Prayer for Annual Conference 2009

God of the seasons turning,
another year has come and gone
as we prepare to gather for the
Western PA Annual Conference
of the UMC.

To Grove City we will bring
all the celebrations and hardships,
the joys and the sorrows
of the past 12 months.
We will pause to remember those
whose lives we have celebrated
as we said goodbye
until Jesus returns.
We will remember the highlights of the year, ministry moments and opportunities, blessings and transformations, love and compassion.

We will gather to look forward to what the coming years have in store.
We know that they will not always be easy,
that life will always have a mixture of easy and difficult.
As we meet to discuss the life and work of this part of your family
we pray that you would be a part of our discussion.
May your Spirit move in our hearts,
opening them to hear what each of us has to offer,
bringing light to both possibilities and realities,
drawing us always to consider what you would have us be and do
in this time and place.
Remind us that we are called to be bearers of Jesus’ life, light, and love
to all we meet.
Help us to live in such a way that we draw closer to your vision for us
and journey faithfully in your Way.

In our time together help us to celebrate the many gifts we all have to offer.
Help us offer what we can to your service and your glory,
mindful of our great giftedness in so many ways throughout our lives,
even as we are overcome by our individual and collective sin and inadequacy.
These things we pray in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah and Lord,
in whose name and for whose sake we gather together as a community.
Amen.

- adapted from a prayer by Gord Waldie