The body of Christ, as we have confessed routinely, is a work in progress! We are a mixed bag that seems at times to contradict itself, struggling to be faithfully present while in-step with our storied past. Aware of our polar tendencies that vary by the day and place and people, let us pray together “for the church” with this prayer adapted from Ernest Campbell.
We pray, Father, for your church, scattered far and wide:
clinging to old ways in a new day, or else rushing to embrace the new in reckless abandon of the past;
here suffering from battle fatigue, there afflicted with inertia;
at times embarrassed by its Galilean accent, at other times so thoroughly assimilated to the surrounding culture as to lose all distinctiveness;
in some instances foolishly competitive, in others superficially merged around shallow affirmations;
often given to deeps uninterpreted by words, more often given to words unaffirmed by action.
Bless your church, Father, with divine guidance and direction,
that in the thick of life,
and at those points where people hurt,
we may be your servant people.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.