God of community, you call us to live and work and minister together in communities of faith.
You encourage us to grow together, to love together, to celebrate together, to weep together.
We know that in our communal life there are times when people come and times when people go.
9 years ago we began a new ministry relationship.
New friendships were formed, new bonds began to be built.
Promises of mutual support were made, a covenant of mutual ministry was built.
In the time since, bonds of care and concern have grown.
We have shared the good and the bad with each other,
we have laughed, and cried and raged with the events in the world.
We have learned and disagreed and discussed.
And for all of those 9 years we give thanks. For friendships and support, for challenge and growth.
But now the time has come to mark the end of that relationship.
We move forward into a future that is always uncertain.
As we move forward we name that, although the ministry relationship of the past 9 years is now ended, the bonds of care and concern, the ties of friendship, still endure.
Today we release each other from the promises made at our covenanting.
Today we look forward as we each go our own ways and while there is sorrow there is also excitement and hope.
God who has walked with us all these years together, we trust that you will continue to walk with us as we walk along the path of life.
May the connections formed in this relationship strengthen all of us to face what the world may have in store.
May the learnings shared enable our continued growth as followers of The Way.
And may we all be better for the laughter and the tears and the time we have shared together.
WE pray in the name of the One whose name we bear, Jesus of Nazareth, the one we call Christ. Amen.
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