Whole Body of Christ Congregational Prayer

God of grace:
Thank you for Alberta, our beautiful province,
land of prairie and boreal forest, rolling hills and  towering mountains.
Thank you for our connection to this land,
our favourite spots and places, where we seek out beauty and peace.
Thank you for Alberta’s connection to the rest of Canada,
its connection to our continent, its oceans,
for the atmosphere we share with the whole world,
for the deep heat of the earth’s core
that is the base of every country on earth.
Thank you for the unity of the world,
even as we love certain parts of it,
and feel its separateness acutely.
In the same way, thank you for your church.
Thank you for the particularity
of our Mennonite Brethren congregation here in Lendrum,
the people, our community, our faith.
Thank you for every other Christian church in Edmonton today,
worshipping in so many ways, using so many rituals, and so many languages.
Thank you for churches in Belgium, Botswana, Bolivia, Bulgaria and Burma…
Christians praising the name of Jesus
in cathedrals, basilicas and small church buildings,
in open air services and house churches.
Thank you for our place in the whole body of Christ.
Forgive us, God, for our short sightedness,
for the way we think our church is best
and our obliviousness to the richness of your body,
even here in Edmonton, let alone the whole world.
Open our minds to the wideness of your family,
the love you have for all peoples,
and the broadness of your plan for salvation.
Thank you for Jesus, who showed us the way,
through his inclusiveness and his sacrificial love.
Today like people in churches around the world, we come with petitions;
we have grieving people among us, we need your comfort here.
We have sick people among us, in mind and body, we need your healing here.
We have despairing people among us, we need your hope here.
We long for your Spirit’s power;
empower us to be a community that offers comfort,
that encourages healing, that lives in your hope.
And now, we join together with churches around the world,
as we pray the prayer you taught us to pray:  Our Father…