Worship – Congregational Prayer

A Prayer for Family Holiday Gatherings

December 20, 2016

esus, you grew up in a family
that did not always understand,
who questioned you and no doubt squabbled;
hear our prayer for family gatherings this year.
Thank you for families that get along,
showing unconditional love and support:
families that are flexible and adaptive,
that can stand any storm.
Bless all who are travelling to gatherings
that they can’t wait to get to.
And then there are other families,
where tension, suspicion and judgement
vie for power with love and acceptance.
Sentences begin with “You always…”

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Song of Peace Prayer

December 11, 2016

Thank you for the gift of music,
for melodies and harmonies, for voices of every pitch.
Thank you for composers and poets,
for instruments and musicians.
Music is the soundtrack of our lives,
it delights us and helps us express our deepest emotions.
You give each of us a song to sing each week:
we confess that we abandon your score,
giving up your loving notes in favour of our own tune.
We fail to harmonize with those around us.
We want to be part of the work you are composing,

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“Can these bones live” Easter Congregational Prayer

March 27, 2016

God of grace,
we feel your hand upon us this morning,
saving us, loving us, encouraging us.
Jesus, you lived and walked among us,
you know us through and through.
You are familiar with our tombs,
the places where we have laid loved ones to rest,
and also those places where we are dead inside.
And you know the wars we fight,
personal and on a larger scale.
You have visited the battlefields, filled with corpses.
You ask us, “Can these bones live?”
and we think it’s impossible.
Death seems so final and powerful.  
And so does racism, and sexism, and every other ism.

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Questions of the People Congregational Prayer

February 22, 2016

od, we know spring is still a ways off,
but can we describe to you how the promise of spring feels?
How the springtime twittering of birds fills us with hope?
How the emergence of the ground out of the snow seem like a homecoming?
How the fragrance of spring flowers in the grocery store makes us smile?
How the feeling of the sun on our faces is like a benediction?
How can we thank you for the excitement of the change of seasons from winter to spring?

God hear our prayer

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Guided Silent Prayer

February 19, 2016

We come to God each week with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
This morning I will lead you in a guided silent prayer.
Even though each of us prays in our own hearts,
our prayers are not solitary
when we join together as the people of God,
praying as one in many voices.

God,
creation is so much with us,
sights, sounds, tastes, fragrances;
we pause to give thanks for something
in nature that gave us joy this week.   [PAUSE]

You have brought people into our lives,

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Canadian Pastoral Prayer

February 17, 2016

God of every country, thank you for this country:
for its beauty…from coast to coast to coast,
for blue oceans on three sides,
for great prairies, vast forest and stretching tundra,
for every rushing river and great lake
for Hudson’s Bay and the islands of the north,
all created by you, giving glory to you.
Thank you for all the creatures with whom we share this country;
the polar bear and the bowhead whale, the mighty moose and the fox,
the Canada goose and the honey bee, the Coho salmon and the beaver.
Thank you for Canadian people, rich in cultural diversity,
from First Nations and many nations….

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Easter People Congregational Prayer (responsive)

February 17, 2016

Thank you Lord that you are an impossibility specialist;
the long winter’s grip pried off us finger by finger,
the whole earth greening under the spring sun.
You bring new life where there is lifelessness,
you resurrect hope when we are mired in darkness.
We are an Easter people!
Bring Easter to all among us who are grieving;
your solace that we will see our loved ones again,
your comfort that you will be with us in the hour of our death.
We are an Easter people!….

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Darkness and Light: An Epiphany Responsive Prayer

December 12, 2015

In the darkness before creation,
you made all that lives and breathes.
In the darkness of Mary’s womb,
you formed Jesus, bringer of light.
In the darkness of our world your spirit sustains us.
O God, you are with us in darkness and in light.
Under the cover of darkness,
Magi followed the star to the Christ-child.
We come from the East and we come from the West,
following you on our different roads,

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Mercy and Love Responsive Prayer

December 12, 2015

Lord, you give us choices each and every day.
This week we have seen your path,
and turned away from it.
We have seen our brother or sister in need
and we did not turn to help.
Lord, have mercy.
We have said cruel or unkind words,
or refrained from saying helpful words
when they were needed.
Lord, have mercy.
We have been critical of those

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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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