Season – Fall

Glory to God for Autumn Congregational Prayer

Glory be to God for autumn things!
For the green world changing colour;
golden, crimson, amber, rust.
For baskets of glorious apples:
delicious, ambrosia, russet, spy.
For the grain tumbling out of the combine,
the pumpkins filling the field,
for round bales of hay weighing down wagons.
And then the crisp fall breezes bringing clouds
heavy with rain, hinting of snows to come.
We come with thanksgiving for the rich blessing of the harvest,
and the work of the farmers who produced it.
God, this is a year where we take nothing for granted;

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Longing for Peace Call to Worship

Welcome to worship
at this turn of the season.
As the temperatures dip
we gather in the warmth
of God’s presence,
as the darkness grows
we seek Gods light,
as the earth rests from its labours
we long for God’s peace.
Come, let us worship God together!

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Coming Coldness Congregational Prayer

Creator God,
thank you that you order the change of the seasons.
Thank you for the great upheaval that is fall.
Billions of trees dropping every leaf.
Birds heaving themselves across oceans to warmer continents.
Animals burrowing, amphibians tunnelling, everyone going deep
to escape the coming coldness.
All of this orchestrated by you.
Be with us in these changing times.
We pray for people without shelter,
or who have to choose between being warm and being fed.
Give workers in social service agencies patience and compassion.
Give politicians in government the will to help.
Open our hearts to help our neighbours.

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Letting Go Fall Congregational Prayer

Thank you for the extravagant letting go in nature all around us.
The clouds letting go of moisture in rain and snow.
Trees letting go of their leaves, revealing their naked beauty.
The winds letting loose and blowing everything away.
As the days grow short, and the nights grow long,
help us to open our hands and drop what is not essential.
Help us trust that nothing is wasted,
that all of life is held in your hands,
and finds a purpose that is beyond our knowing.
Help us let go of the fears that plague us in the long nights.
We pray for parents who are learning to let go of their growing children,

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Thanksgiving Prayer in Times Likes These

Thank you, God, for your care for all creation.
You watch over the sun, whose rays warm us,
you order the moon, whose light silvers the night.
The seasons follow your guidance,
and we give thanks for farmers and their harvests;
for the last combines collecting the crops,
for golden stubble fields stretched out for a long rest.
Even as food is collected and stored,
we are mindful of places where food is hard to find;
the rains didn’t come, and the plants didn’t grow,

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Crossroads Congregational Prayer

We come to prayer this morning
at the crossroads of summer and winter.
Summer still shines, asters blooming with yellow and orange vividness,
warm days calling us to walk outside and enjoy the sun,
fresh fruit and vegetables still fill our tables and delight our tastebuds.
And yet, the nights grow cold, we see our breath in the morning,
yellow and red creep into the leaves of the trees,
the days get shorter, the earth tilts
and there’s no stopping the coming of winter….

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God our Captain Congregational Prayer

God of beauty, thank you for golds and blues.
Thank you for the yellow golds of poplars and hostas,
thank you for the red golds of oak trees in the sun,
thankyou for the dusty gold of stubble fields.
And for blues:  thank you for the deep cobalt blue of the lake,
the bright high blue of the sky
the cloudy blue of a baby’s eyes.
[substitute colours that you see in your location]
Your colours amaze us, as do the textures,
smells, tastes and sounds of this great world.
Thank you for giving us life and breath on this beautiful day. 

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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

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