We have prayed either our Shaped by Faith Prayer or now our Prayer of Commission every single Sunday for the past four years, rooting our hearts in the passage from Hebrews. We are certain we have entertained angels every day in our community garden, ministry center, church and parish hall. And we have been blessed beyond our imagination.
We have replaced the Shaped by Faith Prayer with the following Prayer of Commission, for we believe we are all a part of the Great Commission, that sending forth of Jesus’ disciples into the world to carry forth God’s dream of justice and righteousness for all. We have placed this prayer in this location in the worship service for we have just presented God with our gifts (monetary as well as the offering of our hearts and souls) and now we pledge to use our gifts and those of our parish to be workers in God’s beloved community.
PRAYER OF COMMISSION
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 NLT)
Loving and generous God, we are so blessed by the opportunity to be workers in your beloved community. We trust that your promises will not fail; your dream of justice and plenty for all will be realized. What a wondrous, life-affirming gift, that you have invited us into the work of bringing your dream to fruition in our community.
We are here with open hands and hearts, and we ask you to use us. Show us where we belong in your dream; weave each of us into this holy tapestry according to our ability to serve you and our neighbor. You have given each of us different gifts; let us use our gifts to tend the ones who need your love, and to lift each other as we walk this path of faith and hope together.
No matter what happens in the weary world around us, let us proclaim your love as a beacon that will not be diminished. Empower us to nurture an oasis of welcome and encouragement, support and security, peace and hope, for all who come seeking light in a hurting world. We pray for this ministry, our neighbors, and your continued blessing as you go in front of us to make a way. Be in our midst as we feed the hungry, share a conversation with the lonely, encourage the homeless who are working so hard to re-establish their lives. Bless the counselors at Grace Place who are providing stability and healing to people whose lives are upended and chaotic. Bless each ministry that is now reaching out to touch lives at the shelter, and those who give their time to make them successful. Send your Holy Spirit to inspire us to make new connections in the community, so this mission may reach all who are in need. We know there is much to be done, one kindness at a time, and we know your love never fails. We are grounded in your truth.
All that we have belongs to you, oh Lord. May we joyfully walk together as one family, bearing each other’s burdens and rejoicing in your peace. Thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.
In the photo gallery below, please see the many ways we tangibly welcome the stranger: being out in the community sharing the good news of our community garden, gathering people into our sacred and beautiful space, engaging members of the community to distribute the food from The Gleaning Project, inviting community members to write “gratitude tags” which will be displayed this winter, until the bio-degradable paper is folded into the soil, so “gratitude can grow along with our plants”, inviting our neighbors to create bouquets of flowers from our garden to give to their moms, inviting other local churches to offer events at our gazebo, gathering in prayer, greeting everyone who walks into our area with big warm smiles, offering cheery flowers all summer long, inviting our young people in the community to put blessing notes in the blessing food boxes, reminding them that they are loved just the way they are, teaching our neighborhood children the gift and joy of planting and tending to the earth, having fun together, giving out an abundance of food, coming together to create something beautiful, signs in many languages welcoming people to the garden, and, of course, lots of hugs!
But what we’ve learned this year that was probably the most important thing ever is that as we thought our work was in welcoming “the other” (for we really hadn’t known many people in our neighborhood at all before this project — which is now a way of life), it was “the other” who were welcoming us into their hearts. That is the biggest blessing ever – to be welcomed, accepted, and trusted by our neighbors who we know call each other friends. Together we are building something new and full of God’s belovedness. Our hearts are spilling over with gratitude.
Please watch below to a video presentation on finding altars everywhere in the garden (for we meet Christ in each person). This video was created as part of a presentation to our Diocese (Episcopal Diocese of Central PA) for a Creation Care Webinar.