I was privileged to lead prayers at the start of the Welcoming Church Conference organised by the diocesan Council for Mission of the united dioceses of Limerick and Killaloe on Saturday 4th November in Adare. The conference was well attended and we were blessed to hear the experience of Rev Alastair Graham (Mullingar), Ven Wayne Carney (Birr) and Canon Liz Beasley (Adare).
The Lord be
with you – and also with you
As we begin this conference on ‘How to be welcoming church’, in a few
moments of calmness, we listen to the words of Jesus Christ in scripture, we
pray that his Father will be with us in our discussions, and that his Spirit
will inspire us, and we dedicate ourselves to the service of God – Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
A
reading from Luke 14: 1, 7-11
On one occasion
when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a
meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely.
When he noticed how
the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you
are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of
honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your
host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give
this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the
lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place,
so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then
you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with
you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble
themselves will be exalted.’
This is the word of the Lord
– thanks be to God
That was the
lectionary reading set for today, and it’s particularly apt for this conference,
I think – it is about hospitality and about humility. We must never forget that
when we welcome others to church it is not our church – it is God’s church. We
must humbly recognise that we are not the host, we are merely servants who open
the door to God’s banquet. God is our host, as he is the host of all who enter
in.
Let us pray
The Collect prayer for the 20th Sunday after Trinity
Almighty
God,
whose Holy
Spirit equips your Church with a rich variety of gifts:
Grant us so
to use them that, living the gospel of Christ and eager to do your will,
we may share
with the whole creation in the joys of eternal life;
through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
We pray for
the speakers and facilitators of this conference, that their words may sound a
bell with us.
And we pray
that, called by that bell, we may respond by building a vibrant and welcoming
church.
God our
Father,
as we meet
in the name of your Son Jesus Christ
make us to
know your presence with us,
and in all
our thinking and speaking
keep us in
harmony with your will.
Give us a
vision of your kingdom,
insight into
your purposes,
and
understanding of the needs of your work.
We place
ourselves at your disposal.
We are fellow
workers,
eager and
ready to carry out your wishes.
Use us, O
Lord, as you will, and for your glory. Amen
Let us join
together in the prayer Jesus himself taught us:
Our Father, who art in heaven …
To God, who
by the power at work within us, is able to do far more abundantly than all we
ask or think, to him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus, to all
generations for ever and ever. Amen
Let us get down to work.
