Prayers for the Gathering: Conversations on the Journey

By Alan K Webster

This book of prayers is designed for use when gathering for worship, in person or online. Alan’s ministry background covers a wide denominational spectrum and his prayers use language that will resound with worshippers new to the Christian faith, as well as those who have been long on the journey. He picks up imagery from our everyday experiences and uses that to bring us into the presence of the divine.The book is divided into three sections: Prayers to gather us into the presence of God, Prayers of praise and worship, and Benedictions to bless us as we depart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kereru Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Aug 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9780473486938

Book preview

GATHERING

As we gather may your Spirit be among us

LEADER 1: As we gather may your Spirit be among us

LEADER 2: As we gather may we glorify your name

CONGREGATION: As we gather may our hearts be filled with worship

LEADER 1: We’ll be glad because we came

LEADER 2: We’ll rejoice in hearing hearts aflame with music

LEADER 1: We’ll rejoice in prayer, in drama: in word and deed

LEADER 2: We’ll find a new perspective

LEADER 1: We’ll affirm the places shared in common

CONGREGATION: We will celebrate with all that is familiar

LEADER 2: We will hear each other, find each other, meet each other anew

LEADER 1:  And your Spirit will refresh, restore, rebuild us as we worship

CONGREGATION AND LEADERS:

As we lift our hearts and lives

our hopes and fears

our dreams and hopes

our past and present

once more together in Christ’s love

Amen

Come - Now is the time to gather our thoughts

Come

Now is the time to gather our thoughts

Now is the time to bring the last week into God’s presence

Now is the time for us to uphold one another

in love

in prayer

in gentleness and sensitivity

Come

Now is the time for us to listen to each other

Now is the time to hear God’s gentle whisper

in the conversations we will enjoy

Now is the time for us to see the face of Jesus in one another

Come

Now is the time to allow the silence to become our companion

Now is the time for music to minister in places deeper than words

Now is the time for familiar words to speak anew into where we are

and where we hope to be

Come

Now is the time we meet with each other before God

a place alone and a place together

Now is the time to receive into our very beings the breath of God

For now

now is the time to worship

Here in this room, around this table

Here in this room

around this table we have a wide spectrum of resources

People good with their hands

People good with their sense of money

People good with their hearts

People who grasp the wide perspective

how everything fits into a big picture

And people who discern the details

that can trip up the best plans and make extra unnecessary work

Here we have people who understand the past of the church

and what really matters to the family

Here we also have people whose gift is to take us to places we haven’t yet been

and that will prove to be exciting and important

Here we have people who remember

And people who hope

And people who dream

And people who evaluate

And people who are risk-takers by nature

Here we have people who listen

and hear the things that nobody else hears

Here we have people who speak

and who express what everyone else is thinking

but can’t quite put into the right words

Here we have people who are naturally shy,

and whose words are few

And we have people who think aloud

finding their ideas as they speak

Here we have people for whom this is an important meeting for the day

and people for whom this could be

one more thing to fit in before collapse

In this wide collection of differences of viewpoint we expect to hear you speaking, Lord

In this rainbow of colours we expect to find the light needed for the journey ahead

We honour our differences