As part of our
liturgy at Annual Council 2015, each delegation wrote a prayer for their
parish. We are sharing these prayers each week in the eNews so that we
all can support one another in the upcoming year.
Emmanuel, Chatham
Heavenly Father,
we acknowledge our struggle to be one body, the people you call us to
be. Fill us with your Spirit that we can love others as you love us.
Remove the blinders of our own desires so we may see and minister to the
needs of others. Cleanse us from us all bitterness, fear, vanity, and
pride that we may truly listen with respect and speak with love. Open
our eyes to see the strengths of others and our own, even as you open
our hearts to give and receive forgiveness for whatever weaknesses we
find. Keep before us awareness that this is your church and we your
people, who are not just limited by our brokenness but empowered by your
boundless love. Allow us to see whatever discomfort we encounter can
be the threshold to greater life. We ask this, O Father, in the name of
your Son and through the power of your Spirit, for only in your love
alone can we find abundant life, both now and for ever. Amen.
St. Cyprian's, Hampton
Almighty and Most
Merciful Father, we thank you for all the blessings of this life. We
thank you especially for St. Cyprian's Church and the Diocese of
Southern Virginia. We ask you to guide us this year as we work to find
more ways to serve our global village and local community. By your
grace, equip us to feed the hungry, provide clothing for those in need,
offer shelter to the disenfranchised and facilitate access to basic
healthcare for those without voice or advocates. Give us the strength to
persevere as we invite others to join us in our common life. Help us
address the racial and class divisions in our nation that we all may be
one. Lead us as we strengthen the faithful, find good and godly ways to
restore the absent and open our doors to the stranger. Bless us so that
we might move into new ways of being and doing for the sake of those who
hunger for spiritual food and thirst for living water. All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
