PurposeA Call to Prayer for Revitalization. We encourage all churches to pray, even if you're not actively involved in the initiative. ArchivesCategories |
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Caring Relationships12/7/2020 For 7 weeks in November and December, we invite all members of the presbytery to pray for the revitalization of our churches and presbytery. Our weekly prayers are based upon the 7 marks of a vital congregation. The focus of this week’s prayer is Caring Relationships.
Jesus tells us in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are disciples, if you have love for one another.” The quality of our relationships with one another in the church communicates to the world what we think about God. Additionally, “significant relationships with other Christians matter because they teach us something about what God is like— the One who can love us in spite of ourselves and who loves us passionately enough to suffer willingly on our behalf” (The Godbearing Life, Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster, p.27). How we care (or don’t care) for one another within the church matters. Vital congregations are known for their caring relationships. Sharing in God’s true agape moves us beyond half-hearted programmatic participation, lukewarm faith and pretending like everything is ok. Instead of a closed, judgmental community, people find freedom to share stories, encounter the Savior and ask for help. In vital congregations, welcome and hospitality are not left to a committee, but, imperfectly, we strive for all people to find identity, purpose and belonging in the household of God. This means that we do the hard work of confronting conflict when it arises. We seek reconciliation in all divisions, find ways to embrace all diversity, and strive to be peace-makers and bridge builders together. Churches have had ample opportunities and new challenges to develop caring relationships during the pandemic. People’s emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs have increased due to isolation, anxiety, and fear. Churches have rediscovered “old school” ways of communicating, such as organizing ruling elders or deacons to call church members on the phone on a regular basis or to send them cards. Clear Lake Presbyterian Church (CLPC) is a site for CarePartners’ The Gathering Place, a monthly meeting for dementia patients and their caregivers. The Gathering Place has not met since March, but the needs of those with dementia and their caregivers have only increased. The team of volunteers at CLPC sought creative ways to safely reach out to this population. This included the delivery of care packages for each family, complete with porch visits for caregivers who were comfortable with it. The care packages were well received, not only by the ones who got them but by the volunteers giving them. The initiative was so successful that one volunteer offered to lead the charge to deliver similar care packages to lonely or isolated church members. Through finding creative ways to reach out to the isolated, this church has continued to develop caring relationships during the pandemic. Let us pray: Living God, we give you thanks and praise for the new things you are doing among us. Especially we thank you for your great love for all the world. Living God, by the gifts of your Spirit, help us to bear witness to the risen Lord by extending your compassion to all. Living God, in the great mystery of our faith receive us each night and revive us each day, that we may be dead to sin and alive to you; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen
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