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Musical Congregational Prayer

June 30, 2011

Thank you for the music all around us.
Each morning we hear it from the moment we open our ears;
the low notes of wind around the eaves,
the whoosh of water as it comes from the tap,
the glug glug as it drains,
the throaty whistle of the boiling kettle,
the metallic tap of the spoon against the cup,
the jazz percussion of our feet on the steps.
The sounds of our day,
so familiar we hardly pay attention.
Thank you for the ability to hear….

God Our Champion

May 21, 2011

Everyone needs a champion,
someone who will be in your corner, always,
someone watching your back,
someone watching you, treasuring you,
keeping you in their heart.

Parents are nature’s champions,
biologically led to love and nurture,
feed and foster,
support and sustain.
They can’t keep their eyes off you….

Faithful and True: A Mother’s Day Prayer

May 3, 2011

God of grace, thank you for the gift of motherhood:
for the joy of giving birth, for the delight of loving a child,
for the unfolding of a relationship over time.
From mothers cradling babies, to adults caregiving for aging parents,
the relationship of mother and child is a gift from you!
Thank you for all who mother us,
biological or adoptive mothers, caregivers, relatives and friends;
women who have been there for us, who have made us who we are.
Thank you, God, that even though mothers may fail us, you never fail us
and that you mother us through your love….

Easter Poem: Hope for the Shadow People

April 21, 2011

We are the shadow people who dance with death,
that great shade, our whole life long.
We try to run from its darkness,
we avoid it, we try to elude it.
But in the end we are always the shadow people,
hopelessly connected to death.
The darkness of death eclipses us.
Death hems us in, stifles us, stunts our growth,
it wants to kill us.
Crippled and cramped by this grave story
we long for a saviour
who sees our crooked shadows, our bent-overness….

Light Shines Call to Worship

April 21, 2011

“Come to me, all you who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death!”
On you has the light shone!
For Jesus Christ is the light of the world
and this is the story;
the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness could not put it out!
Jesus said,
“I am the resurrection and the life.”
“I am the bright and morning star.”
This morning we join with the angels in their hymns of praise;
Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace, Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Most Solemn of Days Call to Worship

April 19, 2011

On this most solemn of days we gather for worship.
Jesus, lead us from the darkness of the garden,
to the bare courtyard and its soldiers.
Draw us from Pilate’s palace and its crowds,
through the streets of Jerusalem.
Shepherd us to a lonely hillside
where the lamb of God waits for us.
We would follow you, Jesus, on this,
your day of suffering.

Good Friday Prayer of Confession

April 19, 2011

We come to you, Jesus, burdened with our own sin.
Our own calls for revenge and violence,
which may or may not have included the words, “Crucify, crucify!”
Our own betrayals, with or without the thirty pieces of silver.
Our own denials, whether or not we have heard the cock crowing.
You know the sins we carry, secretly or openly,
the way they crush us, the weight of them.
We bring these to your cross…*

You carry our burdens, Lord.
These, the simplest and gravest of sins,
are magnified into organizations and systems,
amplified in the actions of corporations and governments.
Selfishness, revenge and violence unfold on the largest scale,

Climbing the More with Less Ladder

April 15, 2011

The effort to achieve goodness
stretches the most ambitious soul.
Faced with global warming,
the oil crisis and rampant materialism,
we can and do rise to the occasion.
We track our miles and kilometers
for every carbon footprint,
we pinch pennies,
we recycle and re-use,
we evaluate and re-evaluate
our time-saving, time-treasuring,
simple-life strategies….

Spring Congregational Prayer

April 15, 2011

Thank you God for the sound of geese high in the morning sky
being pulled northward by the call of spring.
Thank you for the way you are pulling life out of the ground.
You call and all life answers, up from the brown earth,
up through last year’s dead leftovers; new life greening all around us.
Thank you that you call us in the same way, pulling us towards life.
As sure as plants are pulled towards the sun, we yearn for you.
Forgive us for times we have leaned in other ways,
preferring to stay buried, preferring to do nothing,
preferring to lean towards evil thoughts and actions.
Your love calls us, yearns for us,
rejoices every time our thoughts lean towards you,

About Carol Penner

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.

I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com

Musical Congregational Prayer

God Our Champion

Faithful and True: A Mother’s Day Prayer

Easter Poem: Hope for the Shadow People

Light Shines Call to Worship

Most Solemn of Days Call to Worship

Good Friday Prayer of Confession

Climbing the More with Less Ladder

Spring Congregational Prayer

About Carol Penner

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