Prayers (3 of 3)

Meetings

Spirit of love and life,
be with us in these moments as we gather to do the business of the day.
May we remember to listen well, and speak clearly,
may we be present to one another here in this time as we are in our worship.
And gathering to do the business of the church, let us always remember its work:
to find the lost,
to mend what is broken,
to offer a word of healing where there is pain and trouble,
to speak into the world a word of hope and of peace
a word of justice into a world so in need
and always to speak an alleluia for life in its glory and grace,
an alleluia for life in its worry and trouble, alleluia for all.
Alleluia and Amen
Rev Dr Linda Hart

At Easter

We look, this Easter, to rise above tombs of unreasonableness:

From the tomb which confines God to supernatural orders
Let God rise respecting nature's universal laws.

From the tomb of literalism and exclusivism and fanaticism
Let rise imagination and inclusiveness and co-operation.

From the tomb where we hear nothing but our own voices' echoes
Let rise voices reasoning together.

From the tomb which chains human minds
Let rise minds which test and quest without resting.

From the tomb of never ending sorrow and despair
Let rise new beginnings and new hope.

From the tomb of conflict and war
Let rise listening, tolerant and participatory government.

From the tomb where after-life claims all life's meaning
Let rise new meanings for this life.

Most reasonable God warm our hearts and may our hearts’ fires be led by reason.
Amen
Andrew M Hill

At Christmas

Bethlehem is wherever a baby is born and wonder-filled parents enjoy the moment.
Bethlehem is wherever new lives are birthed and nurtured towards independent being.
Bethlehem is wherever renewed spirit and fresh perspective emerge from out the human shadows.
Bethlehem is wherever human imagination unfolds into stories and sculptures and symphonies.
Bethlehem is wherever seeds of peace and renewal are scattered across fields of waste and war.
Bethlehem is wherever new life sprouts in contexts of death and decay.
Bethlehem is wherever a generation of old life overlaps with a generation of new.
Bethlehem is wherever gifts offered with good faith are accepted with thanks and grace.
Bethlehem is wherever the starry sun rises and ‘rests’ above our homes.
Bethlehem is wherever caring innkeepers find room for the needy of refuge and asylum.
Bethlehem is wherever choirs sing ‘Gloria’ and bands make joyful noises to the Lord.
Bethlehem is wherever some new saviour or some new redeemer quietly slips into the world.
Bethlehem is wherever hope pushing gently comes through smothering blankets of despair.
Bethlehem is wherever and whenever . . .
It was there and then and it is here and now.
Bethlehem is . . .
Andrew M Hill

Spirit of Love and of Life, we gather here this day to remember, to remember those who have touched our lives by their living and their dying.

Blessed be their lives, and our memories of them.

We stand in the presence of a mystery, that life is, that we know the pleasures of family and friends, that we can celebrate the gentle joys of community and companionship. That we have breath is a mystery, that we live is itself a mystery.

In the presence of these memories, these spirits who still touch our lives, let us open our hearts in thanksgiving. Thankful for their presence in our lives, thankful for the blessing of time that was ours to share with these friends, loved ones, partners, companions. Let us open our hearts

with gratitude for all they have given to us, and let that gratitude spill over the loss that we feel, let it fill that which is left empty within us. Gratitude for all the gifts, living on here in these tokens, in our hearts, in our lives.

Open your heart in thanksgiving for those who still grace your life. Our time is too short to be taken with petty disagreements, and angry divisions. Our time is too short to hold our love within. Open to those around you, for the treasures that they may yield in your life. Open to those around you for the treasures they may find within you, that precious and wondrous spark of life that you embody.

The world is more mystery than not, and we are ever in the presence of gifts beyond measure. In the quiet of our time, may we reach to touch that treasure, that giftedness, and may we return to our lives with a new sense of kindness and care, of gentle love and compassion for those who fill our lives.

Rev Dr Linda Hart

Prayer for the Induction of a Minister

I invite you to share a time of reflection, of meditation and of prayer.
I call you to be alone, together.
I call you one by one to the priesthood and the prophethood of all believers,
and together, I call you to the ministry of the whole congregation.

Ministry – it’s not the task of one person especially called by God.
It is the task of many persons called to be together.
Ministry – it’s not the responsibility of one person dispensing grace.
It is the responsibility of many persons caring for each other.
Ministry – it’s not the proclamation of one person crying in the wind.
It is the proclamation of many persons acting together.
Ministry – it’s is not the prophethood of a single lone voice.
It is the prophethood of many voices speaking truth to power.
Ministry – it’s is not the priesthood of one ordained person.
It is the priesthood of a whole community.

Ministry  - it is the responsibility of a whole congregtion
helped by someone whom they have specially chosen.
Ministry - it is a whole congregation sharing love
guided by an insightful observer of the human condition.
Ministry - it is a community of justice and love
encouraged by someone brave enough to confront prejudice.
Ministry - it is the priesthood and prophethood of all believers
shared with someone who is a prophet and a priest among them.
Ministry – it is many persons in mutual care
blessed by one person in whom they have particular trust.

Sacred, silent, ministering presence – in, around and among us - we rest awhile in your being as we reflect upon the meaning and the significance of ministry among us.

Gentle ministering presence bless us here together now; and bless this city and bless this nation and bless its many communities of faith and culture; and may wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity be the guidance of our days.
Amen
Andrew M Hill

Offering Prayers

Out of love,
Out of concern of our Chapel,
And because we take seriously the call to fund its work and its witness,
We give.
We are grateful for these gifts,
And grateful to each other for giving them.
Rev Ant Howe

This church is sustained by what we are able to bring to it:
Our time and our energy,
Our love and our resources.
The morning collection will now be gratefully received to support the work of this congregation.
Rev Dr Linda Hart

The purpose of this church is to encourage all who gather here to grow more generous in peace, in spirit and in action. This is the great end of all the world's faith traditions: to bring the human being closer to the divine by acts of love, creation and compassion.

We now take an offering that allows us to exercise that all-important generosity of spirit, an offering that will support this church and its ministries. The offering is most gratefully received.
Peter Teets

Prayer for our Unitairan General Assembly

Eternal Spirit, we celebrate the unity and diversity of our Unitarian General Assembly and the congregations of individuals it joins together in loving fellowship.

May we guard and cherish always the right of religious free thought won for us by the sacrifices of past generations.

We celebrate the joy of being together, of exploring in community the mystery and wonder of Life, the transient and the eternal.

May we in our diverse Unitarian family gently engage each other's hearts and minds. Wherever we are on our common journey may we see ourselves in others and respond to their needs.

We celebrate the spirit of goodwill shown by all who serve our General Assembly, its congregations, its Districts and its affiliated societies. We celebrate and value the precious ties of fellowship with Unitarians and Universalists worldwide.

May we reach out to people of goodwill the world over who strive for global justice, international peace and the rights and dignity of all.

We celebrate our links with the United Nations Association, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, Amnesty International and all organisations bearing witness for human solidarity and the protection of our common human rights worldwide.

May we see ourselves in the faces of all victims of injustice. In a spirit of universal compassion may we show we care by our actions.

Spirit of Life and Love, inspire us by the unfading vision of the peaceable kingdom imagined by Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth and other prophets and sages throughout the ages. We fondly dream of that ideal commonwealth in which all living creatures may dwell in love and peace.

Touch our hearts to struggle, with passion and with invincible hope, to realise that vision here on Earth.
Amen
Rev Feargus O'Connor