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Click here to read the overview:.
| A Prayer for Armed Forces |
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Lifting courageous military men and women to God |
Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad as we pray also for their families. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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| Prayers for a Calling Process |
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For the election of a Bishop and the Calling of a Rector |
Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese and a rector for this Parish, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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| A Prayer for All Sorts and Conditions of Men |
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BCP page 814 |
O God, the creator and preserver of all mankind, we humbly
beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men; that thou
wouldest be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy
saving health unto all nations. More especially we pray for
thy holy Church universal; that it may be so guided and
governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call
themselves Christians may be led into the way of truth, and
hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, and in
righteousness of life. Finally, we commend to thy fatherly
goodness all those who are in any ways afflicted or distressed,
in mind, body, or estate; [especially those for whom our prayers are desired]; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their afflictions. And this we beg for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
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| Collect for All Baptized Christians |
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BCP page 252 |
Grant, Lord God, to all who have been baptized into the
death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, that, as we
have put away the old life of sin, so we may be renewed in the
spirit of our minds, and live in righteousness and true holiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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| Collect for the Unity of the Church |
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BCP page 255 |
Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed
for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and
obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit, that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Being Christian
has not been easy in any generation. In our present society, many
of us feel pulled in different directions. So many parties claim
religious truth while so few speak to God's abiding presence and
unity. For most religious traditions, prayer is the means by which
people grow with God.
In the Episcopal tradition, a prayerbook
guides our public and private worship. As we pray, so do we learn
to believe. In this day when parts of the Church seek less formality
in worship, using a prayerbook can feel strange. You may be surprised
to learn that when The Book of Common Prayer was first composed
(1549 in England), its purpose was to offer the means to worship
God to everyone, especially to those who had been excluded from
the Church in the Middle Ages. We live out the same tradition. The
authorized prayer book of the Episcopal Church is used by every
local church throughout our country. It contains the regular services
of public worship, including the Holy Eucharist, services of daily
prayer, pastoral worship for baptism, marriage and burial, the entire
Book of Psalms and a group of prayers called collects that draw
on 17 centuries of the Church's praying tradition. Collects 'collect'
the petitions of all people into one prayer lifted to God.
Newcomers to the Episcopal Church
are sometimes surprised to learn just how much the Bible forms and
shapes our worship. In each service, four Bible readings are read
~~ and indeed our prayerbook is a rare collection of selections
from the Bible. To Episcopalians, the Bible is not so much a literal
book of instruction; nor is it simply God's word to us. It is a
rich history telling of God's faithfulness to people. It provides
a language we learn with which to hear God.
Each week, we include on this page
different prayers from the prayerbook here as well as a number of
others (cited with references) for your spiritual nourishment. Should
you wish to obtain The Book of Common Prayer, please contact
us by telephone and we will send you one!
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