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A Community Call to Prayer
sponsored by Berea Ministerial Association of Berea, Kentucky

Be reconciled all who enter here - parents and children; husbands and wives; believers and those who cannot believe; Christians and their fellow Christians.
(Entrance to the Church of the Reconciliation at the Community of Taize France).

Welcome
It has been said that there are but two prayers in the world, "Help," and "Thanks." We gather here with our hearts troubled, our world in turmoil, and the future uncertain. We gather to seek God's help, and to offer our thanks for the strength and peace that comes not from this world, but from God's gracious will for all people.

We come not because we are certain, but because we are anxious. We come not because we are full, but because we hunger for something beyond ourselves. We come not to express our opinions, but to listen for the will of God in thanks for presence of the Holy Spirit, and to say, "Help us do thy will, O Lord." We pray for our country, for the world, for ourselves. We pray to place our trust in the mighty care of God, whose salvation is as irresistible as the spring.

Gathering Music

Lighting of the Christ Candle

Hymn "Be Thou My Vision (vss. 1 and 2)"

Scripture Micah 6:6-8

Silence

Chorus "Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God" (or other special music)

Psalm: Psalm 133

Silence

Song: "Nada Te Turbe" (Taize)
"Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.
All who seek God shall never go wanting."
from The Faith We Sing United Methodist Hymnal No. 2054

Scripture: John 17:20-23

Silence

Song: "O Lord Hear Our Prayer"
O Lord hear our prayer, O Lord hear our prayer. When I call answer me.
O Lord hear our prayer, O Lord hear our prayer. Come and listen to me.
from The Faith We Sing United Methodist Hymnal No. 2200

Prayer from Thomas Merton
My Lord God, we have no idea where we are going.
We do not see the road ahead of us.
We can not know for certain where it will end.
Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact
that we think we are following your will does not mean
that we are actually doing so.
But we believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing.
We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire.
And we know that if we do this you will lead us
by the right road though we may know nothing about it.
Therefore we will trust you always though we may seem
to be lost and in the shadow of death.
We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never
leave us to face our perils alone.

Prayer of St. Fracis of Assissi
Lord, make us an instrument of thy peace;
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that we may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Response:
O Lord hear our prayer, O Lord hear our prayer. When I call answer me.
O Lord hear our prayer, O Lord hear our prayer. Come and listen to me.
(Can be found in The Faith We Sin, United Methodist Hymnal, No. 2200)

Intercessions
(These were read by four separate voices. Two men and two women).

In a world of uncertainty and violence we turn to you, O Lord to hold the future of your people. Save your people from terror and destruction. Protect us from the dangers of war and hatred, from the perils of vengefulness, from the snares of complacency. Guard us against our own fears, and the impulse to save our lives at the cost of our souls. In our turmoil, grant us your hope and peace and the guidance of your love.

Response

We pray for all who by choice or circumstance are now in harm's way. For the men and women of our military, and the every family throughout the world separated now by the threat of war, and in fear of their lives, we pray for your protection and grace. And for the children who suffer most, may God's hand hold their fears and guard their loved ones. May the need for the violence which threatens be removed, and may their courage be rooted in the saving power of God.

Response

We hold in the light our President, George Bush, that the wisdom and teachings of God and Christ may lead him in leading the United States. Keep before him the faces of the millions for whom he acts: the poor as well as the rich, the children who suffer as well as the enemies who oppose us, the needs of the world, as well as the needs of those within our borders. Protect him from the temptations of evil and grant to him and all who lead, the strength of Christ-like compassion and sacrifice for the greater good of justice and peace for all.

Response

We pray for those who endanger us: for Saddam Hussein, for Kim Jong Il, the leaders of Al-Qaeda, and all in any country who hate and kill: Even in our fear, we place them in your hands O God, for all nations are made of one blood. May justice and mercy fall on them as well as us. We pray that hatred between the children of God be healed, and for the strength and faith for each to take our part in reconciliation as it is revealed. Though we do not yet know how, we pray that all nations will learn to share God's creation in peace. May wisdom and compassion seep under the doors of our hearts and the hearts of our enemies.

Response

With all who are weary and disheartened, we pray for renewing hope.
With all who fear, we ask for the wisdom to know what is right, and the courage to follow your will.
With all who labor for the Gospel seeking justice and peace, we pray for strength.
With all who serve in the military with their lives at risk, we pray that war may be averted.

With all the victims of injustice, we pray for help and relief, and the assurance that God's righteousness will prevail.

O God of earth and altar, bend low and hear our cry. We pray in the name of our savior, Jesus the Christ who taught us to say:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

Response (Sing twice)

Scripture: Revelation 22:1-5

Song: "Be Thou My Vision" (vss. 3 & 4)

Passing of the Peace

Postlude: "Let There Be Peace on Earth"

[N.B. The Berea Ministerial Association avoided the use of patriotic music for this worship service. Such songs as "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", and "America, the Beautiful" and "God Bless America" may trigger strong political reactions at a time when we are seeking ways to build "shalom" and "hospitality" in the name of
our reconciling Christ.

Other worship resources may be found at:
www.pepm.org/PrayerVigil/PrayerVigilPrayers.htm
www.peaceprayer.org
Both have other links to other resources.

The Kentucky Council of Churches urges that such prayer services be ecumenical. Worship resources from the Taize Community, established in the midst of World War II as a place of peace for young people of all nations, are especially useful for these purposes. Some communities may want to adapt other resources for an interfaith service.]