Opening Prayer for today's meeting of the Faith, Order & Witness committee.
God of Creation, Lord of the Church, your Holy Spirit calls us together here to unity, to conversation, to agreement, to disagreement. As individuals and in our diverse theological graduations, we differ on interpretation of scripture, yet agree Jesus Christ is the ultimate interpreter, the Living Word of God.
How timely that the lectionary has been bringing us the gospel of John with Jesus' command to obedience and his pleas that the church might be one. As we soon celebrate and rejoice in the festival of the Spirit of Unity on the Day of Pentecost, may be one in your Spirit of Unity. We thank you for the healing in N's life, and ask your healing presence with all those who cannot be with us today.
We pray in Jesus' name―Amen!
Picture of the parking lot; you can see the building where we meet on the third floor reflected on the glass in the middle of the background building.
God of all creation, at the dawn of time rivers flowed over mountains and through valleys; we ask that in the Spirit of life we may live faithfully to our baptism with water and the word, that the rivers of the new creation would flow freely and provide healing to all the nations. In the name of Jesus the Christ, Amen! 
God of the covenanted faith-filled journey homeward, in the exodus desert you formed a people after your own heart as you led them toward the land of promise. We ask that you would lead us to trust you in our moment by moment wanderings, that we might freely serve as your gracious presence in the world. In Jesus' name, Amen! 
Holy God, you chose to live among us in a body formed from the soil of the earth and you promised to lead your people into an inalienable land you would show them; in your Spirit may we live faithfully to your call to steward the land, that it would become safe living space and produce life-sustaining food for all creation. In the name of Jesus the Christ, your son and our brother, Amen! 
God of all creation, God of all seasons, you made rivers and streams and planted a garden; trees grew out of the ground and the earth breathed. May we receive and retain your life-giving Spirit that we would faithfully care for the rivers, the gardens and the forests, so that everything in creation would continue to breathe in wholeness and health, to the glory of your name, amen! 
