God of endings
God of beginnings
We bring you ourselves
We bring you our world
Lord in your mercy...
We pray
(nations and situations should be changed as
appropriate)
for the people of Syria as they seek freedom
for the people of Greece as they face austerity
for the people of Nigeria in the midst of conflict
for the people of Afghanistan seeking peace
for the people of Somalia living in chaos
for all the people of Britain as together we face the prospect of further uncertainty, hard choices and new dreams
Lord in your mercy...
God of endings
God of beginnings
We bring you ourselves
We bring you our world
We pray for our churches
(all
appropriate churches should be mentioned here)
And we pray for all our sisters and brothers in the other churches in this place and all those who worship further afield
Fill us all with your Spirit that we may learn how to be Christ's witnesses
(these
are written for a rural context and might be changing)
in these villages and these farms,
beside these rivers and under these mountains
in our shops
in our pubs and restaurants and hotels
in workplaces and community halls
in public buildings and private homes
Lord in your mercy...
God of endings
God of beginnings
We bring you ourselves
We bring you our world
Finally we come in quietness before you, remembering all that has gone before in 2011...
Pause
Thinking of all that is to come in 2012
Pause
And committing ourselves to you
God of the past
God of the future
God of each individual
God of the whole world
O Lord in your mercy...