RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP
PRAYERS
We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
You sent your Son to bring good news to the poor, sight to the blind , freedom to captives, and salvation to your people: anoint us with your Spirit; rouse us to work in his name.
Send us to bring help to the poor, and freedom to the oppressed.
Send us to tell the world the good news of your healing love.
Send us to those who mourn, to bring joy and gladness instead of grief.
Send us to proclaim that the time is here for you to save your people.
God of mercy,
you know us and love us and hear our prayer:
keep us in the eternal fellowship of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
Source: Ely Diocesan Clergy Conference 2006
Response to the intercessions
Hope of our calling,
Hear our prayer
A prayer of St Ignatius of Loyola (C of E Vocations Sunday website)
Take Lord and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding and my entire will;
all that I have and possess.
You have given it all to me:
to you, O Lord, I return it.
All is yours;
do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and grace,
for this is enough for me.
Our one desire and choice in life should be this:
I want and I choose what better leads to God deepening his life in me.
Prayers from John Neale Ember Prayers London: SPCK, 1965 (This is a useful collection, though somewhat dated now. The longer litanies could be adapted for contemporary use, as part of acts of worship developed around the theme of vocation.)
We beseech you, Almighty God,
to call many to the ministry of your Church;
and to those whom you call give your grace
that they may hear and answer your voice;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty God,
who in every age has drawn men and women
to be ministers in the apostolic Church;
make known your will to those you would use today;
grant them grace to discern,
courage to respond,
and firm resolve to obey;
that the promise of the Gospel may be fulfilled in the lives of all people,
through the power of Jesus Christ our Lord.
O Lord our God,
in whose hands is the issue of all things,
and who require from your stewards not success, but faithfulness:
give us such faith in you, and in your sure purpose,
that we measure our lives not by what we have done, or failed to do,
but by our obedience to your will.
O Lord Jesus Christ,
in whom the glory of the eternal God shone forth in the form of a servant:
set in the hearts of our people the spirit of service,
that they may find their true greatness in sharing your humility,
and in serving one another may know the freedom of your kingdom.
A Prayer by Joy Tetley in Prayers Encircling the World London: SPCK, 2000
God of illumination,
you call us beyond our imagining
to tasks beyond our powers.
Empower our service and enlighten our worship
that we may know and proclaim the light of the world.
From the Liturgy of St James (Collected by David Silk)
Remember, Lord, the ministers of your Church
for their work in word and sacrament,
and in the proclamation of your glorious gospel.
Endow them with wisdom for their high task,
with learning for the publishing of your truth,
with zeal and devotion to your glory and the salvation of all people,
with humble self-surrender lest they themselves be rejected;
and grant that both by their lives and their work
they may advance your kingdom;
for the honour of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Almighty and everlasting God,
who gave your disciples grace truly to believe and to preach your word:
grant that we may love your word,
faithfully listen to your call and discern our roles.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
SENTENCES OF SCRIPTURE
I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.
John 15.15
However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches.
1 Cor 7.17
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
Eph 1.17-19
But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 thess 2.13-14
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
1 Peter 2.9
God says, ‘I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations’
Isaiah 42.6
So let us worship the Lord who calls us out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2.9
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last.
John 15.16
CONFESSIONS
Introductions to confession
Since the Lord has called us all to bear witness to his name, let us lay aside all that hinders us in the race set before us.
God who has called us is holy, let us be holy ourselves in all we do.(1 peter 1.15)
Therefore let us bring our imperfections before the perfect holiness of God,
That in his mercy he may make us whole and clean.
God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace.(2 Timothy 1.9)
Therefore let us come before God in penitence and faith, and trusting in his mercy.
Kyrie Sentences
You have called us friends, but we failed to love you and to love our neighbours as ourselves.
Lord, have mercy
You have called us to light and life, but we chose to bear the darkness alone
Christ, have mercy
You have called us to your heavenly kingdom, but we have let ourselves be ruled by self-interest
Lord, have mercy
Absolution
May God who loved the world so much
that he sent his Son to be our Saviour
forgive us our sin and make us holy to serve him in the world,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening!
You have the worlds of eternal life, wisdom and guidance.
INTRODUCTIONS TO THE PEACE
Brothers and sisters, let us lead lives worthy of the calling to which we have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 3.1-3)
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 3.4-6)
EUCHARISTIC PREFACE
And now we give you thanks for the example of the first disciples.
Endue us with their enthusiasm and discernment
That we too may run the race prepared for us through your Son Jesus Christ…
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER
Almighty God,
you have entrusted to your church
a share in the ministry of your Son our great high priest:
Inspire by your Holy Spirit the hearts of many to offer themselves for the ministry of your Church,
that strengthened by his power,
they may work for the increase of your kingdom
and set forward the eternal praise of your name.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
CLOSING PRAYERS / ACTS OF COMMISSIONING etc
May the God of peace himself sanctify us entirely;
and may we be kept sound and blameless
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The one who calls us is faithful and he will do this. (1 Thess 5.23-24)
We receive with thanksgiving what the Lord has entrusted to us
And we rejoice, for he has called us. (2 Esdras 2.37)
I ask you to accept with me:
The call to gratitude
for the gift of the world
The call to compassion
for the pain of the world
The call to joy
in the gladness of the world
The call to peace
for the healing of the world
The call to love
for the life of the world
The call to hope
for the salvation of the world
Source: Bridget Nichols,
for the 2006 Ely Diocese Clergy Conference
All who are baptized are called to worship and serve God.
Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you persevere in resisting evil,
and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all people, loving your neighbour as yourself?
With the help of God, I will.
Will you acknowledge Christ's authority over human society,
by prayer for the world and its leaders,
by defending the weak, and by seeking peace and justice?
With the help of God, I will.
May Christ dwell in your heart(s) through faith,
that you may be rooted and grounded in love and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit. Amen.
Source: Common Worship
The Methodist Covenant Prayer
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt,
rank me with whom thou wilt:
Put me to doing,
put me to suffering:
Let me be employed for thee:
or laid aside for thee:
Exalted for thee,
or brought low for thee:
Let me be full,
let me be empty:
Let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made no earth,
Let it be ratified in heaven.
SYMBOLIC ACTS FOR USE IN WORSHIP
1. Pebbles
[preparation: place a pile of pebbles centrally, next to a bowl.]
Each person is invited to take a pebble, and as they hold it, to consider that we, too, come in many shapes and sizes. We may feel that our edges are rough, perhaps we are broken in some way, perhaps we feel small and insignificant. But God sees our uniqueness and our potential, and calls us to be living stones, built into something that will reveal his glory.
The leader encourages the congregation to offer to God
our hopes and fears
our gifts and talents
our energy and ambition
our vision and ideasThe leader invites the congregation to use this space to offer themselves to God in the silence of their heart, or by placing their pebble in the bowl.
2. Paper chains
[preparation: make some strips of paper and stick double sided sticky tape to one end. Provide one strip to each person, together with a pen or pencil]
Each person is encouraged to write something on their strip of paper: it may be a decision they are facing about the direction their life is going, it may be an issue about which they need discernment, or perhaps a thanksgiving for a gift or talent, or an offering of that gift in the service of God.
Then the strips of paper are joined into a paper chain – all that we offer, all that we are, and all our brokenness are part of a whole pattern, as well as being unique to us.
3. Bricks
[preparation: place an old brick under each chair]
The leader asks each person to pick up their brick and reflect on its colour and shape, its brokenness, uneveness, usefulness and other properties, and to think of themselves in terms of what they have to offer.
Each person then brings their brick forward and the congregation together build a wall.
BLESSINGS
May the Father, whose glory fills the heavens,
cleanse you by his holiness and send you to proclaim his word.
Amen.
May Christ, who has ascended to the heights,
pour upon you the riches of his grace.
Amen.
May the Holy Spirit, the comforter,
equip you and strengthen you in your ministry.
Amen.
And the blessing …
God give you grace to follow his saints in faith and hope and love;
and the blessing…
Receive what the Lord has entrusted to you and be joyful,
giving thanks to him who has called you to his heavenly kingdom.(2 Esdras 2.37)
And the blessing…