
Leading a prayer service honoring children of Indian Boarding Schools
Suggested prayer for congregational use:
Creator God, you watch over the whole creation and have made every human being in your image. We acknowledge our participation in long seasons of indifference and active seasons of violence and injustice toward the indigenous people of this country. Aware that Indian Boarding Schools in our country were designed to strip away and devalue the innate dignity of Indian children, their families, and their communities, we ask you to stir up in us now a spirit of repentance and a commitment to just action in our day. Continue to heal the trauma that is borne by survivors and relatives of those who attended the Boarding Schools. And in the bounty of your goodness, help us to learn from those we have harmed, so that together we might live in your grace and light. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.
This moment of remembrance is part of a broader ELCA Truth-Seeking and Truth-Telling Initiative, which invites all people—regardless of background—to learn about Lutheran complicity in the operation of Indian Boarding Schools and to work toward justice and reconciliation.
🧡 Resources and ways to take action:
ELCA Indian Boarding Schools Hub:
Prayer Service Guide
Honor the sacred lives of children taken to boarding schools
Healing Voices Volume 1:
A Primer on American Indian and Alaska Native Boarding Schools in the U.S.
Order Orange Shirts:
Support the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
As a synod committed to justice, we encourage pastors, worship leaders, and lay members across Arizona, southern Nevada, and the Utah border region to join this important act of remembrance. Let us move forward with humility, honesty, and hope—trusting that the Spirit leads us toward healing and transformation.