Circuit Prayers

District Prayer Diary 2021 – 22

Prayer for the Circuit:

We thank you, Lord Jesus, for one another; for the pastoral support and belonging and friendship and fellowship we experience in our local church and in the wider Circuit, as well as with many other people in a variety of contexts.
Deepen our commitment to working with others as an expression of your prayer that your will might be done and your kingdom come on earth as in heaven.
Amen.

A Prayer for our lawmakers

God, who holds the nations in loving hands, we pray for British Parliamentarians as they hold the futures of asylum seekers and refugees in their hands. We pray O God, for new laws to be just and fair, to be compassionate and life enhancing. We pray for those who will debate, table amendments and vote on the Nationality and Borders Bill.
May your love, O God, reign in their hearts. May they see beyond short term populism and grasp the common humanity that we all possess.
May your Holy Spirit inspire us as we campaign against any government initiative which seeks to override the fact that we are all made in Your image.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.

Prayers of Intercession and Blessing

In these uncertain times, dear Lord, we pray for peace.
We hold before you all those who are putting others before themselves.
We pray for those who are worried about their financial situation, not knowing how they will cope in the coming weeks.
We pray for the people and situations close to our heart...
We hold before you the governments and leaders of the world, those making many difficult decisions...
So in these uncertain times may we reach out to support each other, our families, our friends, our neighbours.
May we speak using words of grace and comfort.
May we reflect your love for all of creation
And may we be a reassurance and a blessing to all we speak to this week.
And may the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you this day and forever more. Amen
NB: You are welcome to send in contributions to this page

District Prayer Diary

Due to the current pandemic and in an effort to save waste, the District Prayer Diary has been distributed electronically this year.
You can download and print copies from this page, but printing of hard copies can be arranged.
Please let Pete Honeyball know if you would like printed copies in booklet form, and if so, whether A4 or A5?

NB: You are welcome to send in contributions to this page

Prayers for the Churches and other Circuit groups.

This idea arose from a Circuit Consultation where members said that they would like to see better communications around the Circuit. It was felt that there was a lot of good work going on within the Circuit but few outside of their particular church ever got to hear about it. In these days when the only news we seem to hear concerning churches is when they are threatened with closure, it is vital that we get to hear the other side as well. One small example of how useful this 'Good News' has been so far is on the subject of our work with young people – Methodism has a wonderful history of work amongst young people. Some of the 'Good News' tell us that there is still good work going on amongst children and young people in many parts of our Circuit – the problem is that we never get to hear about it. It is so encouraging to hear the success stories of Toddler Groups, Youth Groups, Cafe and Messy Church, Drop-in Church – the list is endless and it is growing!

It was recently suggested that these prayers should be expanded to cover other aspects and groups that serve the Circuit or are given Circuit support. Four such topics have been suggested; The leadership Team, our Locals Preachers and regular Visiting Preachers, Fair Trade, Karibuni Children and a recent addition, Young People; other suggestions would be welcome.

This Sunday 22 May, it is the turn of our preachers to be the focus of our Circuit Prayers.

Dear All
David tells us below that six of our preachers are due to be presented with long-service certificates this summer – a tremendous achievement for which we give thanks.
But it also, in a way, rings an alarm bell in the back of our minds, because we are a vibrant, changing society – within our church families as well as our communities, and our church deserves to be active throughout the whole of the church family. We need fresh blood in our preaching, we need the ministry of people who are young in their faith, those who are setting out on the big adventure of following Jesus.
Even the eldest amongst us still has a lot to offer, and that offer is rightly valued highly, but we also need to attract new minds to our family to enable growth and continuity of preaching.
Whilst you remember all our preachers in your prayers this Sunday, do consider whether you could offer yourself as a preacher. The call is rarely like Paul's, usually it is a quiet voice that says 'Yes, I could do that!'

Pete

David writes:

We are pleased that our churches are worshipping and using our premises almost entirely back to normal after the Covid restrictions. Some of our congregations are still reduced because some are not able to return due to health concerns. Please pray for all these, that they may soon be able to venture out once more.
We were sad that one of our preachers, Dr Roy Foster, died in January and he was remembered at our last LW & P Meeting. Roy had not been able to preach for some years due to ill health. He was latterly a member at Stoke Mandeville. Please remember his family in your prayers.
We are pleased that some of our preachers have been active for many years and we are due to present 6 with Long Service Certificates (25 years and over) later this summer. Please pray for their ongoing active service and for all who lead services every week.

Thought for the Day has been an initiative from Richard and been active since lockdown on at least 5 mornings a week, and it has been a privilege for our ministers, preachers, worship leaders and others to bring them to a wide audience for two years. We now feel they have run their course and the last one was on the websites last Friday. (20th May)
It is our privilege to serve all the churches in our circuit and we ask you to pray for all the preparation, leading and preaching that is done in the name of Jesus for you all.

David Neville.