Reforming Spirit,
you blew through the lives
of common folk in Switzerland in 1525.
A realization gradually dawned
that what they had been taught from childhood
about being a Christian
was not the only way to think.
Reading the Bible opened a new way.
They envisioned a church
not automatically filled with citizens from birth,
not led by leaders who bought their positions,
not having a hierarchy at all.
And so they knelt and were rebaptized as adults,
claiming their own faith in their own time,
ready to suffer the consequences.
Your Spirit continues to move today,
reforming your church in new and myriad ways.
You challenge us to draw close,
to read and reread your sacred texts,
and to discern where the church is
not serving the one who washed feet,
not honouring the Creator of all creatures,
not tuned to your beating heart of love.
Wake us up to claim our faith in our time,
becoming yielded to your goodness.
Turn us away from sins
that vary and multiply in our very souls,
and in our beloved communities.
Together we read and listen,
together we want to find the footsteps of Jesus
and walk in them.
Give us courage to resist what you want resisted;
tyranny, callousness, unkindness,
and violence on every level.
Through your power, mold our congregations
into true communities of devotion and simplicity,
that bring good news of great joy to all people.
The world needs your touch,
and we have hands.
The world needs your voice,
can we speak your truth?
By your grace, we live and move
and find new ways of being. Amen.
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I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.