Uniting in Prayer is an invitation for the whole Church to slow down, listen deeply to God, and reconnect with one another across cultures, communities and distances.

From Pentecost Sunday on 24 May to the 49th Anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia on 22 June, we are embarking on a shared season of national prayer.

Over these 30 days, 30 voices from across the Church will come together. Each day, a new voice will lead us in praying as one body around a single, unifying question: “What does it mean to be woven together in Christ's love across cultures and boundaries?”

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Day 5: A Season of Renewal

I write this prayer in the context of remembering – people we have lost too soon – who have blessed and renewed the church. I am thankful for their gift, and for the prayers, (liturgy and song) of the Taizé community.

- Rev Felicity Amery

Loving God, Creator, Redeemer and Friend, who is never an act that isolates or separates us. You open us to love the people entrusted to us, but also to discover a way of looking kindly on those we find hard to love, those we do not see, those voices we do not hear.

Breath your Spirit, the Spirit of peace and love, upon us, so that little by little we can go forward.

Taizé chant – My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Trouble not your hearts. My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Be not afraid.

Renewing Spirit, the words of Christ are the way that leads to life, the way to ever greater loving. When we look at how you lived amongst us, we understand that love is far more than a good feeling. It is a gift of ourselves for people you entrust to us, which make your presence tangible.

We pause to remember the saints of the church.

Taizé chant – My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Trouble not your hearts. My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Be not afraid.

Holy Spirit guide us in Christs way. Remind us that in Christ we find the courage to listen, the right words, an ever-flowing spring that quenches our thirst and gives us hope.

By raising Jesus from the dead, you show us that nothing can separate us from your love. Where obstacles and resistance arise, may the Spirit persevere in seeking ways to reflect your mercy, your kindness and your grace.

Taizé chant – My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Trouble not your hearts. My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Be not afraid.

Communion of God, your presence remains a mystery to us. We know that you walk with us, but so often we do not see you. We know you speak to us and through us. We read your scriptures and we share in the bread and wine in memory of you.

And in the silence of our prayers, questions come from deep within us.

You knock at our door, passing gently into our lives. You are there deep within us. We long to live and understand your loving. Renew us with your Spirit.

Taizé chant – My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Trouble not your hearts. My peace O leave you, my peace I give you. Be not afraid.

Rev Felicity Amery
Moderator, Northern Synod