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A celebration of the founding of a church gives opportunity to:
- delight in God’s goodness and the blessing of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian Church
- recall the faith and witness of previous generations
- affirm our part in God’s mission
- pray for openness to the ways God’s Spirit continues to lead the church.
Click here for worship resources for a church anniversary service from the Methodist Church website. ‘Property Sunday' sounds an unpromising destination, but the reality is rather better!
Opening Prayer for a Church Anniversary
Loving God,
we bring you our praise on this Church Anniversary:
for the gift of the world:
its ever-changing beauty and its rich resources
we lift up our hearts in joy
We praise you for your goodness
for the gift of people: the splendid variety
and infinite possibility of the human race
we lift up our hearts in joy
We praise you for your goodness
for the gift of the church: its faithfulness in adversity,
its fellowship in the gospel, its fearless witness
in every generation
we lift up our hearts in joy
We praise you for your goodness
for the gift of Jesus: saviour of the world,
friend of all people, Lord of the church
we lift up our hearts in joy
We praise you for your goodness
Loving God, we have misused your gifts:
we have marred the beauty of the world
and wasted its resources, and
we are sorry
We ask for your forgiveness
we have been impatient with other peope,
lacking in understanding, short on love, and
we are sorry
We ask for your forgiveness
we have been untrue to our heritage as a church: unexpectant in our worship, half-hearted
in our service, hesitating in our witness, and
we are sorry
We ask for your forgiveness
we have failed Jesus: neglected his example,
turned aside from his Way,
mistrusted his promises, and
we are sorry
We ask for your forgiveness
In your generous love you see us and hear us
You say to us, ‘your sins are forgiven.’
We lift up our hearts in joy
We praise you for your goodness.
AMEN
John Pritchard
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