Sunday, May 9 Pastoral Prayer

As Lancaster First United Methodist Church is going through a staff restructuring, I wrote out this pastoral prayer to be used for the May 9th worship services.

Let us pray: Gracious God, when you were preparing your disciples for that time when you would be leaving them, you shared with them words of hope and promise. And even better, you said that you would be sending them the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Helper. In this Season of Easter, we are trusting in your promise that your Holy Spirit will indeed come, just as the Spirit came upon those first disciples on the Day of Pentecost when they were gathered in the upper room.

Come Holy Spirit, come and surround First United Methodist Church as we go through this time of significant transition facing our staff and congregation.

Come Holy Spirit, come and surround us in our uncertainty, in our pain, in our questions, in our frustrations, and in our fears.

Come Holy Spirit, bind up the brokenhearted and for those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of caring for our resources.

Come Holy Spirit, come and remind us what it means to be your disciples in the midst of turmoil and adversity.

Come Holy Spirit, come and surround this great church as we seek to find unity in the midst of our diversity and what it means to walk side by side as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Come Holy Spirit, come and empower and equip your church on this Confirmation Sunday, so that we can be the church that you have created us to be.

Come Holy Spirit, Come Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Amen.

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