The Shape of

Prayer in UCA
worship.
Canberra Region
Presbytery, 2007.
A one day course about prayer and
its use in public and private
worship.

FOR LAY AND ORDAINED MINISTRY AGENTS, LAY PREACHERS,

STUDENTS, CHAPLAINS, DEVOTION LEADERS AND INTERESTED
PERSONS
UCA AND ECUMENICAL FRIENDS
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Workshop Presented by Rev Wendy Snook

UCA Canberra Region Presbytery Mission Development Worker
69 Northbourne Ave (GPO Box 221)
Canberra ACT 2601
Office ph (02) 6248 9311, Work ph (02) 6161 9311
Fax (02) 62305163
Email wsnook@webone.com.au
office@canberraregion.unitingchurch.org.au
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THE SHAPE OF PRAYER IN UCA WORSHIP WORKSHOP

NOTES.
SESSION ONE.
1. WHAT IS PRAYER?
1.1. In English, to pray means to entreat, to implore, whether directed to God or any human
person or group. Today we will be talking about Christian prayer as part of our relationship
with God, (known to us in the three persons of the Trinity), and the activity of Christian prayer
as more than requests to God.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous [person] avails much. James 5:16.
Prayer is the raising up of the mind and heart to God. Roman Catholic catechism. (Cassidy pg 29.)

Discussion Question 1. What do you think prayer is?

E.g. A shopping list for God? Expression of feelings?
Whining? Wish list? Expectations? Statement of hope?
Communication with God? A love song? Listening?

1.2 Bill Hybels in Too busy not to pray discusses three

aspects of prayer.
Speaking to God.
Listening to God.
Living authentically with God.

Audiovisual- Miracle hear.

Discussion question 2: What positive and negative ideas
about prayer did you see in this AV?

Discussion question 3:Prayer is keeping company with

God- St Clement of Alexandria. Was this reflected in the AV?

1.3 Audiovisual- Jewish concept of prayer.

Barney Kasdan, a rabbi of the Messianic Jews (i.e. Jews who believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah),
explains the meaning of the Hebrew words for prayer, as service of the heart, and that it is a form
of worship.

2. WHY DO WE PRAY?
2.1 Pray constantly -1 Thessalonians 5:17.
we pray because we are asked to?

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 6-7.
We pray because we want Gods help?

O God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.
Augustine of Hippo, in his book, The Confessions, 5th century. (Pearson, pg 51.)
we pray because we cant do anything else but do so?

No one can say, Jesus is Lord unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:3
we pray because Gods Spirit is in and upon us, and helps us pray?

I must tell you the truth: it is for your own good that I am going, because unless I go, the
Advocate (The Spirit) will not come to you; but if I do go, I will send him to you. John 16:7.
Prayer is grace, a gift from God, to which we can only respond with gratitude?
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It is Gods longing for us which evokes our longing for God. From a sermon by Bernard of
Clairvaux, 12th century. (Pearson, pg 51.)
We pray because of Gods initiative?

Praying in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, therefore, means participating in the intimate life of God
himself. (Henri Nouwen, pg 115-6).
We pray to live in communion with God?

Discussion question 4: Why do we pray?

2.2 HOW HAVE GODS PEOPLE PRAYED IN THE PAST?

PRAYER IN THE BIBLE
2.2.1 Prayer in the Old Testament/ Hebrew Scriptures.
In the Pentateuch, / the Torah/ the first five books of the Bible, the J (means the Yahwistic
writer from the south/ Judah) and E (the Elohistic writer from the north/ Israel) sources
describe God and humans conversing, eg Genesis 2.
By the time of the Kings, prayer was linked with Gods providence.
For the eighth century prophets, the moral requirements of prayer were important.
For the Deuteronomic school of the eighth and seventh century prayer was seen as
recollection.
In Jeremiah, prayer is seen as personal meditation.
At the Exile and afterwards (sixth and fifth century BC), there was the development of
liturgical prayers by the priestly school, and the Psalms were used for corporate and private
prayer.
During the Greek period, leading to the time of Jesus, (third to first century BC) there were
prayers in synagogues and in sects, in a politically troubled world.

2.2.2 Prayer in the New Testament.

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, known as the Synoptic gospels, we learn about
Jesus in personal and corporate prayer times, and his teaching on prayer.
In the book of John, prayer is seen as communion.
Prayer in the early church is described by Paul, and other NT writers.
In the book of Hebrews, prayer is through Christs mediation.

3. WHAT DO WE PRAY? AND IN WHOSE NAME?

3.1 Jesus taught his disciples how to pray through
The Lords Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
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3.2 The seven themes of prayer in the Lords Prayer.

1. Our Father- God wants to be in a close relationship with us, like Abba/ Dad. This is a corporate
prayer. We can only pray privately because we are part of the Body of Christ, and in so doing, the
church is praying through us. Jesus said we are to pray OUR Father. God is my God, only
because God is Our God.
2. In heaven-A reminder that God is sovereign, majestic, omnipotent, above us metaphorically.
3. Hallowed be your name- Worship and praise are the appropriate starting points for prayer, not
the wish list.
4. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.- We are to submit to Gods will
by putting everything, such as our wills, lives, souls,
hearts, minds, marriages, families, ministry, work,
career, money, bodies, relationships into Gods hands for
God to direct and guide.
5. Give us today our daily bread- Now it is appropriate
to ask for our daily concerns and needs, in full
confidence.
6. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin
against us. Be careful that you are not an obstacle to
God, and to your own health and well-being. Forgive
others, (which does not mean forget what happened, as
otherwise one does not learn anything!), means choosing
to let go the offence and to give it to God. We are asked
to do it, even if they dont always repent first.
7. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from
evil. Pray for help in times of temptation and trial, which
we will face, (as Jesus did), and for protection from evil
of all kinds, regularly.
8. The Doxology, which is the final worship using an ascription of glory to God, - For the kingdom,
the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever- is not in all bible accounts, but is an
appropriate end to a prayer. And Amen means So be it.

While we use The Lords prayer as a prayer we say together in church, (emphasising that it is a
prayer for us as a group), we can also use the themes to guide our patterns of prayer in church
worship and at home. Prayer is a matter of choice, not dependent on how we are feeling at the time.
So while there is a place for spontaneous prayer in our prayer times, we should remember Jesus
guidance about how to organise our prayers when we gather together.

Discussion Question 5: Are there some new insights for you in this reflection on the Lords Prayer
as our example for praying together and alone?

SESSION 2
3.3 TYPES of PRAYER
1. Praise and Adoration
In 21st century Australia, praise and adoration tends to be reserved for sports stars, pop stars,
singers and actors. So we need to practice praising and adoring God. To praise God means
focussing on Gods attributes, such as Gods love, mercy, justice, kindness, faithfulness, holiness,
power, might, knowledge, wisdom, etc, and honouring God because of them. Praise and adoration
reminds us of who God is and what God is like, puts things in perspective, sets the tone for what
follows, purifies us, and is deserved by God.

Examples in the Bible would be Psalm 8, 19, 23, 46, 95, 100, and 148, Luke 1:46-55, Luke 1:68-
79, and 1 John 3:1. One can sing praise and adoration as well as say it. In the UCA, we frequently
use our music, hymns or songs, as the praise theme in our worship. See Example 3 by Bruce
Prewer.
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Exercise 1: Write a 3 line praise prayer. Eg Praise you, God, because you are

2. Invocation.
Invocation is asking God to be present with us in our gathering or place. It is usually used after a
Call to Worship, which invites the people to pay attention to God. See Examples 1, 2 and 3.

Exercise 2: Write a one or two line Call to Worship, and a one to 3 line Invocation prayer. E.g.
Come listen, people of xx. E.g. Holy God, we welcome you ..

3. Thanksgiving
This prayer gives thanks to God for what God has done for us- in the past, present and will do in
the future, for us as the people of God, as a local group, and as individuals. It is usually at the
beginning, or after the Assurance of Forgiveness, or after the sermon. See Examples 1, 2, 3. A
variation on these are the Offering prayers, where we give thanks to God for what God has given
us, and return some of it into Gods service, asking God to accept it as a gift and to bless its
outworking in the church and community.

Exercise 3: Write a brief thanksgiving prayer for what God has done for your church, your
community or yourself. E.g. Thank you God, because you.

4. Prayers of Confession
These are prayers of repentance, where we honestly
describe our lives and behaviour before God, as a
community, as a group, and as individuals, and ask for
Gods forgiveness. We believe we can obtain this
forgiveness by faith in Jesus Christ.
This is usually followed by a Declaration of
Forgiveness, or an Assurance of Faith. See Examples 1,
2, 3.

Exercise 4: Write a brief prayer of confession for the

failures of the Western world to stop Third World
poverty, thank God for those steps that have been taken,
and ask for Gods help for the future.

5. Lament
Laments are expressions of sorrow and grief by individuals and communities for situations
distressing them. Many of the Psalms contain laments, followed by expressions of hope
that God will save, heal, and/or redeem the writers and speakers. The Lamentations of
Jeremiah and Psalm 137 are good examples.

Discussion 6: Find an expression of Lament in the Psalms, or in Job. Are there any
situations in our world today that you think could be expressed in a lament?

6. Supplication (Prayers for Ourselves).

Again, the Psalms are full of prayers asking for Gods
help. E.g. Psalm 64, 102, 143. We all need it, and it is When I am down and,
right to ask. 1 Peter 5:7. Again, they usually finish with oh my soul, so weary;
expressions of faith that God will hear the prayer and When troubles come
answer favourably. Sometimes supplications are joined in and my heart burdened be;
with prayers of intercession/ prayers for others. E.g.
Lord, help us all to be more loving and faithful. As

1 of 10
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always, we are expected to be truthful and honest in what we pray, and not pretend we are
better than we are.

Then, I am still
and wait here in the silence, I am strong, when I am
Until you come on your shoulders;
and sit awhile with me. You raise me up:
To more than I can be.

2 of 10 8 of 10

7. Intercession / Petitions (Prayers for others).

There are many prayers of intercession in the Bible, particularly from the times of the early church,
when persecution and martyrdom were real threats to fellow Christians lives. These prayers can be
brief, but more often they are persistent and regular. E.g. 1 Thessalonians 2ff, (Paul), Colossians
4:12, (where Epaphras prays). They are also to be prayed for
all people, not just for Christians, and particularly for
government leaders. 1 Tim. 2:1-7.

-Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with

thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well
Colossians 4: 2-3a.
Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and
supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in
supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me Ephesians
6: 18, 19a.

Exercise 5: Write a brief prayer for someone you know, eg

who is sick, or lonely, or needing a job, and finish with a
prayer for yourself. For more ideas, look at the intercessions
in the Examples given.

8. Blessings
Blessings, or benedictions, are words intended to bring good, by asking for Gods providence to be
with those blessed. In Biblical days, people believed simply speaking the words were powerful
creative acts, and so the words of a blessing conferred the blessing itself. But strictly speaking, a
blessing is not a prayer, as it is not addressed to God, but is addressed to the people on behalf of
God. E.g. the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) - The Lord bless you and keep you It is not
meant to be a mini-sermon, nor wishful thinking, but a gift to the gathered people as they are sent
on their way in the name of God.
E.g. 2 Cor. 13:14, Rom 15:13; 1 Cor 16:23; Gal 6:18; Eph 6:23-24; Phil 4:23; 1 Thess. 5:23,28; 2
Tim. 4:22; Heb. 13:20-21; Rev. 22:21.

Discussion Question 7: Do you have a favourite blessing from amongst these? Why do you like it?

Audiovisual- Prayer Illustrations.

4. WHEN DO WE PRAY?
4.1 Pray always. Except for public prayer, in the Bible there are no regulations for time, place or
posture for prayer.
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Place- Jesus preferred solitary places for his private prayers, (Mark 1:35; Luke 9:28), however
formal Jewish prayers required water for ritual washing. Public prayers could be indoors or
outdoors. Although the Sadducees and priests argued for the primacy of the Temple in Jerusalem,
and Jesus family recognised it as the most significant place for worship, others disagreed. Jesus
himself foretold a future where worship would no longer be held in the Temple. E.g. John 4:20-24.
Time -In the Temple, morning and evening were the usual times for prayer, while offering
sacrifices to God. In the early church, three times a day, particularly at the 6th and 9th hour were
favoured. (Acts 10:9, Acts 3:1, 10:3, 30). The monastic pattern of seven daily offices comes from
Ps 119:164. Prayer can be offered day or night, and Jesus frequently prayed in the evening, the
early morning or at night. (Mark 14: 26, 32; Mark 1:35; 6:46, 48.)
Posture- Standing was the assumed posture, (Matt.6:5; Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11), however
kneeling, and prostration (lying down) are also mentioned. Bowing with ones head between ones
knees, or towards the ground and eyes cast down are also common. Hands could be raised up,
spread toward heaven, or used to smite the breast, and tear the hair and garments in times of great
anguish. Dancing was also acceptable before God, as shown by David.

4.2 Public prayer and Private prayer.

The most compelling reason for praying with others is Jesus' promise that 'whenever two of you on
earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where
two or three come together in my Name, I am there with them' (Matthew 18:19, 20).

See A. Dutneys article, Appendix 2, and R. Crouchers article, Appendix 3.

Discussion Question 8: In your congregation/s, what are the normal ways in which you pray?
Why?

SESSION 3.
5. HOW DO WE PRAY IN PUBLIC WORSHIP SERVICES OF THE UCA?

5.1 On any Sunday, a variety of people will gather together to worship God. There will be
women, men, young, old. Worship will be offered in a variety of tongues, and in a variety
of styles. Not all will worship in a church building.

The Uniting Church in Australia has inherited a particular approach to worship. Its heritage
is not that of the Prayer Book, closely prescribing the majority of words and actions;
neither is our heritage one of freedom without form. Through our Reformed and Methodist
inheritance, we have received an approach to worship that has been named Ordered
Liberty by partner Churches such as the United Church of Canada and the Church of
North India. Our approach has great freedom, which is exercised within a broad
framework. In some places, the freedoms will be emphasised over the framework; in
others, the people will find that an ordered style enables them to be free before God.
(UCA Assembly Ordered Liberty paper, Appendix 1).

5.2 Public worship is called a Liturgy, meaning the Work of the People. The UCA has elements
which it suggests are essential for good worship. In its Orders of service for Holy Communion,
these include:

1 Call to Worship
2 (Lament) -optional
3 Adoration (where Lament is used)
4 Prayers of Adoration and Confession and Declaration of Forgiveness
5 Readings from Scripture
6 The Proclamation of the Word
7 Prayers of the People (Intercessions)
8 Setting of the table with bread and wine
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9 Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, either preceded by or including a narrative of the institution of

the sacrament, and including also
* thanksgiving to God for the gifts of creation, redemption and sanctification
* a memorial (anamnesis) of the great acts of redemption, passion, death, resurrection,
ascension and Pentecost, which brought the Church into being
* the invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis) on the community and/or the bread and
wine
* consecration of the faithful to God
10 The Breaking of the Bread
11 Communion in both bread and wine by minister and people
12 Blessing/ Commissioning
13 Dismissal

While the order of these elements can be rearranged to suit local needs, it is expected that they will
occur. Worship in a UCA congregation is the responsibility of the Minister/ Ministry agent in
placement and the Elders/Church Leaders, and they decide who may lead public worship in their
congregation.

Discussion Question 9: Does this list of elements surprise you? Is it familiar? Is it familiar in this
order, or in another order? What differences have you noticed in other congregations public
worship?

5.2 Any baptised member of the church can lead the prayers at points 1,2,3,4,7,12 and 13, and read
the Scriptures. Mutual recognition of water baptism in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy
Spirit exists between the UCA and The Anglican Church of Australia, The Catholic Church in
Australia, The Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand, The Armenian
Apostolic Church, The Congregational Federation of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, The
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, The Lutheran Church of Australia, The Presbyterian
Church of Australia, and The Romanian Orthodox Church. (2004 NCCA Covenant, and UCA
NSW Synod 2007). So people who have been baptised in these churches are eligible to lead UCA
public prayers, with permission of the Minister and Elders.

Discussion question 10: Should non-baptised people lead public worship? Why or why not?

5.3 While the UCA allows lay members to preach, it prefers that they do the Lay Preachers training
courses, if they wish to regularly exercise that calling. Likewise, with the permission of the
Presbytery, some lay people may preside in the Presbyterys name for the sacraments. In the UCA
Sacraments course, there is further discussion of Baptism and Holy
Communion and its prayers (Ref. point 9 in the Communion Order
above).

5.4 Language styles- The use of inclusive language is always

encouraged by the UCA, particularly prayers and in bible readings,
where an older Bible translation may use non-inclusive language in
English, yet the original Greek or Hebrew used a word meaning both
sexes. E.g. Anthropos/ anthropoi, the Greek words often translated
in English as man, actually mean people, or humans. The Greek
word for male is ander. The old prayer which says For all men
have sinned does not mean that women have not sinned, too!
However it is possible to take language changes too far for the
comfort of ones worshipping group, so the leader must be sensitive
in introducing changes.

5.5 Liturgy is action. Jesus said "Do this to remember me," not "Read pages
456 to 473 to remember me"! The word "liturgy" means "work," "work of the people." And it
is work of the people, not for the people (which is the distinction between liturgy and
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magic). Liturgy is something we do together (the Greek "Do" in "Do this to remember me,"
is plural).
We have inherited a tendency to think of worship as primarily the words, and much of our
energy in liturgical revision has focused on getting the words right. Words are powerful, and
using them carefully is important, but the Anglican tradition has always seen there is more
to worship than words. Processions, vesture, banners, music and singing, bread and wine,
architecture, colour, flowers, incense, candles, and gestures, are but some of the elements
of Anglican worship. The non-verbal has, in the past, usually been thought of as enhancing
and interpreting the words. This approach is being turned upside down. Actions and
symbols are returning to their central position in worship. Actions, gestures, signs, and
symbols, do not interpret the words. It is the words which interpret the actions. Liturgy is
action.
( From "Do this to remember me"-Liturgy NZ Anglicans website- http://www.liturgy.co.nz/)

5.6 Examples.
Some other UCA orders of service are in the Appendix 1, and there are more in Uniting in Worship
books 1 and 2, the UIW 2 CDs and the former single order books for specific services, such as
Funerals. In UCA worship, we can read other peoples written prayers, write our own prayers, or
pray spontaneous prayers for the element in public worship. All of these options are acceptable.
Karl Barth is famous for saying one should pray with the Bible in one hand, and the newspaper in
the other, and this is certainly one way to make sure ones prayers are grounded in Scripture and
are specific, and relevant to the world in which we live.

We can also use non-verbal prayers and combined ways of praying, such as breaking bread,
lighting candles, singing a response to a spoken prayer, selecting and offering stones, dropping
stones in water, burning our sins written on paper, offering flowers, draping fabric in colours of the
Church Season, offering prayers while moving in a circle all holding hands, walking a labyrinth
etc.
Discussion Question 11: In this quotation from the NZ Anglicans Liturgy website, the tension
between focusing purely on the words and the non-verbal elements of communication is expressed
well. How much attention do the non-verbal aspects of prayer receive in your congregations
worship? Do you use liturgical colours and themes?

6. HOW DO WE PRAY PRIVATELY?

6.1 Personal prayer is very varied, as there are no fixed guidelines, other than to pray always!
The way we pray relates more to our personality type, time of day, and circumstances, and often
changes with age, growth and experience. However it is always an act of faithfulness, undertaken
whether one feels like it or not, and not dependent on whether one feels God is present or not.
Our feelings are not very reliable judges about Gods presence or absence. We all get distracted
during set prayer times at times, but as long as one returns immediately to prayer, there is no sin in
the distraction itself. Instead, commit the distraction to God. God promises to help us pray in all
circumstances.

Sometimes our prayers are well ordered and

sincere; sometimes they are as chaotic and
messy as our lives are at the time. Sometimes
they are long and deep, and other times they are
arrow prayers, sent up quickly to God as we
move. Look at the Psalms for examples of all of
these. Sometimes we cannot even find the words
for what we are feeling and trying to say to God.
Personally I find the gift of tongues is a great
blessing in this regard, allowing me to pray the
inner yearnings of my spirit, with the Spirits
help, even when I cannot find adequate words.
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EXAMPLE 1.
Mediacom WORDS FOR WORSHIP 2007 PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
November 4, 2007 Year C Pentecost 23 Sometimes we do feel like climbing a tree
FW071104TXT to see you pass by, Jesus Christ.
It would be far enough away to feel safe,
SCRIPTURE READINGS: so that we could reflect
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 on whether we want you to come closer to our
Psalm 119:137-144 lives
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 yet near enough to see your loving face.
Luke 19:1-10 Silent reflection
Call to us as you see us in the distance, O
SELECTED READING AND THEME: God.
Luke 19:1-10. WELCOME TO THE TABLE Sit beside us at the table of truth, Jesus
Christ.
CALL TO WORSHIP:
In the tree of life many things are gathered: If we decide that anyone is outside your love,
the truth about ourselves and our hopes and O God,
fears; or has few possibilities for changing life,
birds singing among the leaves presuming to deliver judgments on others
to lift our hearts; that you would not make on us:
and buds of promise Call to us as you see us in the distance, O
for the days to come. God.
The roots of the tree of life run deep. Sit beside us at the table of truth, Jesus
They are held firm by the rock beneath, Christ.
which is the eternal faithfulness of God. When we cannot imagine you joining us, O
Christ,
PRAYER OF INVOCATION: as we sit at our tables of decision,
Be known to us as a guest at our table, Jesus assuming that you would not understand
Christ. or would ask more of us than we can bear:
Look deeply into our lives and call us towards Call to us as you see us in the distance, O
your transforming vision for us all, we pray. God.
Come, Holy Spirit, come. Sit beside us at the table of truth, Jesus
Amen. Christ.
This we pray in faith. Amen.
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WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Jesus Christ always invites us to draw near
without fear.
There is only love which waits for us
and inspiration for different days to come,
lived in the freedom and inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.
We are forgiven.
Thanks be to God.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:
O God, even as we see the Christ pass by,
filtered through the wonder of your Word,
our lives quicken in hope.
Your witness to grace will stand forever
so that we need never despair,
never feel rejected or condemned.
We give you thanks, O God,
for trees of kindness to climb
so that we may see you even in the midst of
struggle.
Thanks be to you, O God. Amen.
STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT:
The welcome to this table goes in both
directions - Jesus is unexpectedly welcomed to
the table of Zaccheus and Zaccheus is welcomed
to the table of Jesus. Especially those of us
who regard ourselves as radical in the church,
sometimes confine our concern regarding
bringing people to the table to those who are
the vulnerable and needy. We don't really look
for the little person who climbs a tree to
seek Jesus from a position of power and
riches. That person we are likely to push to
the back of the crowd or regard as beyond the
pale and certainly not worthy of our
attention. Jesus sees into the heart of
everybody and nobody is outside the table of
welcome. Nor does God give up on the rich and
powerful - they too can be transformed.
OFFERTORY SENTENCE:
Let us share the good things which come to us
as we gather around the table with Jesus
Christ this day.
Our offering will now be received.
OFFERTORY PRAYER:
O Jesus Christ, take all that lies here
and guide us in its use,
so that those who never imagine themselves as
welcome
may join us and share in the joy
of giving to the world.
Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION:
O God, there is never a time
when our prayers need not rise to you.
There is never a time when Jesus walks past
our life
and there is not someone waiting to meet him
in hope.
Show us who those people are, O God,
that we may more truly be your hosts.
Silent reflection
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As we look up into the branches of life around us,
these are those we bring to you in prayer:
The people pray
Call them and hold them, O God.
Then teach us your hospitality, we pray.
Show us how to create a Holy Table of love
which speaks of welcome to all who wait.
Give us wisdom in what we place on the table,
as we reach out towards the world,
so that your life, which already lies there
for all
in the bread which we break and the wine which
we share,
is joined by a spirit of inclusiveness
flowing forth from our life.
May we so live in honesty and humility
that all people will feel at home here
and strangers will come and sit among us.
Call to all of us here, O God.
Help us to see when anyone is crowded out
or pushed to the back when ideas are being
exchanged.
May we never feel that people are lost from
you forever,
whatever their creed or class,
whatever their lifestyle or wealth.
This we pray in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen.
COMMISSIONING:
Let us go now with heads raised to see above
us and beyond us,
so that we may meet those
who try to see beyond the ones who stand in
front.
BENEDICTION:
And may the Christ walk past on the road as we
wait,
the Earth-Maker provide trees for our shelter
and the Holy Spirit be found among the glasses
which we lift together in celebration.
Amen.
HYMNS: Habakkuk 1: 1-4; 2: 1-4
All my hope on God is founded TiS.560 AHB.
Be thou my vision TiS.547 AHB.455
Beyond the mist and doubt SA.13
The God of Abraham praise TiS.125 AHB.53
Psalm 119: 137-144
How firm a foundation, you people of God TiS.578 AHB.491
Lord, you are the light of life to me TiS.261
2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4, 11-12
May the grace of Christ our Saviour TiS.777 AHB.373
O Jesus Saviour, grow in me TiS.575 AHB.489
O let the Son of God enfold you TiS.655 P&W.477
Put all your trust in God TiS.555 AHB.464
Stand up and bless the Lord TiS.449 AHB.383
Luke 19: 1-10
Come, thou long-expected Jesus TiS.272 AHB.200
God of freedom, God of justice TiS.657 SA.47
Jesus' hands were kind hands TiS.236 AHB.178
Joyful, joyful, we adore you TiS.152
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven TiS.134 AHB.68
What does the Lord require TiS.618 AHB.568
When pain of the world surrounds us SFGP.18 ATEverybody.308
 14
EXAMPLE 2
MediaCom WORDS FOR WORSHIP 2007
November 25, 2007
Year C Reign of Christ/Christ The King FW071125TXT
SCRIPTURE READINGS:
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Luke 1:68-79
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
SELECTED READING AND THEME:
Colossians 1:11-20. FOR YOURS IS THE POWER
CALL TO WORSHIP:
The power is sometimes ours.
We may choose the one to whom we bow:
not simply in this hour of worship,
but in every moment;
not just in relation to choices near to us,
but in our country and in the world.
Will we give power to the Christ?
This is the question for us now and always.
God, and the universe, wait for our answer.
PRAYER OF INVOCATION:
O Holy Spirit of God, Holy Spirit of Christ,
we know that we may not simply call you to
come to us
as though you are ours to command.
We humbly pray that by faith,
and by your gracious gift to us,
we will recognize your presence here this day,
for we would be your people. Amen.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
O God in Christ, whose death and life
confronts us,
we lament the smallness of our faith,
and the ways in which we sometimes
lower our goals in life to almost nothing.
As we meditate on the majesty of your purposes
and the grandeur of your invitations to life,
we know full well that we are, indeed, mortals
in need of your inspiration and forgiveness.
Silent reflection
When our dreams are focused on ourselves,
shutting out the needs of so many others
whose hopes are simply about survival:
Look upon us with grace, O God.
Forgive us and call us on, Jesus Christ.
If we assume that you are our personal
property,
offering you to others,
as though we have you in our hands:
remind us of our true relationship with you.
Do this gently, we pray, O Christ
as you come close to us in love and care.
Forgive us and call us on, Jesus Christ.
For we are those who need you as we tread each
day. Amen.
WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Let us give power to the reign of love
which belongs to Jesus Christ.
Let us believe that this Christ can forgive us
with grace so real and true that it is life-
 15
changing for us.
We are forgiven!
Thanks be to God.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:
We bring before you our thanks and praises, O
God.
We, who can never really believe
that you will walk closely with us,
no matter who we are,
give our thanks to you each day.
We, who are ordinary,
blessed over and over again
by your extraordinary love for us and the
world,
thank you with all our hearts.
O Sovereign of all time and place,
thanks be to you for all that you give us
in unbelievable grace.
Amen.
STEWARDSHIP THOUGHT:
The Colossians passage challenges all
generations of Christ's people to give power
where it belongs - to God alone. The life of
Christ teaches us that this is not about
bowing to altars in sanctuaries or even a
total focus of our lives upon the worship of
God - unless that is enacted by challenging
the powers which lie in our lives in general.
It is not mostly personal sin that oppresses,
starves and causes other suffering to
vulnerable people around the world. It is the
global economic, political and military powers
of our day. It is not those who say "Lord,
Lord" who will enter the reign of God but
those who care for those in need and challenge
all those who cause pain and injustice to
others. It will take faith to believe that we
may overcome these massive powers - faith
which takes heart from the Christ who walked
towards them with courage and entered into
suffering.
OFFERTORY SENTENCE:
In thankful praise, let us bring our gifts to
God and the world.
Our Offering will now be received.
OFFERTORY PRAYER:
It is an honour to bring you our gifts,
God of every time and place.
We place them at your feet
and pray that you will bless them. Amen.
PRAYERS OF INTERCESSION:
O God in Christ, we stand in awe of your life
as we ponder its Gospel power
and we enter the holiness of your courts
with body, mind, heart and soul.
As we bring you our prayers,
we know that the throne of your glory
is in the midst of the people,
especially the ones who least expect to find
it there.
Silent reflection
Stay with them and with us, O Christ.
Join with us now,
 16
gathering up our prayers in a cloud of
gentleness
and adding your love to ours
for all who suffer, struggle and grieve.
Warm the coldness of their lives
with arms which embrace the lost and lonely,
the excluded and the judged.
We now pray for these people who we know to be
in need:
The people pray
Expand our faith, O Christ,
until it demands that we move towards making
changes.
Lift your voice among us,
reminding us of who we are as your people.
Touch our brows, anointing us for the tasks of
goodness.
Remind us of our baptism as the water of both
our privilege and our calling.
This we pray in your name. Amen.
COMMISSIONING:
Go as those who are awed by divine godliness
and whose gratitude spreads into all the
world.
BENEDICTION:
May the God of the universe visit us with
love,
the Christ, whose head is adorned with a crown
of thorns, be our friend
and the Holy Spirit bring us into right
relationship with each other. Amen.
HYMNS: Jeremiah 23: 1-6
A mighty fortress is our God TiS.103 AHB.(8)
Hallelujah we sing your praises TiS.541
Jesus shall reign where'er the sun TiS.207 AHB.136
King of glory, King of peace TiS.201 AHB.129
The King of glory comes, the nation rejoices TiS.279 AHB.
Luke 1: 68-79
O bless the God of Israel TiS.284
Colossians 1: 11-20
Christ is alive! let Christians singTiS.387 SA.18
Here we adore you TiS.500 AHB.(421)
Of the Father's love begotten TiS.290 AHB.215
Rejoice, the Lord is King TiS.216 AHB.147
When morning gilds the skies TiS.227 AHB.151
Luke 23: 33-43
All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine
AHB.180
At the name of Jesus TiS.231 AHB.170
Christ whose glory fills the skies TiS.212
AHB.140
Hail our once-despised Jesus TiS.374 AHB.295
Lord Christ when first you came to men
AHB.208
O crucified Redeemer AHB.544
Seek ye first the kingdom of God TiS.745 SA.75
The head that once was crowned with thorns
TiS.378 AHB.301
The royal banners forward go TiS.332 AHB.251
 17

EXAMPLE 3 BY REV BRUCE PREWER 2004 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
CHRIST THE KING: 21 NOVEMBER 2004 who has visited and redeemed our people
C041121 and lifted up the trumpet of salvation,
that being liberated, we might serve God without fear
Luke 23:33-43....Colossians 1: 11-20....Jeremiah 23: 1-6.... Luke 1: 68-79
with holiness and justice all the days of our life.
PREPARATION/ CALL TO WORSHIP
Through the tender mercy of our God
The grace of our only King, the Lord Jesus Christ, be with you all.
when the Dawn Light from on high visited us,
And also with you.
to guide our feet in the way of peace.
Today is a day when we ask you to turn an idea upside down
THANKSGIVING PRAYER
to stand the meaning of the word king on its head.
Thank you, loving God, for giving us a king unlike any other; for
Christ is our King, the monarch of all things,
rescuing us from all our false ideas of importance, power, glory and
a humble, compassionate person who
majesty. By your grace, assist us to get into the true spirit of things, and to
never went to university
show you a worship which fits your sublime humility. For your loves
never wrote a book,
sake.
never held any public office,
Amen!
never had friends in high places,
never travelled out of his tiny country,
CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE
never met anyone more important than a provincial governor.
His only crown a wreath of thorns. Let us come before God in confession, laying our faults at the feet of
His only throne two crossed planks of wood. Christ.
At his right hand, and at his left, two dying thieves.
To you, Christ our King:
Come, let us celebrate a remarkable thing; We bring our lust for power and set it down before your rejection of
Jesus of Nazareth is our incomparable King!. power.
We bring our love of money and place it before your willing poverty.
OR We bring our stubborn pride and set it before your utter humility.
We bring our pay-back mentality and lay it before your mercifulness.
Sisters and brothers in the family of God, We bring our desire for self glory and put before your love of Gods
today we celebrate the only ruler glory.
to whom we can give undivided loyalty: We bring our self interest and rest it before your self giving.
Jesus of Nazareth, Christ the king!
 18

We bring all our vaunted wisdom and lay it before the folly of your
cross. PSALM: LUKE 1: 68-79 (PRAISE)

Most merciful God, please forgive us once again. Enable us to let go of Wonderful is the Lord God of Israel,
guilt, and to take steps to prevent future debacles. Correct the distortions who has visited and set the people free,
in our thinking and feeling, and realign our hopes and ambitions to your and has lifted up the trumpet of salvation
will. Let us become in action as well as intention, the brothers and sisters for the descendants of Gods servant David.
of Christ the King.
Amen!. As the prophets preached long ago,
that we should be rescued from enemies,
ASSURANCE and from the hands of those who hate us,
to live by the love promised to our forebears.
Good news! Great news! My friends, God has already forgiven you.
Believe it, take it to heart, and live it! To keep remembering the holy covenant,
In the name of Christ. that oath which God made to father Abraham;
Amen! that we, free from the grasp of enemies,
might serve God without being afraid
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN and do good things in Gods presence
throughout every day that we live.
To King Jesus
And you, little child, will be named
King Jesus, the prophet of the Most High.
carpenters son and friend of sinners, For you will go on ahead of the Lord
come and rule in our hearts. to prepare a new path for him,
King Jesus, that people may know what it is to be free
washer of feet and healer of diseases, as all their sins are forgiven.
come and rule in our minds.
King Jesus, This will be the outcome of Gods yearning love,
nailed to a cross and rising from a grave, when the new dawn shall shine on the heights,
come and rule in our actions. to shed light on those who crouch in darkness
King Jesus, and in the deep shadows of death,
you are wonderful, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
you are the greatest!
Forever and ever, AMEN! B.D. Prewer 2000
 19
CHRIST THE KING
For poems, see More Australian Psalms p 159-160
and Australian Prayers p 66-67
Email:enquiries@openbook.com.au
COLLECT
God most holy, God most loving, we thank you for Jesus our unique
King. May we see him in the glory of his saving love, love him as the
King of our lives, and serve him as that loving King who alone can
change the alienation and aggression of the world and bring us to that
wondrous reconciliation where no one is forgotten, and no soul excluded.
In his name and to your eternal praise, we so pray. Lord hear our prayer.
Amen!
THANKSGIVING
We thank you, most Holy Friend, for being so patient and long-suffering
in your work of creation and redemption.
Thanks for the abundance and resilience of the earth and its life sustaining
power;
For the immense variety of trees and flowers and fruits and seeds and
living creatures.
Thanks for the similarity to yourself that you have imprinted in the very
being of all people;
For the law givers and prophets who saw this clearly and called us to live
with your justice and compassion.
Thanks for the long preparation given before the time was right for Mary
to give birth;
For her first born child, resting in a manger, to the surprise of men and
the glorious amazement of angels.
Thanks for what Jesus was, said and did; but most of all for his awful yet
wonderful cross;
For all the benefits of his passion and death, and the vindication of the
Easter event which is still happening today.
Thanks for the space he made in our souls and in the church for the gift of
the Holy Spirit;
For gifts enhanced and new gifts received in the fellowship of the Body of
Christ.
For these special gifts, and all the common ones that take for granted;
We give your thanks, Holy Friend; our Creator, Redeemer and
Counsellor. To you belongs our gratitude, praise and service now and
forever. Amen!
INTERCESSIONS/ PRAYERS FOR OTHERS
FOR OUR NATION
We pray, loving God, for a future where everyone will get a fair go.
Where the lucky will not lord it over the unfortunate, nor the strong force
their will on the weak, nor the clever treat the ordinary as their servants.
Please let justice flow around us like waters, and righteousness like an
ever flowing stream.
FOR WORLD PEACE
Loving God, we ponder a fallen world, with violence and war , wrecked
communities, broken bodies and shattered minds. We long, we yearn
 20

painfully, for that new world where wolf and lamb shall lie down together to know when to speak and when to be silent, when to act and when to
and nations learn war no more. pray.

FOR THOSE IN HOSPITAL The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, ..........

Father of all mercies, put your arms around your suffering children, those
we name in our minds and many whose names we will never know.
Cradle them through the long hours, and by night grant them the precious
gift of sleep. May they wake up each morning a little stronger in body and
more buoyant in spirit.

FOR THE SORROWING

God of our dear and holy dead, the hardest thing for us is that we can no
longer, see, hear, touch, soothe or kiss our loved ones. Help us to know
that your arms are never closed, and to trust those so dear to us into the
wisdom and tenderness that is truly resurrection and life. May they have
your kiss of peace.

FOR OURSELVES

Implant us, dear Lord, with that miracle of trust which can transform
setbacks into new growth, suffering into deeper compassion for others,
and heavy duties into the glory of practical praise. Through Christ Jesus
our Redeemer.

SENDING OUT/ COMMISSIONING

May Christ the King give you the secret of his humble contentment.
and the grace to be thankful for whatever this new week brings,
to be glad for those who encourage you and civil to those who offend
you,
 21

Audiovisual- The Groanings.

6.2 Prayer secretly, pray sincerely, pray specifically. Bill Hybels talks about each of these.

6.3 Fifteen ways to pray- K. Pearson.

Praying the Bible- Benedictine prayer, Ignatian prayer, Augustinian prayer.
Moving into stillness- focus on breathing, body relaxation, contemplative prayer.
Guided recalling- times when God was near, the communion of saints, wordless prayer, the
healing of memories.
Teach us to pray- handling distractions, discerning Gods will.
More suggestions- hymns, our longings, artistic expressions.

There are similar prayer exercises in the Companions in Christ books, available from
MediaCom, in South Australia.

6.4 Main Christian Spirituality Types- Richard Fosters book, Streams of Living Water.
The Contemplative tradition.
The Holiness /Ascetic tradition.
The Charismatic tradition.
The Social Justice tradition.
The Evangelical tradition.
The Incarnational / sacramental tradition.
Some people add the Ecumenical tradition.

6.5 Personality Types and Prayer. see Chester Michael and Marie Norriseys book.
We know from more than 30 years of research that particular prayer methods suit particular
personality types, and part of ones spiritual growth comes from exploring some of the forms
of prayer that are not ones immediate preference or prior experience. Using the Myers-Briggs
Personality Types tests, it is possible to predict what prayer types/methods will suit one best,
and what prayer methods will help one grow in Christ.

For example, in general, people with SJ temperaments, (down to earth practical people), will
benefit using Ignatian prayer methods. NF people, (intuitive people who feel strongly about
things), benefit from Augustinian prayer methods. SP people (action and excitement loving
people) grow best using Franciscan prayers. NT people (intuitive thinking types) prefer
Thomistic prayer methods. There are 16 Myers-Briggs types in all, which are variations of
these basic four. And each of the M-B variations have specific prayer methods which can help
them at different stages of their life.

We also know that individual congregations tend to favour particular prayer types, and attract
different personality types because of that. There is a lot of research from the Alban Institute
about this, and it would be interesting to explore it further in Australia.

Discussion Question 12: What different prayer methods and spiritualities do you use, and what
have you explored? Would you like to try some other ways?

7. DOES PRAYER WORK?

7.1 But does it work? Thats the question that matters most in our modern, technological
civilization in which making things work matters most. Reflecting this preoccupation, since the mid-
1980s there have been hundreds of empirical studies of the efficacy of intercessory prayer in the
area of health care. The findings of these studies have been ambiguous (some showing that
 22

prayer is efficacious and others showing that prayer is not) but the quest goes on. For establishing
that prayer works is crucial to the modern mindset. In practice prayer, or elements of it, have
become an ordinary part of the care of seriously sick people. For example, Ian Gawlers
appropriation of meditative or contemplative prayer in the care of cancer patients has become very
important. More informally, a popular magazine like Mens Health regularly recommends prayer
and other spiritual practices as good for men. Youll live longer and healthier if you are religious.

In this context Karl Barths comment is chastening. He said of the growing interest among
Protestants in spiritual exercises in the mid-twentieth century that it they can perform a useful
function as a means of psychical hygiene but that they had nothing whatever to do with the prayer
required of us. Prayer begins where this kind of exercise leaves off.[ For Barth, prayer isnt an
exercise in self-improvement but a turning to God for whatever we need. Indeed, he insisted that
true prayer is essentially petition; asking God for things; everything from the coming of the kingdom
to daily bread.

empty hands are necessary when human hands are to be spread out before God and
filled by Him. It is these empty hands that God in His goodness wills of us when he bids us
pray to Him.

Prayer asking God for things expresses the true relation between human beings and God. It is
the action of faith. - Rev Dr Andrew Dutney, Praying for peace, essay included as Appendix 2.

8. WHAT ABOUT UNANSWERED PRAYER?

8.1 Jesus had unanswered prayers. Mark 14: 35f. But he submitted himself to Gods will.
So did Moses,( Deut. 3: 23-27), Saul (1Sam 14:37, 1 Sam 28:5-7), David (2 Sam 12:22) and
Jeremiah got a question in return (Jer.12:5).
8.2 So we sometimes may have unanswered prayers, or prayers answered differently to what we
might expect. Why?
Wrong request/ Not Gods will? Eg. Peter wanting to stay on the Mountain of
Transfiguration. Mt 17:1-8; Mk 9:2-8; Lk 9:28-36. Eg. James and John wanted the 2 best
seats beside Jesus, Mt 20:20-30; Mk 10:35-40. Eg. Jesus refused to destroy a village, Lk
9:51-56.

Wrong perspective? Eg Lord, change that person, when it actually means I dont want
to face my own shortcomings. I dont want to work on this relationship. I dont want to
change at all. Instead, I want the other person to accommodate all my personal needs, so I
am asking you to change him or her. (Hybels pg 78-79.)

Wrong motives? When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong
motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3. Ask yourself-
Am I being selfish? Will this request bring glory to God or to me? Would it advance
Gods kingdom? Would it help people? Would it help me grow spiritually? (Hybels,
pg79-80.)

Wrong timing? Instant gratification on demand is not part of Gods parenting style,
anymore than it should be a part of our parenting style. Sometimes we need to wait, and so
we hear Not yet. All holy desires grow by delays: if they fade by these delays, they
were never holy desires. - St Gregory. (pg 106, The Cloud of Unknowing.)

Prayerlessness? James 4:2 You do not have, because you do not ask. Have you prayed
fervently, regularly, purposefully over an extended period of time? Korean Christians like
Yonghi Cho believe prayer is the key to releasing Gods powerful action in the world. I see
prayer and prayer groups as the engine room of a congregation- without it, a congregation
goes nowhere.
 23

Do we need to be persistent, like the widow with the judge? Luke 18:2-5. Yes, but as
Hybels says, (pg 21) this is not an analogy, where we are like the widow and God is like
the Judge. This is a parable, a study in opposites. We are not abandoned widows; we are
beloved adopted children of God. And God is not a mean judge, but a loving Father,
righteous, holy, tender, responsive and sympathetic, who delights in his children. So we
can pray and call God Abba /Daddy.

Is unanswered prayer due to sin? Our sin, or the sin of others? If I regard iniquity in my
heart, the Lord will not hear me Psalm 66:18. There can be problems with unanswered
prayer when one is cheating God, (Malachi 1), cheating or ignoring the poor, (Mal.3:5,
Proverbs 21:13), or cheating ones spouse, (Mal 2:13-14). Personal integrity matters.
Micah 6:8 What does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with your God.

Are unresolved broken relationships getting in the way? Eg. Matthew 5:23-24, 1 Peter 3:7
Be considerateand treat them with respect. So that nothing may hinder your prayers.
The way we treat others matters; we are to forgive and live at peace with each other as
much as you are able. (Rom 12:18).

Inadequate faith can sometimes be a problem. But rely on God to give you what you need
if you ask. James 1:5-8, Mk 11:23.

God sometimes chooses to limit Gods power, e.g. when incarnate as Jesus, God did not
exercise power as Creator. Likewise, for the sake of the world, God may still sometimes
limit Gods use of power. E.g. Abraham haggled with God re destruction, Gen.18, eg. Paul
says God withholds the end times so that all, including the Jews can be saved (Romans 11-
13).

Is it that we humans cannot understand the mind of God? Like an ant cant understand a
human mind? Isa. 55:8-9.
Or as Bill Hybels puts it;
Prayers can be answered yes, no, or later.
If the request is wrong, God says No.
Discussion Question 13: Have you struggled with unanswered If the timing is wrong, God says Slow.
prayer? Do any of these options help? If you are wrong, God says Grow.
But if the request is right, the timing is
right, and you are right, God says Go!
9. GROWING IN PRAYER.
Can we grow in prayer? Yes. But like all things, practice makes a difference. No matter
how old we are, or how poor, tired, sick,
happy, well, or successful, we can pray.
For example, Five Finger Prayer

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin

your prayers by praying for those closest
to you. They are the easiest to remember.
To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S.
Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."
2. The next finger is the pointing finger.
Pray for those who teach, instruct and
heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and
ministers/pastors. They need support and
wisdom in pointing others in the right
direction. Keep them in your prayers.
 24

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the prime
minister, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our
nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest
finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are
weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too
much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all which is where we should
place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the
greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you
have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective
and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Remember, pray always! Rev Wendy Snook 2007

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 25

APPENDIX 1
1. From UCA Assembly website:
http://nat.uca.org.au/TD/worship/backgroundpapers/backgroundpapers.html
http://nat.uca.org.au/TD/worship/backgroundpapers/4ordered_liberty.htm

ORDERED LIBERTY IN WORSHIP for UiW2

Introduction
On any Sunday, a variety of people will gather together to worship God. There will be women, men, young, old.
Worship will be offered in a variety of tongues, and in a variety of styles. Not all will worship in a church
building.
The Uniting Church in Australia has inherited a particular approach to worship. Its heritage is not that of the
Prayer Book, closely prescribing the majority of words and actions; neither is our heritage one of freedom
without form. Through our Reformed and Methodist inheritance, we have received an approach to worship that
has been named Ordered Liberty by partner Churches such as the United Church of Canada and the Church of
North India. Our approach has great freedom, which is exercised within a broad framework. In some places, the
freedoms will be emphasised over the framework; in others, the people will find that an ordered style enables
them to be free before God.
The first edition of Ordered Liberty in Worship was requested by the Eighth Assembly and approved by the
Assembly Standing Committee in 1998. It provided guidance to the essential parts of the major services of
worship (the Service of the Lords Day, baptism and related services, marriage and funeral services and the
ordering of the Church). Essential refers to parts that are of the essence of the service; not in the sense of a basic
minimum, but as a guide to those parts that need to be included for a full diet of worship. Two services of
worship, both drawn from Uniting in Worship 2 and following Ordered Liberty, may look very different indeed; this
is because worship is not something we write, but something we do. Factors such as the setting of a service of
worship, the way the people use their bodies, and the music and prayers used all have a very great bearing on the
service.
Uniting Church worship may make use of a wider variety of resources than is found in Uniting in Worship 2. Care
should be taken that the meaning and intention of such resources is consistent with similar resources in Uniting in
Worship 2, and with Assembly statements concerning doctrine and liturgy.
The Introduction to the 1998 edition of Ordered Liberty in Worship quoted Robert Gribbens A Guide to Uniting in
Worship, now out of print. Gribben writes:
Uniting in Worship will guide you through what is essential, and what elaborates the theme, partly through the
careful wording of rubrics in the use of may or shall. Shall indicates something whose omission would
distort what we are doing or saying in this service, and most of these are obvious. (p. 14)
and
Uniting in Worship is closer to a Directory than a book of common prayer.... The book is chiefly a
framework, with prayers which are interchangeable, and with a vast resource of further material for worship
from our own historical traditions, and from others, both ancient and modern. (p. 16)
These words may still be applied to Uniting in Worship 2. Within the book, the provisions of Ordered Liberty in
Worship are contained in A Short Guide to the Service of the Lords Day on p. XX, and in the outlines found in the
major services. The essential parts are indicated by arrows (). These outlines with brief explanatory notes,
collected on one file, may be found on the website and CD-ROM with this Introduction.
With this in mind, let us summon the whole earth to make a joyful noise to the Lord, worshipping God in spirit
and in truth. (Psalm 100:1; John 4:24)
 26

OUTLINES OF MAJOR SERVICES

There are two appendices to the Basis of Union which do not have the authority of the Basis itself, but which draw our
attention to a number of issues in celebrations of holy communion, baptism and ordination. They are appended to Ordered
Liberty in Worship for UIW2.

The Service of the Lords Day and

The Sacrament of the Lords Supper 1 & 2
Read with particular care A Short Guide to The Service of the Lords Day on p. XX, and to Notes 18. Lay presiders at
the Lords Supper should consult Lay Presidency at the Sacraments (Assembly Standing Committee September 1995)

Read also paras. 6 and 8 of the Basis of Union.

The following elements are of the essence in the celebration of Holy Communion within the framework of the
Service of the Lords Day. (The bracketed numbers refer to SLD-2, where they differ from SLD-1.)

1 Call to Worship
(3) Lament (where this form is used in SLD-2)
(4) Adoration (where Lament is used)
4 Prayers of Adoration and Confession and Declaration of Forgiveness
6-9 Readings from Scripture
11 The proclamation of the Word
15 (14) Prayers of the People
18 (15) Setting of the table with bread and wine
19 Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, either preceded by or including a narrative of the institution of
the sacrament, and including also
* thanksgiving to God for the gifts of creation, redemption and sanctification
* a memorial (anamnesis) of the great acts of redemption, passion, death, resurrection,
ascension and Pentecost, which brought the Church into being
* the invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis) on the community and/or the bread and
wine
* consecration of the faithful to God
20 The Breaking of the Bread
22 Communion in both bread and wine by minister and people
26 Blessing
27 Dismissal

Communion Beyond the Gathered Congregation

Read with particular care all Notes on p. XX.
It is essential to include a prayer such as that in the second half of 6 Reception of Communion on p XX,
including an invocation of the Holy Spirit (epiclesis).

Baptism and the Reaffirmation of Baptism called Confirmation

Read with particular care Notes 15, 79, 1112, 1517, 23, remembering that the framework of the service is that of the Service
of the Lords Day.
Read also paras. 6 and 7 of the Basis of Union.
Approving a statement A Common Understanding of Baptism, the 1979 Assembly resolved that particular
elements should find their place in a service of Baptism:
3 Scripture (related to baptism)
4 The Meaning of Baptism
5 The Confession of Faith (including both renunciation of evil and affirmation of faith)
6 Prayer of Thanksgiving
7 The Baptism (1988 Assembly, Minute 88.24.3: by the pouring of water and without variation
or exception the precise use of the formula):
NN (Christian names), I baptise you
in the name of the Father,
 27

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.
followed by the declaration to the gathered congregation that the baptised is now received into
the holy catholic Church
In a Confirmation, this section includes the laying on of hands
9 Responses
11 Prayers of the People (including those baptised or confirmed)

A Congregational Reaffirmation of Baptism

Read with particular care Notes 24, remembering that the framework of the service is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
The essential elements of this service are:
2 Reaffirmation of Baptism
3 Recollection of Baptism
7 Prayers of the People

The Marriage Service

Read with particular care Notes 5, 6, 9, 12, 17, 19 & 21.
The 1997 Assembly (Minute 97.17.04) determined what is of the essence in this service if a marriage celebrant
indicates that the rites used in the ceremony are those of the Uniting Church in Australia. The Assembly
recognised that the Marriage Service is a service of worship, with scripture readings, proclamation of the Word,
prayer and the marriage rite. Acknowledging that there are given freedoms for the responsible use of alternative
wording with the same meaning and intention, the Assembly listed as the essentials of the service:
5 Declaration of Purpose
8 Declaration of Intent
12 The Vows
14 Proclamation of the Marriage
15 The Blessing of the Marriage

The Funeral Service

Read with particular care Notes 13, 10 & 13.
Noting especially Notes 13, it is recognised that the funeral service is a witness to the resurrection of Christ in
which there are scripture readings, proclamation of the Word, prayer and a committal rite.
11 Commendation
and at the cemetery or crematorium chapel,
15 Scripture Sentences
16 The Committal
18 Concluding prayers
19 Blessing
The Funeral Service may conclude with the burial of the deceased. It does not conclude where a cremation
occurs until arrangements are complete for the burial or interment of the ashes. Such arrangements need to be
made by the minister and the family or friends of the deceased. See The Interment of Ashes on pp. XX.

Ordinations of Deacons and Ministers of the Word

Read with particular care Notes 512 in Services of Ordination, Induction and Commissioning JBCE, 1995,
remembering that the framework of the service is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
Read also the following from para. 14(a) of the Basis of Union, which applies both to deacons and ministers of the Word:
The Presbytery will ordain by prayer and the laying on of hands in the presence of a worshipping congregation. In this
act of ordination the Church praises the ascended Christ for conferring gifts upon men and women. It recognises
Christs call of the individual to be his minister; it prays for the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to equip the
minister for that service. By the participation in the act of ordination of those already ordained, the Church bears
witness to Gods faithfulness and declares the hope by which it lives. In company with other Christians the Uniting
 28

Church will seek for a renewed understanding of the way in which the congregation participates in ordination and of
the significance of ordination in the life of the Church.
These services are services of the presbytery (Regulation 2.3.1(c)). Note 12 reads,
The presbytery appoints those of its members who are to take part in the laying on of hands. There shall be at least
two ordained ministers and two lay persons. (Regulation 2.3.4). In special circumstances, members of other
presbyteries may also be associated with the ordaining presbytery in order to participate in this act.
The essential elements on these occasions are:
12 Presentation of the Ordinand
13 (or later) The Charge
14 Vows as prescribed by the Assembly
15 Ordination (by prayer and the laying on of hands)
16 Declaration of Ordination
17 Presentation of the Bible (and stole or scarf)
19 Prayers of the People

Induction of Deacons and Ministers of the Word

Read with particular care Note 1 in Services of Ordination, Induction and Commissioning which describes the service as an
act of the presbytery, and Notes 3 & 5.
The essential elements on these occasions are:
13 Questionsas prescribed by the Assembly
15 Induction Prayer
16 Declaration of Induction
1719 Responses by the Presbytery, people and representatives of other Churches.

Commencement and Commissioning of a Community Minister

Read with particular care Notes 3, which describes the role of the presbytery, and 4-6, remembering that the framework of the service
is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
In the Commencement Service, the essential elements are:
2 Questionsas prescribed by the Assembly
3 Prayer
In the Commissioning Service the essential elements are:
2 Presentation
3 Vowsas prescribed by the Assembly
4 Act of Commissioning
5 Declaration

Commissioning of a Youth Worker

Read with particular care Notes 2, which describes the role of the presbytery, and 3-6, remembering that the framework of the service
is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
The essential elements of this service are:
2 Presentation
3 Vowsas prescribed by the Assembly
4 Act of Commissioning
5 Declaration

Service to Welcome a Youth Worker

Read with particular care Notes 2, which describes the role of the presbytery, and 3-7, remembering that the framework of the service
is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
The essential elements of this service are:
 29

2 Questions to the Youth Workeras prescribed by the Assembly

3 Prayer
4 The Welcome

Commissioning of a Lay Preacher and Church Councillors

Read with particular care Notes 1 & 2, remembering that the framework of the service is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
The essential elements of these services are:
2 Presentation
3 The Vowsas prescribed by the Assembly
4 Act of Commissioning
5 Declaration

Commissioning of a Lay Pastor

Read with particular care Notes 2, which describes the role of the presbytery, and 3-6, remembering that the framework of the service
is that of the Service of the Lords Day.
The essential elements in this service are:
2 Presentation
3 Vowsas prescribed by the Assembly
4 Act of Commissioning
5 Declaration

Assembly References- Words for Worship, Call to Worship, Invocations, Confessions, Words of
Assurance, Thanksgiving, Intercessions, and hymn suggestions based on the Australian
Hymn (Together in Song) & Sing Alleluia, plus some other books. Based on the Revised Common
Lectionary. Published by MediaCom Associates Inc., PO Box 610, Unley, SA 5061.

Traces Of Glory. Edition for each Year. Prayers for the Christian Year. David Adams. SPCK
1999

Prayers for the Seasons of God's People - Edition for each Year. Calls to Worship,
Invocations, Confessions, Prayer of the Day, Dedication, Prayers of Intercession and
commemorations. Based on the RCL. B David Hostetter.
Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1997

COMPANION TO THE RCL Vol 1 Intercessions. Years A, B, C and special days. Christine Odell.
Epworth Press. (other volumes to follow)

Liturgies and Other Prayers, for the Revised Common Lectionary. A volume for each year.
Phyllis Cole & Everett Tilson, Abingdon Press, Nashville, U.S.A. Includes Invocations, Call to
Worship, Litany Prayer for One Voice, and Benedictions for each Sunday of the Christian Year.

Ecumenical Prayer Cycle Each week pray for a different country of the world. In a whole you you
can pray for all countries of the world. http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3038
 30

Appendix 2. Available online on the NSW Synod Board of Education website.

Praying for Peace

The May Macleod Lecture 2003

Rev Dr Andrew Dutney

Learning to pray

The Scottish preacher A.C.Craig delivered his 1953 Warrick Lectures on the theme Preaching in a
th
Scientific Age. In the first lecture he described an incident that took place late in the 19 century,
when the famous American evangelist Dwight L.Moody was addressing a huge gathering of
children in the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh:

In the course of his address he happened to ask the rhetorical question, What is prayer? and was
somewhat taken aback when hundreds of hands shot up. Very well, he said, answer the
question. Whereupon a chorus of young voices recited the noble words of the Shorter Catechism:
Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of
Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.[1]

I can just believe the story. I personally remember, from 1968, the last attempt to have
Presbyterian children in the Taringa Primary School memorize the Catechism (or parts of it). The
local minister who came to deliver Religious Instruction never got past the first question:

Q. 1 What is the chief end of man?

A. Mans chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

But there we stalled. Sometimes I think it was because of the sublime beauty of that
insight. He just wanted us to take that one lesson to heart and so he devoted several
weeks to it. But I think it was actually because he became ill and was unable to
continue coming to the school. In any case, we never made it to question 98. I never
learned, in that crisp abstract way, what prayer is. And so when a theological student
recently came to me and said that he didnt know what prayer is or how you do it, I
had no short, sharp, shiny answer for him. We had to muddle through it togetheras
you and I shall again tonight.

But even without the benefit of the Westminster Shorter Catechism I learned some important
things about prayer in my childhood. From the age of 8 I was nurtured to faith in a liberal
Presbyterian congregation in suburban Brisbane. It was in this congregation that I learned to pray.
Week by week, we prayed together for impossible things; impossible things like a legal
acknowledgement of Aboriginal ownership of the land prior to white settlement, an end to apartheid
in South Africa, an end to the Cold War, and even an end to the Bjelke-Peterson government in
Queensland. These were all things that I recognized, even as a child, as impossible things. We
might as well have been praying for rain. But that was the thing: I learned to pray by praying for
impossible things.

And the particular impossible things that preoccupied that Congregation were all aspects of the
one great impossible thing: peace. In Biblical terms, peace or shalom is not merely the absence of
war. It is rightness or wholeness in every part of life; wholeness within the individual person,
wholeness in relationships between people, and especially wholeness, rightness, justice in the web
of relationships that make up communities, societies, nations and the whole of creation. As John
Howard Yoder says, shalom or peace denotes things as they should be and shall be in the divine
 31

purpose.[2] I learnted to pray by praying for impossible things that were all aspects of the one big
impossible thing: peace.

And when these impossible things began to happen, from the late 1980s, I was faced with a
profoundly disturbing question: Did our prayers have anything to do with the events that unfolded?
The Marbo decision of the High Court, the release of Nelson Mandela and the holding of free
elections in South Africa, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and, most incredibly, the defeat of Joh
Bjelke-Peterson: impossible, unforeseeable, but were they, in any sense, an answer to prayer?

Thats the question I want to explore this evening. What is the relation between prayer and events
in the world around us? Its a question that has a heightened urgency as we now find ourselves
involved in a terrible cycle of international violence and warfare and, quite properly, have been
devoting ourselves to the Christian duty of praying for peace.

But why dont we start somewhere easier; somewhere less conflicted? Lets start with the
question of praying for rain.

Praying for rain

Earlier this year I received a letter from Uniting Church layman an independent, progressive
thinker who Ive long respected for the sincerity and depth of his reflection on the faith. His letter to
me was very brief, really just a cover note to a copy of a letter that hed sent to the South Australian
Moderator a couple of months before a letter questioning the wisdom of her appeal to
congregations of the synod to pray for rain. To give you the flavor of his concern Ill quote at some
length from his letter to the Moderator.

I am a person who was nurtured in the best liberal traditions of South Australian
Methodism. Because of this I acquired a life-long regard for the values of honesty, of
righteous independence and Dissent, of respect and consideration for self and others, and
many more admirable qualities that go towards making people moral and decent. I was
especially pleased to notice at the time of union, in the Basis of Union document, there
was reference in article 11 to the Uniting Churchs acknowledgement of faithful and
scholarly interpreters of Scripture. The same article concerns itself with gratitude for
having entered into its inheritance of literary, historical and scientific enquiry which has
characterized recent centuries. There is indeed much of which the Uniting Church can be
proud. It has been prominent in the arena of emancipated Christian thought.

It was therefore with some concern that I heard a recent report which suggested that the
Uniting Church might not be maintaining its liberal legacy with quite the uncompromising
thoroughness which was once the hallmark of Methodism. I am quite aware of the
enormous distress which has been caused across Australia by the recent drought, and
ones heart goes out to those who are worst affected by it, but there are fundamental
questions which must be asked about what constitutes an appropriate response to it.

There is increasing community awareness that drought is a phenomenon fundamental to

our Australian environment and that faithful stewardship of this land therefore requires
conscious revision of past policies and practices to achieve the best outcomes for both
land and people. It must therefore be seen as counterproductive at the very least for
people to encourage the attitude that some kind of advantageous manipulation of the
climate can be achieved by means of requests for divine intervention.

My correspondent also enclosed the Moderators reply.

As a farmer, I am most keenly aware of the environmental impacts that we as a nation

have made on our beautiful country. I am also keenly aware of the impacts that the current
drought pattern is having on the community, especially the rural community. my
experience of living in rural South Australia affirms for me that time of communal prayer
can be a helpful time of people being connected in Christ. People are hurting during
 32

drought; people feel desperate. When prayer is offered, in whatever form the words take,
there is a sense of being at one with each other, through our faith in, and love of, Jesus
Christ.

I am not a theologian and would not even begin to debate the theological issue with you.
Simply put, the rural person in me believes that the sense of caring and wishing to stand
alongside another, is the essence of what some call praying for rain.

So there it is. The laymans complaint was that the Moderator had called us to pray for rain;
something that is in conflict with the best scientific understanding of what is good for this continent.
Periodic drought, we now know, is characteristic of and suited to Australian ecology. But, as he
saw it, the Moderator had called on congregations to ask God to intervene in this pattern and to
make it rain benefiting farmers and the nations economy at the expense of the continents
ecology. The Moderators reply that praying for rain was not actually a way to affect
meteorological patterns but to bring people together in a time of distress did not satisfy my
correspondent.

Im already in deep water

My correspondents concern was a significant one: Gods not going to answer a prayer like that
because, as we all know, its purpose (to make it rain) is essentially misguided. And we should not
pray for things we know God should not give us. At the same time the Moderators reply did not
satisfy my correspondent: When we ask God to make it rain we dont expect God to make it rain
but, rather, to give us a sense of solidarity in suffering drought.

And this is important: at one point at least it was clear that the two people were in agreement.
Neither actually expected it to rain as a consequence of prayer. The dispute was really about
whether it was worth reinforcing our alienation from the land and its distinctive ecology for the sake
of bringing people together in a time of distress. It was about whether we should pray for rain, not
about whether praying for rain might have meteorological consequences. No one seriously thought
that.

Is anyone listening?

Im not sure of the theological dimensions of the Moderators position here her take on the
doctrine of God and of divine providence. But I do know where my correspondent stood. Thats
because, having received his challenging request for a clarification of the Uniting Churchs prayer
policy I did what any sensible theologian would do. I referred him to Robert Bos (the National
Director of the Assemblys activities in Theology and Discipleship) and subsequently received
copies of some short essays on the subject that they exchanged.

In my correspondents case, it became clear that his presenting concern about the wisdom and
ethics of praying for rain was related to a deeper concern about who or what we think we are
directing our prayers to. He wrote that the persistent use of anthropomorphisms in theology and
Christian religious life

can foster theistic convictions about an intervening supreme being. The idea of having
an almighty paternal being on side is superficially appealing, but ultimately to the detriment
of believers. It encourages them in say, drought situations, to pray for rain

Since there is no such intervening supreme being prayer can only be, at best, some kind of
heightened personal engagement which has positive results, either in extended awareness or
emotional enhancement.

A similar perspective on prayer has been popularized in recent years by John Shelby Spong. It
begins with his critique of theism. He defines theism as belief in God as a being, supernatural in
 33

power, dwelling outside this world and invading the world periodically to accomplish the divine
will.[3] He argues further that

Prayer perpetuates the primary illusion of theism namely, that we are not alone, that
there is a personal power somewhere, which is greater than the limited power of humanity;
and that this personal power can effectively deal with all these issues that lie beyond
human competence to solve. Prayer began as, and continues to be, a primary attempt to
exercise control in those areas of life where we sense ourselves to be out of control,
ineffective, weak, victimized.[4]

Spong is careful to explain that he does believe in God, but not that kind of God. And he does pray
daily, but not that kind of prayer.[5] Rather, for him, prayer is the practice of traditional spiritual
disciplines such as meditation and contemplation and more modern spiritual exercises in breathing
and centering. Even after giving up on his so-called theistic God Spong continued to devote two
hours each day to such disciplines but, he reports, it was increasingly in daily life rather than his
devotional life that he met and communed with God.

God was no longer found for me in the quiet places of retreat; now God was in the hurly-
burly of a busy and sometimes troubling life. Prayer became for me the way I lived
Preparation for prayer was the time spent in my office each morning recalling who I am,
remembering where God is and how God can be met. So my definitions of what prayer is
and what life is shifted totally, while the way I organized my life remained the same.[6]

Now this isnt nearly as radical as its made to sound. For a start, Spongs definition of theism is
extraordinarily narrow and corresponds to no mature Christian doctrine that I know of not even
the conservative Evangelical kind. It might reflect some kinds of fundamentalism but is hardly a
revolution as far as mainstream Christianity is concerned. In fact his concept of God is almost
identical to that of Paul Tillich who, in this field, brought traditional Lutheran doctrine into living
th
contact with the central concerns of mid-20 century Western people. For Spong, as for Tillich,
God is not a being but Being itself; the Ground or Source of All Being that transcends every attempt
we make to capture its reality in human words, let alone human forms (anthropomorphisms).[7]

But one thing Spong has made very clear here: The way we think about prayer is closely related to
way we think about God. And the way we understand the relation between prayer and events in
the world around us has a lot to do with the way we understand the relation between God and
events in the world around us. So lets think some more about that. How is God related to events
in the world around us?

A religion must affirm something

The anthropologist Clifford Geertz once wrote:

What any particular religion affirms about the fundamental nature of reality may be obscure,
shallow, or, all too often, perverse, but it must, if it is not to consist of the mere collection of
received practices and conventional sentiments we usually refer to as moralism, affirm
something.[8]

If its not to be reduced to mere moralism a religion (or a church) must affirm something about the
fundamental nature of reality. And the Uniting Church does. Its something that was inherited in
slightly different ways from the three churches that came into union.

In a nutshell, its something like this. We affirm that Gods purpose for all people and for the whole
creation was revealed in Jesus Christ, was won and secured in his death and resurrection, and will
be fulfilled in the end. We really believe that even when all the evidence seems to contradict us.
And believing that makes the whole world look different.
 34

The Congregational/Presbyterian and Methodist traditions had different ways of affirming this
Gospel (and it really is good news), but it was essentially the same Gospeland it called for a
church that was oriented towards the same purpose. It became a central theme in the theological
affirmations of the Basis of Union.

The end of the world in the Basis of Union[9]

Paragraph 3 integrates a description of the function and character of the church into its splendid
summary of the missio Dei our understanding of the eternal purposes of God revealed in the
action of God in history. This view of the function and character of the church is largely organised
around an affirmation of the end in view for the whole creation.

The end of the world? This isnt a theme that we automatically associate with the Basis of Union,
or with the Uniting Church. Its technically called eschatology, from the Greek word for final or
end (eschaton). So its the doctrine of the last things normally death, judgment, heaven and
hell. When I was a teenager, around the time of church union, I thought the Uniting Church was
pretty weak on all this scary stuff. But even though I regarded my own denomination as weak on
eschatology, the truth is there is no making sense of the Basis of Union or the Uniting Church
without taking the end of the world with the utmost seriousness.

That there is this end is a recurring theme in the Basis. Its referred to directly in paragraphs 1, 3,
8, 17 and 18 and, in a variety of ways, is implicit in virtually every other paragraph. Moreover, the
Basis is clear not only that there is such an end in view, but also about what we expect the end to
be like.

In paragraph 1 the end of the world is identified as that day on which it will be clear that the
kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of the Christ, who shall reign for
ever and ever. In paragraph 17 it is described as the final reconciliation of humanity under Gods
sovereign grace. Then in paragraph 3 it is envisioned as reconciliation and renewalfor the
whole creation; the Basis of Unions rendering of the vision of shalom or peace.

This isnt the scorched-earth version of the end of the world that Id come to expect. Its the end of
the world which we come to anticipate by looking at the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus
the Healer, the Mediator, the Reconciler, the Life Giver, the one in whose name we expect the
coming of reconciliation and renewalfor the whole creation and nothing less.

This is what God wants for the world. This is what God intends for the world. This is what God is
doing in the world. In spite of all appearances to the contrary this is what is going on all around us
now. This reconciliation and renewalfor the whole creation is the end of the world. It is the
missio Dei. So this end of the world, this reconciliation and renewalfor the whole creation is
described as Gods pledge in paragraph 3. And it is affirmed as promised in paragraph 3 and
again in paragraph 18 promised. Shalom, peace is promised.

In paragraph 3 the reason for the churchs existence is explained by referring to that end to which
God is moving all things:

The Churchs call is to serve that end: to be a fellowship of reconciliation, a body within
which the diverse gifts of its members are used for the building up of the whole, an
instrument through which Christ may work and bear witness to himself.

So the church exists as a sign and instrument of the end of the world.

The church is a sign because God in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit keeps calling us
together all kinds of people with different needs, different abilities, different experiences and
insights and outlooks, different traditions and assumptions and expectations. Strangely, our
continuing diversity in this fellowship is a sign of the end of the world. Our diversity points to our
identity. Our differences are not homogenized, assimilated and extinguished, but reconciled. They
 35

are brought into a wholesome, creative relationship, a unity in diversity which identifies us as an
eschatological community, a community of that coming reconciliation and renewal which is the end
in view for the whole creation.

This is another way of stating what we affirm as the fundamental nature of reality that everything
is being led by God in this direction. Everything is being led by God towards shalom, peace.

Christian faith and the promise of peace

A religion must affirm something. If its not to be reduced to mere moralism a religion must affirm
something about the fundamental nature of reality. There are a couple of attempts to say that kind
of something that Ive found helpful in recent years.

Sallie McFague, for example, offers a deceptively succinct definition of Christian faith:Christian faith
is, it seems to me, most basically a claim that the universe is neither indifferent nor malevolent but
that there is a power (and a personal power at that) which is on the side of life and its fulfillment.
Moreover the Christian believes that we have some clues for fleshing out this claim in the life,
death and appearances of Jesus of Nazareth.[10]

There is a lot which is very conventional about the idea of God in this definition. Just as youd
expect it concerns nature and human fortune and misfortune McFagues universe and life.
And it is focussed on power in relation to this world. But there are some unconventional elements
to her idea of God too. The use of the indefinite article, a power, implies that there are other
powers too that may not be on the side of life and its fulfillment. That is, this power of which
McFague speaks a personal power whom we call God is not understood to be controlling
everything. But this God may still be recognized by those who make the Christian claim within
the ambiguities of nature and (mis)fortune. What takes McFagues idea of God beyond the given-
ness of existence is her emphasis on Gods continuing (but non-controlling) involvement in physical
life and fortune an involvement that makes everything tend towards life and its fulfillment
despite all the powers that persistently push things in the other direction. It is an emphasis that
suggests a different kind of divine providence.

In his book Healing and Christianity Morton Kelsey has offered a definition of faith that picks up
the emphasis of McFague in a way that is helpfully blunt:

Faith [is] the basic conviction that the world around us, both physical and spiritual, is
essentially kindly intentioned towards us, in spite of the evidence to the contrary. Faith
says that the power of good and love are infinitely more powerful than the power of
destruction and alienation.[11]

I think hes right right about faith and right about the world. In spite of all appearances to the
contrary, there is a power in the universe, Gods power, which is on the side of life and its
fulfillment. And in spite of all appearances to the contrary this power is with us and available to
us.

But how can we conceptualise the availability of Gods power.

The power of God in the world around[12]

I am interested in the idea of God that has been taking shape in the conversation between
Christian theology and science. What kind of God is being described? Arthur Peacocke, a
biochemist and theologian, and a leading contributor to this conversation, has offered some images
of God that are characteristic of those emerging from the dialogue between theology and science.

He has likened God to an explorer on a journey of discovery within a physical creation that
continually generates new possibilities through the interplay of chance and law. He says that God
has created the world and its processes in such a way that even God does not know exactly how
 36

they will fare and what they will become since that simply cannot be known. It has not been pre-
determined. It is open. And yet, like a gambler who cannot predict exactly the fall of cards, God is
not precluded from knowing the probabilities of natural events and even influencing outcomes by
strategic responses to events as they unfold. But all this takes place within the interplay of chance
and law that constitutes the physical world and its history. God is not, he says, some kind of
additional factor added to the processes of the world. Rather, borrowing language normally used
in sacramental theology to explain the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, he says that God is
present in, with and under the physical world and its processes.

He also likens God to a composer who creates a most beautiful and complex fugue from a simple
theme. The cosmic and evolutionary process by which life, complexity and consciousness emerge
is God creating like a composer drawing out the harmonic potential unrealized within a simple
musical phrase. He takes the analogy further, almost correcting himself, by thinking of God as a
musician who is not composing in slow, quiet, undisturbed deliberation but, rather, publicly
improvising a fugue on a given theme as JS Bach was said to have done, such was his
astonishing virtuosity. No one knows exactly what the improvised fugue will sound like where it
will soar, where it will totter under the weight of its own extravagance, where the tension will build,
where it will be resolved, where the musicians technical skill will be challenged and extended by
the demand of this spontaneous music to be played. No one knows exactly what it will sound like
until it has been played. Not even the improviser knows until the potential of the simple theme
has been realized through the interaction of the melody and the genius of the musician, in
accordance with the rules of music, in that moment of improvisation.

God is like an explorer. God is like a gambler. God is like a composer no, an improviser. The
idea of God that is emerging in the conversation between theology and science is that of a God
who takes risks in creation. Not careless, irresponsible risks. God is not playing about. God is
taking just those risks that are necessary to achieve the outcome that is hoped for and longed for
fullness of life. Creating and journeying with this physical universe that lives by the interplay of
chance and law is the risky course that God has to take if the creation is to be what it is. The
creation is not an extension or projection of who God already is, and not a puppet to be controlled
and contorted according to Gods script. Rather, the creation is itself a true other whom God can
befriend and with whom God travels on for the sake of life and its fulfillment.

I like to think of the doctrine of providence in the way that Charles Wood has suggested, as a
theological answer to the question, What is going on? Or, to make the theological dimensions
more plain, it addresses the question, What does God have to do with what is going on? Most of
the Christian world answers that question in this way: Whatever is going on God is in control of it
and is ordering it for the good. But modern Christians can no longer be comforted by that
affirmation of Gods providence. It flies in the face of what we, as modern people in our modern
way, know about the character of the physical world and its processes.

Yet, through the conversation between theology and science another way of answering has
emerged. It is consistent with a scientific understanding of the world. It does not comfort in the
traditional way, but it still is a source of hope and encouragement for those modern people who
make the Christian claim: God is not in control of everything. God does not know what is going to
happen before it happens. But God is involved in everything. God influences the possibilities as
they unfold. And God does this consistently, persistently on the side of life and its fulfillment. Of
this we are convinced, and from this hope we pray for peace.

Prayer as a cooperative art[13]

In one of her essays Daphne Hampson has suggested that we might think of prayer as allowing to
fall into place what should truly be. But in case that seems a rather fatalistic attitude she adds that
in such an understanding of prayer God would be conceived as that which enables us to heal.[14] I
have been helped to think through this notion of prayer by relating it to the traditional distinction
between the cooperative arts and the productive arts. While there are many useful arts, only three of
them are traditionally thought of as cooperative arts. All the others are productive arts. The
cooperative arts are farming, healing and teaching.
 37

A cooperative art is one through which the artisan works within a natural process with the aim of
encouraging, hastening or influencing the fulfilment of its dynamic inner potential. So, for example,
while wheat grows by itself the quality and quantity of the crop depends on the farmer's skilled
cooperation with that natural process. The art of healing is a therapeutic cooperation with the
processes by which sick people naturally recover or cope with a failure to recover. And recognising
that learning is something that happens naturally and uninterruptedly throughout a person's life, with or
without teachers, the art of teaching is to cooperate with that process in such a way as to assist
students to a fuller realisation of their own potential.

A productive art, on the other hand, is one from which useful products result only as the artisan
intervenes to change or manipulate raw materials into the desired objects. Unlike wheat, health or
knowledge, things like shoes, bridges or furniture will never produce themselves. Even raw materials
of the highest quality will not turn into such useful artifacts without human intervention.

However, while the cooperative arts are generally limited to three, I like to add a fourth. Prayer too
is best understood as a cooperative art. Prayer is an active cooperation with the power of God at
work in history and the universe towards life and its fulfillment, towards shalom or peace. Prayer
is misunderstood when it is confused with the productive arts; a way of intervening in unpromising
circumstances. Make it rain! Remove this cancer! End this war! This perspective on prayer
mistakenly supposes that God has power over us and our circumstances. At the same time it
mistakenly ignores the reality that God is already at work within us and our circumstances
encouraging and drawing all things towards life and its fulfillment, towards peace. It continues to
be proper to pray for such things as rain, healing and peace; but to do so in cooperation with the
Spirit of God already dynamically present as the power within the earth for fruitfulness, within the
body for wholeness, and within human communities for peace.

But Does it Work?

But does it work? Thats the question that matters most in our modern, technological civilization in
which making things work matters most. Reflecting this preoccupation, since the mid-1980s there
have been hundreds of empirical studies of the efficacy of intercessory prayer in the area of health
care. The findings of these studies have been ambiguous (some showing that prayer is efficacious
and others showing that prayer is not) but the quest goes on.[15] For establishing that prayer works
is crucial to the modern mindset. In practice prayer, or elements of it, have become an ordinary
part of the care of seriously sick people. For example, Ian Gawlers appropriation of meditative or
contemplative prayer in the care of cancer patients has become very important.[16] More informally,
a popular magazine like Mens Health regularly recommends prayer and other spiritual practices as
good for men. Youll live longer and healthier if you are religious.

In this context Karl Barths comment is chastening. He said of the growing interest among
Protestants in spiritual exercises in the mid-twentieth century that it they can perform a useful
function as a means of psychical hygene but that they had nothing whatever to do with the prayer
required of us. Prayer begins where this kind of exercise leaves off.[17] For Barth, prayer isnt an
exercise in self-improvement but a turning to God for whatever we need. Indeed, he insisted that
true prayer is essentially petition; asking God for things; everything from the coming of the kingdom
to daily bread.

empty hands are necessary when human hands are to be spread out before God and
filled by Him. It is these empty hands that God in His goodness wills of us when he bids us
pray to Him.[18]

Prayer asking God for things expresses the true relation between human beings and God. It is
the action of faith.

Believing in God and praying for peace

Daphne Hampson wrote that she believes in God because she believes in the power of prayer.
For me its the other way around. I believe in prayer because I believe in the power of God: a
 38

personal power which is on the side of life and its fulfillment and which has been made known to
us in the life, death and appearances of Jesus of Nazareth. When we pray for peace we are
confessing our faith in God who is at work in our world for peace. We are consenting to all those
changes that may be required of us and of our communities for the sake of wholeness and justice.
We are committing ourselves anew to cooperating with God in that one great impossible mission,
the success of which is promised.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

[1] A.C.Craig Preaching in a Scientific Age (London: SCM Press, 1954) pp.16-17

[2] John H Yoder, Peace, in Nicholas Lossky et al (eds) Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement (Geneva & Grand Rapids: WCC
Publications & William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991) pp.786-789, at p.786

[3] J.S.Spong A New Christianity for a New World (New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2001) p.21

[4] Ibid. p.191

[5] Ibid. p.192-193

[6] Ibid. p.197

[7] Ibid. pp.59-60 and 71-73

[8] Clifford Geertz Religion as a Cultural System, in Michael Banton (ed.) Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion
(London: Tavistock Publications, 1966) p.13

[9] Andrew Dutney Where Did the Joy Come From ? Revisiting the Basis of Union (Melbourne: Uniting Church Press, 2001) pp.14-16

[10] Sallie McFague Models of God (Phladelphia: Fortress Press, 1987) p.x

[11] Morton Kelsey Healing & Christianity (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1995) p.301

[12] Andrew Dutney Playing God: Ethics and Faith (Melbourne: HarperCollinsReligious, 2001) pp.86-88)

[13] Andrew Dutney Food, Sex and Death: A Personal Account of Christianity (Melbourne: Uniting Church Press, 1993) pp.158-159

[14] Daphne Hampson The Theological Implications of a Feminist Ethic, The Modern Churchman, vol.31, no.1, 1989, pp.36-39, at
p.38

[15] See John A Astin, Elaine Harkness, and Edzard Ernst, The Efficacy of Distant Healing: A Systematic Review of Randomized
Trials, Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 132, No.11, pp.903-910; and L Roberts, I Ahmed, and S Hall, Intercessory Prayer for the
Alleviation of Ill Health (Cochrane Review), The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2002.

[16] See Ian Gawler You Can Conquer Cancer, New Edition (Melbourne: Hill of Content, 2001) pp.5, 31, and 161

[17] Karl Barth Church Dogmatics III.4 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1961) pp.97-98

[18] Ibid, p.97

 39

APPENDIX 3
Christians Who Pray Together... By Roland Croucher.

Biblical prayer includes adoration, being 'lost in wonder, love and praise'; confession: if we confess
our sins, God will forgive (1 John 1:9), and it is sometimes helpful to confess our sins to one
another (James 5:16); intercession, (work-in-prayer for others); petition: asking God for things in
Christ's name - ie, praying for the things Christ would pray for; thanksgiving (for what God has
done) and praise (for who God is).

Here in essence is what the ancient and modern masters of prayer teach us: # Pray as you can, not
as you can't: your own relationship with God will be unique. # Ask yourself 'What is my desire?'
(Mark 11:24): be honest and clear about what you want from God. # Prayer is a gift from God, not
a bag of spiritual techniques: it is not so much you who are looking for God, but he who is
searching for fellowship with you. # The main aim of prayer is to know God, through love. # There
are three kinds of praying - with words, with guided thoughts (meditation), and with wonder
(contemplation). # Find a quiet, regular place and time for prayer every day: if possible, try to be
unhurried and uninterrupted. # Prayer is also living and working (see Isaiah 1:15-17). (26)

The most compelling reason for praying with others is Jesus' promise that 'whenever two of you on
earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where
two or three come together in my Name, I am there with them' (Matthew 18:19, 20).

Jesus took his disciples with him occasionally when he was praying in solitary places (Luke
9:18,28). We know what Jesus prayed in Gethsemane probably because part of his prayer was
overheard (Mark 14:33).

The apostolic Christians prayed together from the start. The Holy Spirit was poured out on a group
at prayer (Acts 1:14). They continued to spend a lot of time in prayer together (Acts 2:42). Paul
prayed constantly with his co-missioners (Colossians 1:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:2; 2 Thessalonians
1:11) and asked others to join him in disciplined prayer (Romans 15:30). James (5:16) tells us to
'confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you will be healed.'

Praying together is one of the richest experiences Christians can have with each other. 'There is a
deep joy in praying together, an added vitality, a plus difficult to define. It is rather like the
difference between eating your meal alone and sharing in a party feast. Eating together is not the
same as eating in solitude; the something more is the company, the fellowship. So it is with prayer.'
- Stephen Winward, Teach Yourself to Pray, Hodder & Staughton, 86.

But prayer with others is not only helpful to us, it is also associated with all the great spiritual
awakenings. For example, the Evangelical Revival in England in the late 18th century began in a
little 'Holy Club' at Oxford. So impressed were the Wesleys with the prayer cell principle that every
Methodist society was organised into small Band and Class meetings. Similarly the great revival in
America in 1857- 1858 was empowered and nurtured in prayer meetings. The longest-lasting
revival in Christian history, affecting five generations of Koreans, has been noted for its powerful
prayer meetings.

In his books How to Develop A Praying Church and The Exciting Church Where People Really
Pray, Charlie Shedd lists the advantages of praying with others. In a chapter in the latter book
entitled 'Where the People Pray - These Good Things Happen' he lists these 'good things': 'They
care for each other; lives will be changed; they attract new members; there will be social concern;
they also serve the church; they reach out to the world; the little negatives stay little; everyone is
able to serve.' - Quoted in John Mallison, Learning and Praying, Renewal Publications, 1976, p.
133.
 40

For some evangelical churches the question 'a prayer meeting for the whole church once a week or
small groups?' is an issue. The guiding principle is clear: corporate prayer happens best where there
is a sense of community. In most churches (especially larger churches with multiple worship-
services) the small group is the place for real community. In small parishes, particularly in rural
areas, the whole church could meet for prayer. Probably, however, the small group ought to be the
norm, especially in cities and suburbs. This gives opportunities for fathers and mothers to be
involved at separate times if they have small children, and young people to learn from their peers
(although they ought also to meet from time to time in trans-generational groups as well). A whole-
church prayer meeting is most appropriate when there is a strong call for such across the
congregation (e.g. at times of crisis, or special events). Experience around the world is now
teaching us that more people will pray more meaningfully in small groups than in larger ones.

Such 'growth groups', 'prayer cells' - call them what you will - should do three things: scripture
reading, meditation and study; sharing of our personal concerns with one another; then prayer. That
is, we listen to God, listen to each other, then speak to God about the things that have arisen in the
other two encounters. The "mix" of Bible, sharing and prayer will vary from group to group, and
from time to time in one group. What is important is that all three occur in all groups all the time.

Ideas for Group Prayer

Here's a pot-pourri of principles and suggestions for praying with others:

* The best size for the group will depend on what it does. If the emphasis is on personal sharing or
therapy, it ought to be small - say 3 to 6. If the group majors on Bible discussion the optimum size
is 8 to 12. If it's a 'house church' there may be 30 to 40, but there ought to be times where 'twos or
threes' pray together.

* Sensitivity ought to be shown towards those who have rarely, if ever, prayed aloud before. Ease
them into it by encouraging written prayers to be read, sentence prayers to be spoken, or 'prayer
points' shared which one or two may bring to God on behalf of the group. With acceptance and
love and encouragement, it ought to be expected that all will soon be able to pray aloud. The
lengthy prayers of the verbose might have to be 'reined in' in the process!

* There aren't many books on group prayer, and few resources. However, some excellent material
can be found in John Mallison's Learning and Praying (Vol. 2 in his series on small groups), and
Maxie Dunnam's The Workbook of Living Prayer. Charles Kemp's Prayer-based Growth Groups
(Abingdon) is a good introduction.

Many Approaches

* There are many ways to pray together. Charlie Shedd says 'Pray in your own way. There are
twelve gates into the holy city and a thousand different doors to prayer. When we pray we are
entering a vast expanse of truth which leaves room for much experiment and many approaches.'

* Being silent in a group is important. After the scripture is read it is good to encourage silent
meditation on the sacred words for a few minutes - or longer. 'For people who live hectic lives,
corporate meditation can be an oasis in a desert.' - Michael Wright, New Ways for Christ,
Mowbrays, 1975, pg. 44. Silent retreats, or quiet days with others can be healing occasions. - See,
eg. Margaret Harvey, Worship and Silence, Grove Books, 1975.

* Sometimes the group can devote time to adoration and praise. Confession can happen in a group
by silently writing down our sins, tearing the paper into small pieces, passing a cup around, then
enacting absolution (either by saying something like 'As you have confessed your sins to God, in
the name of Jesus you are forgiven' to one another in turn; or by the leader on behalf of the group).
 41

Thanksgiving can follow this experience. Bidding prayers can invite members to verbalise their
blessing. (For example: 'let us recall "high moments" from the recent past; let us thank God for
someone, a book we have read, a scripture that has been meaningful to us' etc.). Specific
intercession, selfless prayers for others, ought to be written down as they are prayed (to check for
God's answer). Sometimes it is enough to mention a name, and no more details (to avoid gossip).
Trust and confidentiality are important here. The group prayer could conclude with someone
bringing a special benediction; or by the group praying a written-out prayer of dedication.

* Try one- or two-word prayers of adoration: 'Jesus', 'Father', 'maranatha', 'Lord you are here', etc.
Sometimes write out a litany, or pray a great hymn of adoration or dedication together. Bidding
prayers can be offered by group members ('Let us pray for our pastor and elders'; 'Let us uphold our
prime minister and cabinet before God'). Pluriform praying - all praying aloud at the same time - is
practised in many cultures, and over many centuries. It's beautiful once we overcome our initial
embarrassment!

* The 'laying on of hands' if someone has a special need (or by proxy for someone else) is an
ancient practice being revived in many churches today. Symbols and liturgies have, from time
immemorial, enriched the church's worship. Those of us from the 'Free churches' who are exploring
these riches are finding treasures everywhere! For example, 'a cross, candle, loaf of bread, chalice,
jug of water, open Bible, vacant chair, or a simple drawing of a fish or a dove, and other traditional
symbols can be useful aids if they are varied. - Mallison, op. cit., 167.

Group prayer, says Frank Akehurst, is an act of fellowship building up the body of Christ in love; it
is a ministry of care and support to fellow Christians; a participation together in mission beyond
local or regional boundaries; and an expression of life and relationship to Christ.

Onwards, then, to 'the more'! - Frank Akehurst, Praying Aloud Together, Grove Books, 1975, 20.

Discuss: How many in your church are praying regularly with others? What might be done to
increase this number?

Further reading: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1954; Sheila
Cassidy, Prayer for Pilgrims, London: Collins, 1980. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline,
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980; John Mallison, Growing Christians in Small Groups,
Melbourne: JBCE, 1989; Rowland Croucher (ed.), Still Waters Deep Waters: Meditations and
Prayers for Busy People, Sydney: Albatross, 1987.

John Mark Ministries. Articles may be reproduced in any medium, without applying for
permission
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 42

SELECTED REFERENCES
Backhouse, Halcyon, (ed.) The Cloud of Unknowing, Sydney: Hodder and Staughton, 1985
edition of a 14th century Christians writings about contemplative prayer.

Baker, Jonny, Gay Doug, and Brown, Jenny, Alternative worship, London: SPCK, 2003.
plus CD-Rom. Includes prayers, meditations, rituals, for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter
and Pentecost.

Bayler, Lavon, Gathered by Love: Worship resources for Year C, Ohio: United Church
press, 1994.

Carden, John, With All Gods people: The New Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, Geneva: WCC
Publications, 1989.

Cassidy, Sheila, Prayer for Pilgrims: A Book about Prayer for Ordinary people, Glasgow:
William Collins Sons and Co, 1980, 1982.

Cho, Paul Y., Prayer: Key to Revival, USA: Word Publishing, 1984.

Christenson, Evelyn, What Happens when Women pray, Illinois: Victor books, 1984.

Christenson, Larry, Speaking in Tongues and its Significance for the Church, Minneapolis:
Dimension Books, 1968, 1975.

Cole, Phyllis, and Tilson, Everett, Litanies and Other Prayers for the Revised Common
Lectionary Year C, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1991, 1994.

Dawson, G.S, Gonzalez, A., Hinson, E.G., Job, R.P., Thompson, M.J., and Wright, W.M.,
Companions in Christ: a Small group Experience in Spiritual Formation, (Participants
book), Nashville: Upper Room Books, 2001.

De Mello, Anthony, Sadhana: A Way to God: Christian Exercises in Eastern Form,

(Doubleday Image, 1984).

Foster, Richard, Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian
Faith, Trowbridge: Eagle publishing, 1999. A good summary of the 6 main Christian
spiritualities.

Galloway, Kathy, (ed.), The Pattern of our Days: Liturgies and resources for Worship,
Glasgow: Wild Goose publications , 1996. From John Bell and the Iona Community,
Scotland. . For healing, forgiveness, blessings etc.

Hays, Edward, Prayers for the Servants of God, Easton, Kansas: Forest of peace Books,
inc, 1980, 1986. includes prayers for congregational people and roles.

Hybels, Bill, Too busy not to Pray, Leicester, UK: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988.

Marshall, Catherine, Adventures in Prayer, London: Hodder and Staughton, 1975.

McCarthy, Flor, Funeral Liturgies, Dublin: Dominican Publications, 1994.

 43

McCracken, Jeni, Celebrating the New Church: Liturgical Resources for Today,
Blackburn, Vic: HarperCollins Religious, HarperCollins Publishers (Australia), 1998.

Michael, Chester P, and Norrisey, Marie C., Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer
Forms For Different Personality Types, Virginia, USA: The Open Door Inc, 1984.

Nichol, Frank, Making Sense of Prayer, Melbourne: Joint Board of Christian Education,
1985.

Nouwen, Henri J.M., Reaching out, Glasgow: William Collins Sons and Co, 1976, 1983.
Re the Three Movements of the Spiritual Life. Also his other books, eg The Wounded
Healer, etc.

Pearson, Keith, D., Fifteen Ways to Pray, Melbourne: Joint Board of Christian Education,
1993.

Prewer, Bruce, Australian Prayers, Adelaide: Lutheran Publishing House, 1983.

Prewer, Bruce, Australian Psalms, Adelaide: Lutheran Publishing House, 1979, 1982.

Prewer, Bruce, More Australian Psalms, Adelaide: Openbook Publishers, 1996.

Prewer, Bruce, Jesus our future: Prayers for the Twenty-First Century, Adelaide:
Openbook Publishers, 1998.

Price, Ian and Kitto, Carolyn, New Dawn: Worship from Advent to Pentecost, Unley, South
Australia: MediaCom Education Inc, 1999. Plus disk.

Price, Ian and Kitto, Carolyn, First light: Celebrations and festivals, Unley, South
Australia: MediaCom Education Inc, 2000. Includes Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and
Pentecost liturgies and prayers, all on disk.

Pritchard, John, The Intercessions Handbook, London, SPCK, 1997, 2001. Includes
prayers for services, small groups, all age worship and personal prayers.

Pritchard, John, The Second Intercessions Handbook: More creative ideas for public and
private prayer, London, SPCK, 2004. Includes prayers for services, small groups, all age
worship and personal prayers.

Quoist, Michel, Prayers of Life, Ireland: Gill and Macmillan, 1963.

Uniting in Worship Leaders book, Melbourne: Uniting Church Press, The Joint Board of
Christian Education, 1988.

Sheets, Dutch, Intercessory Prayer, Ventura, California: Regal Books, 1996.

Uniting in Worship Peoples book, Melbourne: Uniting Church Press, The Joint Board of
Christian Education, 1988.

Uniting in Worship 2, Sydney: Uniting Church Press, The Assembly of the Uniting Church
in Australia, 2005. Plus 2 CDs.

Urquhart, Colin, When the Spirit Comes, London: Hodder and Staughton, 1974.
 44

Wallace, Sue, Multisensory Church, Bletchley, England: Scripture Union, 2000.

Photocopiable prayers, scripts and ideas for worship.

Wallace, Sue, Multisensory Prayer, Bletchley, England: Scripture Union, 2000, 2004.
Photocopiable prayers, scripts and ideas for worship.

Wild Goose Worship Group, A Wee Worship Book, Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications ,
1999. From John Bell and the Iona Community, Scotland. .

Words for Worship, Adelaide: MediaCom Education Inc, available quarterly,

-various authors write weekly prayers (Call to worship, Invocation, Confession, Assurance
of Pardon, Offertory Sentence, offertory prayer, Thanksgiving, Commissioning,
Benediction, Stewardship Thought, Intercessory prayer, and hymn suggestions based on
the RCL, available in print and downloadable by subscription from MediaCom, Adelaide.
Ph (08) 8371 1399. website - www.mediacom.org.au

Worship Curriculum
http://spiritseasons.com/hallway.taf?site_uid1=8833&hallway_uid1=8833&search_id=&ca
talog_uid1=&link_type_uid1=&person_id=&u_currency_id=0&_UserReference=9664C6
B620E6C9D34715B6DE
Seasons of the Spirit
For those seeking a Christian education program that links worship and
education then we encourage you to take a look at Seasons of the Spirit
Australia's leading lectionary based curriculum. A catalogue outlining the
features and age ranges can be obtained by ringing MediaCom customer
service on 1 800 811 311.

GENERAL RESOURCES

The Revised Common Lectionary, The Consultation on Common Texts, Abingdon Press,
Nashville, U.S.A. Includes Complete list of lections for years A, B & C.

Living with the Lectionary: Preaching through the Revised Common Lectionary, by Eugene L.
Lowry, Abingdon Press, Nashville U. S. A. Explains the rationale behind the 1992 lectionary
revision, examines specific biblical texts, shows how to overcome the obstacles of lectionary
preaching, and analyses the claims of texts, situation and sermon form, and gospel upon the
preacher.

Between Sundays. This gives daily Scripture readings which reflect of the theme of the Sunday
Lessons in the Three Year Revised Common Lectionary. By Gail Ramshaw, Augsberg Fortress
Press, 1997

The New Handbook of the Christian Year. Based on the RCL. Hickman, Sailers, Stookey &
White. Suggested Hymns for each Sunday, orders for worship for special days in the year and
excellent articles on understanding the Christian Year. Abingdon Press.

Forbid Them Not. By Carolyn Brown. Abingdon Press, Nashville, USA. A volume for each year.
Involving Children in Sunday Worship - Weekly worship sheets, Children's commentary, Hymn
suggestions, Sermon Starters Vocabulary helps & Scripture Index.

All Age Worship - Ideas for All Age Worship based on the Revised Common Lectionary by
J.Barrass. Epworth Press.
 45

Reformed Liturgy & Music, 4 issues a year. Contains hymns, anthems and music based on the
Revised Common Lectionary, as well as excellent articles on different aspects of worship. Ministry
Unit on Theology & Worship, Presbyterian Church, I00 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky
40202I396.

Australian Journal of Liturgy, 2 Issues per year. Contains papers largely by Australian
Liturgical Scholars. Admission to the Academy is open to all those who have recognised
qualification in liturgical studies and related disciplines. Membership enquiries to the address
below.

You are invited to subscribe to the Journal for a yearly subscription of $ 15.00 (Aus). Send cheque
with your name and address to:- "Australian Academy of Liturgy", PO Box 1031, Windsor,
Victoria, 3181. Phone (03) 9853 3177. E-mail: mcd@ariel.unimelb.edu.au

WEBSITES
Revised Common Lectionary
1. Bruce Prewers page- http://www.a;phalink.com.au/~nigel/
2. Liturgies On-Line (Moira Laidlaw)-
http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/liturgies/main/index.php
3. Jeff Shrowders site (UCA Vic) - http://thebillabong.info/
4. Laughing Bird Liturgical resources- http://www.laughingbird.net/html/home.php
South Melbourne Community Baptist church
5. Richard Fairchild, of the United Church of Canada-
http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermon.html
6. Seekers church, Washington USA- Inclusive language prayers
http://www.seekerschurch.org/liturgies/
7. United Methodists USA- http://www.gbod.org/worship/default.asp?act=nav_loc
8. Liturgy NZ Anglicans - http://www.liturgy.co.nz/

Alternative worship
www.alternativeworship.org
www.proost.co.uk
www.the-scriptorium.org
www.freshworship.org
www.labyrinth.org.uk
www.osbd.org
www.flickerweb.co.uk
http://seaspray.trinity-bris.ac.uk/~altwfaq/
www.smallfire.org
http://jonnybaker.blogspot.com

Music-
http://www.togethertocelebrate.com.au/ Rev David McGregor has Christian music linked
to RCL

Uncommon Lectionary and Aussie Uncommon Lectionary- Tom Bandy

The US version.
http://easumbandy.com/services/uncommon_lectionary/seeker_cycle_commentaries/2007
_november/-

Bill Loader and W Snook are currently developing the Aussie Uncommon Lectionary
Seeker Cycle Commentary with Tom Bandy. Watch this space for more details!

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The multimedia segments, as named in the 'Prayer in the UCA' manual
notes, came from http://www.worshiphousemedia.com in the United states,
and cost about US $100 to download altogether, if you want them. You
can see them on-line for free anyway.