Gather, God’s people! We seek to be here, fully and completely! Yet often we find ourselves distracted by questions: How can I be successful? How can I be wealthy? How can I get more ‘likes’? We get caught up wanting answers: Why me? Why not me? Who is the greatest? We seek, to be here, God, fully […]
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Who are we? We are God’s beloved. Where are we going? To lunch, to the park, to our homes, to work and to school: out into God’s world. With what do we venture forth? With the illumination of hope, with the strength of community, with the love of Christ. With whom will we share it? […]
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Holy God, Grant us a heart full of grace, And a soul generated by love, That we may serve you and your world. Thank you for all those who have shown us the way And all those who are showing us the way.
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Loving God, We gather as your people Seeking your presence, your comfort and your love. In this Epiphany Season of light Shine your light upon us – Into the recesses of our spirits, Those places where we experience anxiety, depression, fear and despair. This morning, we lift up in particular all among us who are […]
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Hold us and heal us with your love Alternative phrases for both American and British English are provided. Ow! That hurts! Mama! Grandma! Daddy! [Mummy! Nana! Daddy!] A whimper. A wail. A wound. Oh God, Hold us and heal us with your love. Silent. Withdrawn. Pain visible only in our eyes. Or perhaps hidden […]
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This might be used as a Call to Worship or Call to Communion. It works as a responsive reading involving the entire congregation or read by 2-3 readers. It has been written with young readers in mind. If you’re worshipping on-line, parents might video their children reading this, or audio-record it and play as the […]
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A prayer for Mother’s Day and Mothering Sunday The prayer may be divided into multiple voices, read by individuals or sections of the gathered congregation, e.g. left & right or east & west. Thandiwe has written this for a congregation with clear sections known familiarly as west, mid, east and choir. Replace those designations with […]
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Christ, Brother, Teacher, Friend, As we look upon your face transformed by the light of Love, we confess that we have chosen to walk in the darkness of fear, prejudice, selfishness, shame and pride. As we marvel at your ability to forgive and heal, reconcile and make new, we confess that we have chosen to […]
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This prayer might be used on Remembrance Day (UK), ANZAC Day (Australia) and days in other nations set aside to remember victims of conflict and war. Praying for Our World As we pray this morning, I will invite you to name those in your life or beloved by you who have served in the military […]
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Gracious God, giver of peace, planter of justice, spirit of love, we lift up to you our world – giving thanks for its beauty and majesty, for its many creatures and peoples, for its bounty and flourishing. In our thanksgiving, we also remember those who struggle day in and day out simply to survive, those […]
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Holy God, forgive us, for we have forgotten our baptism. You call us to draw near, but we turn away in fear and shame. You call us to love our neighbour, but we allow our distrust and preoccupations to justify our indifference. You call us to love ourselves, but the voices of insecurity and self-criticism […]
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God of all ages God of all peoples God of all hopes and dreams Today we remember those among us who are transgender: We grieve the murders of those killed for the sake of hate, We celebrate the lives of each and every transgender individual; Those who are able to live into their fullest selves […]
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Gracious God, Today we pray for a moment of quiet to catch our breath; to give thanks to you; to listen to the insects and the birds, to the cars and airplanes; to watch the breeze move gently in the leaves and the squirrels collect food for their winter store. Grant us quiet. Today we […]
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This prayer has been written in response to the cover-up of sexual abuse revealed within the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania USA. Items italicized might need to be updated to be more relevant to today’s worship. God of righteous anger and holy healing, We pray for our world For Ireland and Pennsylvania and Roman Catholics […]
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ready-to-print copies: PDF Disciples Prayer by Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson WORD Disciples Prayer by Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson Holy One whose name we honour and praise, When we laugh, you laugh with us. When we weep, your tears wash over the earth. You know the joys and sorrows of our hearts, Our efforts for change and our resistance to […]
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Quietly the New Year slips in. Are we now more fearful, the radio asks? More careful? More tired? Are we now more aware of the suffering, the violence, the inequality, the injustice in our world? Holy God, In this New Year, We seek you As we have always sought you. We need you As we […]
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Adapted from “Opening Prayer” by Gerardo Oberman, Argentina (adapted for use at a leader’s gathering, by Thandiwe Dale-Ferguson, USA) At this junction on our journey, we heed your call, O God. We gather as your people, looking for new life for our life. We gather, as your imperfect children, aware of our moments of selfishness […]
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Holy God, Today we pray for the people of (area effected by bombings)… For parents whose children will never return, For children, youth and young adults whose safe world has been shattered, For first responders who arrived on the scene To care for the injured, the traumatised, the deceased. Gracious God, We give thanks for courage and […]
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Individual candles may be distributed to be used at the close of the prayer. Hope of all hopes, God of new life, of resurrection, we come before you this Easter season, our hearts rejoicing in you. And yet, despite our joy and hope, we feel the darkness around us. God, may we know your healing […]
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Inspired by Isaiah 11:3-4a Second Sunday of Advent, Year A Holy One, open our spirits to your righteousness – a righteousness that helps us understand the power innate in all humanity. Grant us the righteousness to recognize the gifts, resources, resiliency, strength and wisdom present in ourselves and in others. Empower us, O […]
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