During Lent, as part of each service the congregation has filled out prayer circles - colored paper with a prayer prompt based on the scripture/sermon theme.
First was "gratitude" - Thank you God for these blessings . . .
Second was "darkness- Faithful God, shine some light on the darkness surrounding . . .
Third was "appetite"- Help me to stop "snacking" on . . . Help me to hunger for . . .
Fourth was "relationship" - Show me how to participate in reconciliation with . . .
And this week we did "vision" - Help me to see . . . in the light of Christ.
People were encouraged to offer these prayers to God during offering time, and to put the circles in the offering plate as it passed.
I prayed these prayers during the week, and it made me feel much closer to my congregation. Sometimes I could tell who had written a particular thing. Sometimes I couldn't, which was also humbling for someone who thinks she knows "her" people pretty well.
Now I am gluing the circles, message side down, into a quilt like pattern. I'm not really sure what I'll do with it. But it is sort of pretty. And it is a nice paper demonstration of the way we pray for and with one another.
Anyway . . . for what it's worth.
2 comments:
Hi Cindy,
I love this prayer circles idea & will tuck it away in my mind somewhere for future use. Thanks for sharing.
.. and please don't worry about RGBP postings last week. As I explained to Sophia:
I didn't actually intended the first comment on my email on ATM this week to be published - serves me right for not making myself clear.
Similarly last week - I didn't mean to imply that people with hearing problems are crabby or bullies - my dad is very deaf (has been all my life - gives me a good strong preacher's voice!): I was just trying to illustrate that sometimes what seems like crabbiness has a really good reason behind it & maybe compromise was a strange word to use when maybe I should have said 'listen, learn & accommodate'!
I think I just felt a bit sore that I seem to have been misunderstood - partly because I feel to be churning out words at the moment - trying to get a 14,000 word MA dissertation finished by April 15th and it is so nearly holy week! - and maybe I didn't choose my ATM words as carefully as I might have.
Hope that feels to explain it.
Have a really blessed Holy Week +
I do love this contact with people through Revgalblogpals, though!
Me, too. Thanks, Ruth!
Good luck with your thesis, and I hope YOUR Holy Week is wonderful, too.
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