Friday, December 24, 2010

A Prayer Following Communion

A few weeks ago, I was leading worship at the Pathways contemporary worship service at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, NC. It was a communion Sunday and Advent to boot, so I was pleased to be able to share my new arrangement of "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming" (see this post and this video) during the distribution. After everyone had received, we were preparing to go into our closing song, but we haven't quite streamlined the transition from communion to congregational singing in that service, so I decided to say a prayer.

Now, praying extemporaneously is dangerous when you're me. I once ended a public prayer with, "Talk to you later. Love you, bye!" Like I was leaving a voicemail. I kid you not.

So I decided not to go that route. Fortunately, I have lots of prayers memorized, including the Prayer Following Communion that comes at the end of the United Methodist communion liturgy. So I used that:

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your spirit to give ourselves for others. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

It really is a nice prayer and a perfect bridge from communion to closing and sending forth. As it turns out, it was even more effective than I had expected a prayer that probably only a few people in the room (two of whom would have been the pastors) would have recognized.

After worship, a woman came up to me struggling to hold back tears. She is a friend, so I knew that she was dealing with some stress and various life issues. But she told me that she was deeply moved by the prayer I said before the closing song. What a beautiful image, she said, to say, as Christ gives himself to us, so we must give ourselves to others. The Spirit had spoken through me, she said.

I was genuinely touched by her comment, but I felt almost as if I had cheated her by using a memorized prayer instead of speaking "from the heart" or "from the Spirit" or whatever. I talked to my boyfriend about it later, telling him I hadn't had the heart to admit to her that it was the United Methodist Hymnal, not the Spirit, that spoke through me.

I greatly appreciated his response: "I don't really think there's a difference." He made the point that part of what makes us good worship leaders is our ability to draw on all kinds of resources, not only in music but in speaking and prayer. Yes, the Spirit spoke through me--by inspiring me to use a prayer that was intentionally crafted for that purpose by faithful people who sought the Spirit's inspiration to write it in the first place.

Besides, it's a darn good prayer.

0 comments:

Friday, December 24, 2010

A Prayer Following Communion

A few weeks ago, I was leading worship at the Pathways contemporary worship service at Orange United Methodist Church in Chapel Hill, NC. It was a communion Sunday and Advent to boot, so I was pleased to be able to share my new arrangement of "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming" (see this post and this video) during the distribution. After everyone had received, we were preparing to go into our closing song, but we haven't quite streamlined the transition from communion to congregational singing in that service, so I decided to say a prayer.

Now, praying extemporaneously is dangerous when you're me. I once ended a public prayer with, "Talk to you later. Love you, bye!" Like I was leaving a voicemail. I kid you not.

So I decided not to go that route. Fortunately, I have lots of prayers memorized, including the Prayer Following Communion that comes at the end of the United Methodist communion liturgy. So I used that:

Eternal God, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your spirit to give ourselves for others. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

It really is a nice prayer and a perfect bridge from communion to closing and sending forth. As it turns out, it was even more effective than I had expected a prayer that probably only a few people in the room (two of whom would have been the pastors) would have recognized.

After worship, a woman came up to me struggling to hold back tears. She is a friend, so I knew that she was dealing with some stress and various life issues. But she told me that she was deeply moved by the prayer I said before the closing song. What a beautiful image, she said, to say, as Christ gives himself to us, so we must give ourselves to others. The Spirit had spoken through me, she said.

I was genuinely touched by her comment, but I felt almost as if I had cheated her by using a memorized prayer instead of speaking "from the heart" or "from the Spirit" or whatever. I talked to my boyfriend about it later, telling him I hadn't had the heart to admit to her that it was the United Methodist Hymnal, not the Spirit, that spoke through me.

I greatly appreciated his response: "I don't really think there's a difference." He made the point that part of what makes us good worship leaders is our ability to draw on all kinds of resources, not only in music but in speaking and prayer. Yes, the Spirit spoke through me--by inspiring me to use a prayer that was intentionally crafted for that purpose by faithful people who sought the Spirit's inspiration to write it in the first place.

Besides, it's a darn good prayer.

0 comments:

 

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