For August 1, 2010 -- 10th After Pentecost, Year C

CALL TO WORSHIP/OPENING PRAYER

Who has brought you here?

We have come in response to God, who calls us to be God's people.

Why are you here?

We come to experience God's Presence, to hear God's Challenge, to feel God's Love.

We come to worship and learn together. Let us pray...

God, some weeks it seems like it would be so much easier to stay home and relax on Sunday morning. But still You urge us to get up and come to worship together. We have listened to Your urging today.

In this time of song and speech and silence open our hearts and minds to Your presence. May this time together remind us of what is truly important. And may we leave this place committed to live as people of The Way, people of Love. We pray in the name and memory of the Risen Christ, who before his death taught his friends to pray together saying...

BENEDICTION:
Our time of worship comes to a close
Our time of service continues.
Now we go out into the world
Ready to examine our priorities, ready to put the important things first, trusting that this will make a difference in our world.
As you go out into the world to live and to serve, go confident in the promise that God: Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, is with you always and all ways.
Thanks be to God! Amen.

Prayer to close a Pastoral Relationship

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.

Prayer for the 85th Anniversary of the UCCan

Prayer for the History and the Future of the United Church

God of our history, we remember with praise and thanks those men and women of vision who came before us. We give thanks for their seemingly impossible dream of a United Church and for the hours and years of faith-filled and prayerful labour to make it a reality.

God of our triumphs, we remember with pride the great things that have been accomplished in the last 85 years of witness and worship. We give thanks for those who heard Your voice calling and stepped forward in leadership. We celebrate those who offered prophetic critiques of our nation and our church when it was needed. For those with courage and heart to make the difficult choices in a faithful manner we say thanks and pray that we can learn from their example.

God of our regrets, we acknowledge that our story has its times of shadow as well. There are times when we have not lived up to the ideal of what it means to be Your people. We remember the stories of residential schools and our interaction with the First Nations people of this country. We remember times when we as congregations and as a national church have chosen to remain silent when a prophetic voice was needed. We remember and regret all those times when people have been made to feel unwelcome or unworthy by member of this United and Uniting church. And as we share our regrets we offer our repentance, praying that we would learn a better way by reflecting on our past.

God of our present, we know that all is not well with the church today. In congregations and Presbyteries and Conferences across the country there is much anxiety and dis-ease. We worry about “greying” membership and declining numbers. We fret about finances. We wonder if there will be a 100th anniversary. In the midst of our worrying it can be easy to notice the good times, the signs of Your Spirit blowing new life into our midst. In the middle of our dis-ease, reawaken our hearts with words of hope and comfort.

God of our future, we can not know what the future will bring. Sometimes that unknowing brings excitement at the limitless possibilities. Sometimes it just makes us fearful at our lack of control. And so we attempt to shape the future in our own way, according to our own vision instead of opening our hearts and minds and souls to what Your vision may be. As we move forward in to the clouded uncertainty that lies ahead, help us to remember that we are not alone. Open our eyes to see and ears to hear what possibilities are out there. And whatever the future may bring, strengthen us to face it faithfully and as people of hope.

Challenging God, over the centuries You have challenged people of faith on countless occasions in innumerable ways. We are challenged constantly to live the old story in new times, to sing the old songs in new places, to keep the faith when it would be easier to let it fall by the wayside. At the same time we are challenged to hear new stories that intersect with the old, to learn new songs that capture the faith of the ages, to allow our understanding of You and Your world to grow and develop. Help us face the challenges of the present and the future with the knowledge that, just as you were with all those who faced challenges in the past, you are and will be with us as we face our own. All this we pray in the name of the One whose name we bear, Jesus of Nazareth, the One we call Christ, who taught his friends to pray by saying together...

For APril 4, 2010 -- Easter Sunday

CALL TO WORSHIP
Mere days after their world was torn apart,
two women go to visit and tend the grave of one they love.
And when they get there they find that the grave is open and empty.
What new horror is this?
Not horror but gift. Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed! Hallelujah
We come together to worship.
We come to share praise and joy!

OPENING PRAYER

This is the day that God has made!

We will rejoice and be glad!

God of new life and new hope, today you do a new thing!

With the dawning of the new day you have brought a new creation into being!

As we celebrate the resurrection today,

empty the tombs and dead spaces in our lives,
renew our hope for the future,
remind us that the coming Reign of Love, Peace and Justice may be slowed but can never be stopped.
As we walk to the tomb with the disciples,

open our eyes to the power of resurrection.

As we see the wonder of new life,

empower us to live as a resurrection people. We pray in the name of the Risen Christ. Amen

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
This is the day that God has made!
We will rejoice and be glad!
We have heard the wonderful news!
Christ is Risen!
We go to live resurrection hope!
Bringing words of life in place of fears of death,

sharing the promise that God’s Reign wins out, that God has the final word.
In the name of the God who makes us,
in the name of the Christ who makes us free,
in the name of the Spirit who makes us one.
We go in God’s love and promise always.
Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen indeed! Hallelujah!

For March 28, 2010 -- Palm Sunday

CALL TO WORSHIP
If you listen carefully you can almost hear it,
Drifting through the air, singing and dancing.
It gets closer and closer, louder and louder,
Songs of joy and hope.
The Kingdom is coming! Can you see it?
The Kingdom is coming! Will we join in the parade?

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God, when we open our eyes and ears we can see and hear the signs of the coming Kingdom,

We want to join in the singing and dancing and rejoicing.

It seems that nothing can stop the good times from coming.

But is that really true? Do we really believe it?

Or do we work to find ways to block the Kingdom?

Maybe. God, for those days when we get in the way of the parade, for the ways we try to interrupt the festivities, for our reticence to embrace the possibility of the Kingdom, forgive us.

…time of silent prayer…

God is the leader of the parade. God calls us to the celebration. Even when we have doubts or try to block the Kingdom, God still calls us to sing and dance for joy. We are forgiven.

Blessed be the One whose kingdom comes on a donkey! Amen.

SENDING FORTH
We have marched and sung with the crowds.
We share their hope for better things to come.
The week ahead will throw cold water on that hope.
But we still try to sing our hope. For even if our voices are stilled the very stones will take up the song.
As we go into the world of hope and challenge, remember that in the hope and in the challenge we are not alone. God walks with us as we journey towards the Kingdom.
Thanks be to God! Hosanna and Hallelujah!

For MArch 14, 2010 -- LEnt 4C

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God, there are times when we lose our way on the journey of life.

Days when we simply get confused which way we should go and make a poor choice.

God there are times when we intentionally leave the Way you would have us follow.

Days when we turn our back on the wisdom you offer. Days when we demand our entitlement and use it for our own selfish pleasures and purposes.

God, there are times when find ourselves hiding in a corner somewhere.

Days when we are convinced that we are not worth finding. Days when we wonder why you would look for us.

God, for all the times we get lost, when we take the wrong turn in life…

Forgive us and draw us back to The Way…

…time of silent prayer…

The Psalmist writes “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven”. The Gospel reminds us that God is always happy to find the lost, that God is always welcoming us back home with open arms. We are forgiven and loved.

Thanks be to God! Amen

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
We who are sometimes lost have been found.
And so the party of life continues.
We go out as people whom God has welcomed with open arms.
We go out to welcome others with open arms as we share God’s words of love and acceptance and hope.
And where ever our journey takes us, when we are sure of the way and when we have gotten lost, we take strength from knowing that we are NOT alone. We live in God’s world and God is with us.
Thanks be to God. Amen

For March 7, 2010 --- Lent 3C

PRAYER OF CONFESSION/ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Creator God, it is your hope that your people grow and become all that they could be,

But too often we are content to remain stable, not being fruitful.

God of growth, you call us to step forward, enriching the lives of those around us.

But too often we are willing to look after our needs first, and then using our “extras” for the world around us.

God of the Earth, you call us to be good users of life’s soil,

But if we are honest there are many times when we appear to be a waste of soil. For those times when we resist growth, when we are not fruitful, when we are less than we could be, forgive us we pray.

…time of silent prayer…

God is a patient and caring Gardener. God continues to nourish and nurture us, helping us to bear fruit, even when it might seem more logical to start afresh. We are forgiven, we are fed.

Thanks be to God! Amen.

COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
We go out as children of God, Beloved and nourished.
May we bear fruit in response to the care from the Gardener.
We go out to work in the soil of life, the dirty world in which we find ourselves.
May we help to enrich the soil around us so that all may grow to bear fruit in their own turn.
And remember, we are not growing of our own accord or power. We grow because we are held in the arms and care of the Gardener from germination to maturity.
Thanks be to God who gives us growth! Amen.