Prayer to Close Friday Plenary

A few people have asked for a copy of the prayer Andy CastroLang shared at the closing of the Friday Plenary.



Andy began: "From a wise old man...."

Let me make an uncommonly honest confession. In the course of a half century, I have seen more Christian corruption than you have read of. I have tasted it. I have been reasonably corrupt myself, and yet, I joy in this church-- this living, pulsing, sinning people of God-- love it with a crucifying passion. Why? For all the Christian hate, I experience here a community of love. For all the individual repressions, I breathe here an air of freedom. For all the fear of sex. I discover here the redemption of my body. In an age so inhuman, I touch here tears of compassion. In a world so grim and humorless, I share here rich joy and earthy laughter. In the midst of death, I hear here an incomparable stress on life. For all the apparent absence of God, I sense here the real presence of Christ.

Walter J. Burghardt, SJ

Our Prayer this Morning

We began our prayer with lots of body movement and ended with beautiful meditative thinking. I discovered that of the four energies that can be expressed through the Body: Swing, Thrust, Hang, and Shaping that I am shaping with a little modification from Thrust.

Watch some Body Prayer:

A Time of Remembering and Prayer

We are being invited to light a candle for the places in our life where we need compassion -- for the light that shines in broken places. As I write people are lined up to light candles while peaceful piano music is played. One of the touching moments of Conference.

Online UCC Community Prays for our Annual Meeting

A prayer request for PNC’s annual meeting was posted yesterday in the prayer forum at http://i.UCC.org, and I wanted to let you know that, beginning Thursday, the online community will be praying with and for you, the Conference staff and all of the delegates during our real-time Prayer Chapel at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. (Pacific time). 

Yours in Christ,
Andy Lang
Minister for Web Community
Local Church Ministries
United Church of Christ
langa@ucc.org

Labrynth Walk overlooking Spokane

Thanks to the First Congregational UCC Bellingham for loaning the Labrynth at this year's Annual Meeting. The Labyrinth was laid out in the 12th floor Skyline room. It was available all weekend and attendees were invited to share it together for Saturday morning prayer. Chris McLain from Westminster UCC in Spokane captured all the Plenary sessions on video and also gives us this video walk of the Labyrinth.

Beautiful Dinner Prayer - Chris Causey

At dinner on Saturday night, Chris Causey Intentional Interim Pastor of Fox Island UCC offered this wonderful prayer. Read Below and listen to the Prayer :

Loving God, Sacred Chef of all that is nourishing and delightful, we gather in ever-widening circles around these tables - now at mealtime, still hungry for more than food, thirsty for more than drink. So often, God, in our search for a quick fix to fill our spiritual tummies, we choose religious certainty rather than cultivate the organic bounty of holy wonder. Forgive us loving God, often our appetites long for the sweet honey of collaboration but instead we settle repeatedly for coercion, choosing expediency over patience, authority over leadership and ambivalence over hope. Many times, O God, our gatherings remind us of our fragmented resources of spiritual nutrition - what have we done with the garden that was entrusted to us? Give us initiative and boldness to pull the weeds that grow between us. Holy God, more times than not our gatherings in every widening circles, reveal to us the amazing abundance that surrounds us -- now with this meal before us give us grateful hearts as we eat, allowing the conversation and laughter to bounce between us strengthening the bonds that transcend the miles that so easily separate us. In the name of love, we pray.