Prayers for General Synod
A Prayer in Preparation for General Synod
Eternal One, whose love draws the circle wide,
prepare a place in our hearts for you
as we prepare for General Synod.
Open our hearts to the communion you have given us in your Son,
that in beholding each other
we may honour that gift of life together in You.
Open our lives to share your love and mercy
as we look on each other and see Jesus
our joy, our way, our truth our life. Amen.
A Meditation
Holy One, Author of all creation,
the circles of our lives are drawn together
in your wisdom, joy and self-giving love.
Draw us together in compassion,
that we may behold one another in Christ.
Give us humility to confront, confess and forgive
all that falls short of your vision.
As you ever widen the circle of Jesus’ embrace,
make us one in your healing and reconciling grace.
With boldness may we seek your peace,
do your justice, and tend the wounds of your world
till the circle is unbroken in the eternal dance of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A Collect for the General Synod
God, your boundless love formed the whole of creation.
Shape the gathering of this General Synod,
that knowing you as our centre, we may join in your creative work,
drawing our world into the wide and ever wider circle of your embrace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in this General Synod for renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honour and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Book of Alternative Services, 1985
Almighty and everlasting God, who by thy Holy Spirit didst preside in the Council of the blessed Apostles, and hast promised, through thy Son Jesus Christ, to be with thy Church to the end of the world: We beseech thee to be present with the General Synod assembled in thy Name. Save its members from all error, ignorance, pride and prejudice; and of thy great mercy vouchsafe so to direct, govern and sanctify them in their deliberations by thy Holy Spirit, that through thy blessing the Gospel of Christ may be faithfully preached and obeyed, the order and discipline of thy Church maintained, and the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour enlarged and extended. Grant this, we beseech thee, through the merits and mediation of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Book of Common Prayer 1962
“God is as at the centre of the circle, equidistant from all parts” – Dante
“God is a circle of which the centre is everywhere and the circumference nowhere”
– Empedocles
“Fixe upon God any where, and you shall find him a Circle” – John Donne
Draw the Circle Wide… Draw it Wider Still…