Cruxifusion

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. Ingrid Brown, who was ordained by BC Conference just a few weeks ago. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“God of love and of challenge, of mystery ever revealing, we pause this day to give you thanks. Thank you for creation all around us, pulsing with your heartbeat. Thank you for showing yourself to us in Jesus the Christ. Thank you for your continued faithfulness as your Holy Spirit guides and directs us according to your perfect will, creating in us yearnings for goodness beyond that which we are capable of ourselves.

As we, the UCC limb of Christ’s body in the world, prepare to gather in Oshawa, help us to use your model of relationship expressed in the Trinity as a guide for the way that we encounter one another. Quicken our hearts and make us bold in our proclamations of your truth, unashamedly claiming you as Lord.

We ask this so that we might join together well, each sinew of your body knit together for your glory, with the ultimate purpose of witnessing to the world of your power, your love, and your way of life. May we do your will always, please show us how. Amen.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Melodee Lovering. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, may You be present in each person attending the council. May the paradox of honouring the past and embracing the future, be resolved within the community as the council continues. Let each decision that comes forth be most in keeping with Your timeless nature and be least bound by our transience. May our denomination find the shelter we seek from the stormy blast of change that has left some disheartened and fearful. May Your spirit lay hold on all hearts within our beloved church and especially on those who are serving as delegates, so that they will behold Your mighty and beautiful vision for the United Church of Canada which is our spiritual abiding place until we come to our eternal home. In the blest name of Jesus. Amen.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. Sadekie Lyttle-Forbes. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Gracious God, things and times change, but you remain constant, constantly loving, constantly patient, constantly forgiving, constantly kind. Even when we mistake your patience for inaction, your forgiveness for weakness, your kindness as meekness, you continue to be and to do what your omniscience dictates. We thank you for not giving up on us and for constantly seeking to renew your church through her people and her structures.

As we approach the final weeks to GC43 we lift up the possibilities that this gathering holds. As your Word is lifted up as your work is assessed, we ask for your guidance in discerning the way forward. Let us not lose sight of what you have called us to be an to do in the world, to be salt and light. Let us never stray away from the purpose for which we exist, the same purpose that Jesus declared at the start of his ministry to.

1. bring good news the poor
2. call for the release of those who are held captive by systems and situations
3. aid in the recovery of sight to those who are blind to the afflictions of the world, the gift of their being and the equal humanity in others
4. set free those who are oppressed by the isms and schisms of the social systems
5. to declare the love of Jesus and salvation through His love

Let this time be one to stir our faith in Jesus, ignite our faith in Jesus, share our faith in Jesus and restore our faith in Jesus.
Let this time be a return to the core tenets of our faith.

Let this time be one, where we develop an appreciation for the power and love of God, expressed in Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit. If ever we need to be reminded of the unity in diversity it is in this time.

Grant us grace in our deliberations, free from skepticism, ostracism and racism and other isms that will taint and distort our discourse and reflections. Keep before us, your Will and your Way.

In the name of Jesus we pray, AMEN.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. John Lovering. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Dear God,
Your people within the United Church are gathering to chart a new course. The many variables created by the changes can give me brain freeze. I wouldn’t know where to start. Except that I know that my life is better when I start with you. Help the people at this year’s council to start with you. Give them hearts that look for the good in others. Give them strength for their days in community. Help us to rededicate our churches to work towards your purposes. Systems matter, structures can be important, so guide us to make faithful decisions, for we ask it through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. Sue Ivany. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Gracious God, we come before you today with humility and gratitude. We thank you for this day and for every glimpse of your glory we might find in it. In the smiles of strangers, the blessing of a child’s laughter, the touch of a loved one…you are there, and we give thanks.

God, set our hearts, minds, and spirits upon you this day. Help us to see Christ in others and to be Christ for others.

As the meeting of General Council approaches, we pray for all who are preparing and planning for the meeting. For those who are making their way through the lengthy reading requirements, for those who are organizing everything from transportation to food to accommodation, and more…we pray. For all who will facilitate table groups, the stewards, the tech people, those planning worship and music… God, there are so many things to be done! Today we hold in prayer all who will come together next month to do the work of our United Church of Canada.

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. D’thea Webster. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“God of all time and space, you set us on a path of faithfulness and walk beside us whispering – sometimes shouting – words of encouragement. Your Spirit breathes in and through and among us even when we strike out on our own way and listen to the words of the crowd. Thank you for the promise that you will never leave us or forsake us, that you long for us like a nursing mother for her babe, that you wait and watch, a loving father, to welcome us home. Grant to commissioners who even now prepare, and to all members of the United Church of Canada to catch your vision. May Jesus the Christ and the passion he lived for Your Way and the ultimate sacrifice he made and the new Life his resurrection opened to us be before us always as we make choices and decisions for the future. Remind us with every breath that we are yours and that we live and move always in the Light of Your Love. Through Christ, in Christ, with Christ, in the unity of the Spirit we pray. Amen.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. James Murray on the 93rd anniversary of the United Church of Canada. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Gracious God, we give thanks that on this day you called us to be your church. The union of the Methodists, Presbyterians and Congregational churches in Canada was unprecedented. You called us to be one in service, one in faith, and one in love. You gathered our different parts in. We were three streams of spiritual experience and achievement which you called together to flow like a mighty river. On this day you called us to be like a grain of wheat that must be willing to die in order bear much fruit. You called us to die to our past traditions so a new community might be born to serve your purpose.

We ask that your Holy Spirit guide and bless us on this day as we seek to be your church. We are having to learn how to die to what was all over again. We are seeking the hope that only death and resurrection can bring. Fill us with a vision of your kingdom come, here on earth as it is in heaven. Remind us, dear Jesus, that we do not face these challenges and opportunities to serve on our own. It’s not all up to us. For you are with us. In life, in death, in life beyond death, we are not alone. Thanks be to God. Amen.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. Heather Joy James. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Creator of all, sustainer of life, giver of all good things, we wait, and we watch, we look for the morning, O God. Come like the dawning of the day, and make yourself known in the breaking of there bread. Come, like the soft June summer air, and fill us with your holy presence. Come, like the waters that pour down from the heavens, nourishing the earth and bringing life to all living things. Come, Lord Jesus, come. We, your people, are just as dependant on you as the grass that withers and fades without water. We, your church, are just as needful of your wisdom as the daybreak needs the sun to enter into the new day. We long, O Lord, for a new dawn, a new day, a new church. Renew us daily, moment by moment, dawn by dawn. And coax our hearts to look for your light. We, your church, commit to putting down roots in Christ, our light and our hope each day. We, your people, commit to seek you in the morning, to begin first with you, and next with the business of the day. We commit our hearts, our minds, and our work for your glory and your good in this world. And we commit the work of the upcoming General Council, as representation of the church as a whole, to you, O Lord, who will never leave nor forsake us. We love you, we praise you, we give you honour and glory, for you are God most holy, and we are your people. Amen.”

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. John Maich. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Oh Ancient of days, Maker of the universe, Creator of the heavens and the earth you are Sovereign above all Regions.

You who are the author and perfector of our faith we call upon you and your gracious wisdom. Lay your hands upon those servants called by your Church and commissioned to the 43rd General Council of The United Church of Canada. Place within them your burning passion for an Easter people and enable them to deliberate and lead as a resurrected priesthood.

Today’s prayer for General Council comes from Rev. Chris Miller. To view the archive of all prayers being offered in the lead up to GC43 click here.

“Some struggle, O Lord, with hope
for our United Church Because they wonder
about the centre,
the foundation, the roots.
Structure is important but we wonder
if our church leaders perceive why some
believe the cart is in the wrong place.

So today we affirm our hope in you, O Lord,
You who declare to us:
I AM the light of the world.

Some struggle, O God, with what is reliable?
With what is secure? Within our United Church!
Because we believe there is neither reliability
nor security in people, institutions or governments.

So today we affirm our trust in you, O Lord,
You Who declare to us:
I AM the way, the truth, and the life.

Some struggle, O Lord, with fear and worry
that our leaders do not feel
the deep faith issues within our church
that require no other heart than that of Jesus our Lord.

So today we affirm our faith in you, O Lord,
You Who announce to us:
I AM the resurrection and the life.

You alone, O Lord, are our ultimate hope.
You alone are our intimate love.
You alone are our foundational strength.

Thus, we come to you, our life-giving God,
with faith, with hope, and with love
for this United Church of ours.
Infuse her leaders, especially at GC43,
with Holy Spirit wisdom to discern
the real issues before this church,
which belongs to You and for which You died.
Ignite her leaders, especially at GC43,
with Holy Spirit courage to act
for the love of Jesus the Lord
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”