Prayer
Welcoming words
Invocation
Glory to you, our God, glory to you.
Heavenly Lord, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth,
You are present everywhere, filling all creation,
Treasury of all good things and the giver of life,
Come and dwell in us.
Cleanse us of every stain, and save our souls, Gracious Lord.
♪ Mhepo iya puki (Come, Holy Spirit)
The Lord speaks to Job
Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Where were you when I laid the foundation of the Earth?
When the morning stars sang together
and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
Have you comprehended the expanse of the Earth?
Have you entered into the springs of the sea,
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
and caused the dawn to know its place,
Tell me if you have understanding.
(Adapted from Job 38)
Confession
We praise you God, for the diversity of your creation. The Earth is full of your creatures, and in your holy wisdom, you have made them all. But in our self-centeredness, ignorance and arrogance, we have neglected to serve our fellow creatures. We have polluted the land and the waters, destroying delicate habitats and accelerating the loss of your precious species. We know that creation waits with eager longing in the hope of being set free from this bondage to our decay (Romans 8:19-22). And so we confess to our God of mercy and justice.
We confess our overuse of transportation, the need for speed overriding the healing of the Earth’s fever.
We confess our hyper-consumption of food and energy, producing meat and energy on demand, but too often exhausting and poisoning the backyards of the poorest.
We confess our junk, the piles of what we throw away, the sewage smelling of our lack of concern.
We confess our mind-set, too often concentrating on our ability to buy rather than asking what we really need, what our world needs.
We confess our unfaithfulness, not loving you with our whole heart and strength and mind,
not loving our human and non-human neighbours as ourselves.
We confess for not caring for the creation you have given us as a gift.
Turn us from our practices causing death and destruction.
Bless us and transform us by your grace to live a life that is, giving ourselves away, following Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
May your Holy Spirit help us in our weakness, search our heart, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but your Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. (Romans 8:26–27).
We believe that if we confess our sins, O Lord, you are faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
(adapted from the Lutheran World Federation)
Moment of silence
Amen
♪ Al’leeluyaa
Scripture Reading: Revelation 22: 1-5
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Holy wisdom, Holy Word.
All: Thanks be to God.
♪ Al’leeluyaa
Reflection
Mr Teboho 'Bino' Makalanyane
(Youth coordinator of the Anglican Environmental Network of Southern Africa)
♪ Jikelele (from South Africa)
Prayers of intercession
Lord, grant us the wisdom to care for the Earth. To care for the land, the seas, and all water sources. To care for all creatures that we share this world with.
Grant us the loving kindness also to care for each other.
Grant us the discipline and rootedness to reduce our consumption and waste, and to walk gently on the Earth.
Help us to consistently restore the ecosystems we have destroyed, from forests to peatlands to coasts to the seas.
Help us to arrest the tremendous loss of biodiversity that the world is experiencing and to help creation to recover.
Help us to see the Earth as a gift to be grateful for and to be shared and not to be treated as a resource to be exploited for profit and greed.
Help us to act now for the good of future generations and all your creatures. Help us to become instruments of a new creation, founded on the covenant of your love.
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
We pray for the people and churches of Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa.
We celebrate with the people in the region for their dynamism, diversity, and spirit of freedom, to overcome centuries of oppression and inequity.
We also thank you God for the beauty, abundance and diversity of creation in the region.
We thank God for the churches and their ministries having shown resilience as they have continued providing their ministerial and diaconal services amidst the pandemic. We also pray that you continue to bless the churches in the region to continue to witness your love, healing and peace.
We pray that as governments pursue the welfare of their citizens, justice and freedoms are upheld, and the rights and aspirations of each person are respected.
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Look with mercy, O Lord, on all who are struggling because of COVID-19 pandemic. We acknowledge that this disease has arisen because of our lack of respect for creation and for the destructive way of life we have developed.
We pray for your people and church throughout the world, its leaders and all members, so that we may seek to overcome ignorance, inequity and injustice in accessing prevention, care, treatment and recovery from the pandemic. Grant them your provision, wisdom and grace in abundance.
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
As the United Nations high-level meeting on HIV and AIDS convenes from 8-10 June in New York, we pray for a clear and action-oriented political declaration to be agreed upon by member states to advance towards achieving the commitment of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
We pray that churches and communities continue to respond courageously and prophetically to overcome the ongoing AIDS epidemic
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
Lord, we remember your faithful departed whose passing away has immersed communities in sadness and shock.
We pray for their bereaved families. May they find peace and comfort in the hope opened to us through Christ’s resurrection, which helps us to believe that death and suffering will not have the last say.
We also remember all those who are born during these days, that you will give us the wisdom, empathy and dynamism, to ensure that they inherit a world that will uphold life in all its wonder to continue to sing praises to you.
All: Lord in your mercy, hear our prayers.
The Lord’s Prayer (in our many languages)
Blessing
Let us go with Jesus,
the light who guides us on our way.
All:
May God who established the dance of creation,
Who marvelled at the lilies of the field,
Who transforms chaos to order,
Lead us to transform our lives and the Church
To reflect God’s glory in creation.
(adapted from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland)
