The following prayers were offered during worship on our final Sunday at 1200 Wilmington Avenue. The prayers were written by Maren Tirabassi especially for this moment in the life of our church.
Prayer of thanksgiving for the holy place at Brook and Wilmington
There is salt in this Brook and Wilmington earth, O God. We give thanks for every supper shared, every hymn sung, every youth group party, every Sunday School crayon, every joke in a sermon, every kind word at coffee hour, every prayer chain that touched a heart, every budget meeting, every window cleaning, every lily or poinsettia, every small and hidden way we have shared our faith.
There is light in this Ginter Park air, O God. We give thanks for every Baptism, every Christmas Eve and Easter morning, every loaf broken and cup poured. We give thanks for the promises in weddings and the prayers at funerals. We give thanks for the hungry fed, the homeless sheltered, our visits to prisoner and patient, our gifts of clothes or holiday gifts or footsteps on a walk. We give thanks for the gospel message radiant in word and action, as we have been the light of the world, bright in this place.
We praise you for your call to be salt of the earth and light of the world. Send us forth with gratitude for all that has gone before and in anticipation of your plans for us to be a community of faith-flavor and shine. Amen
Prayer for the new congregation arriving
God of new beginnings and hopes, and of borrowed upper rooms and resurrection tombs, we give thanks that this Ginter Park Baptist Church emerged from reconstructed physical aspects of Grace Presbyterian Church, and that we have a chance to pass on this building we have loved, mended, cleaned, cursed, wandered in, and treasured for a hundred years to Eternity Church.
Bless their new ministry. Send your bright Spirit, your sustaining grace, your sweet peace upon all that they do. May they feel the sacred history of this place embracing them while they reach into the new adventure of their mission.
May we always say, “This is Eternity Church’s faith home, and we will pray for you.”
Prayer for the “stuff”
God, we thank you for the heart-messages embedded in physical aspects of Ginter Park – the worn out wreath that remembers a tender Christmas pageant, the pattern of light on pew through a beautiful window one funeral morning that meant there was still sunshine, even the bent poster from an old fair or potluck or barbecue that just seems soaked in laughter and friendship. We are leaving behind “things” that we don’t need or that are worn out or that don’t fit our church’s future and we are embarrassed for our tears.
You, who understand how precious parables can be, help us to honor these feelings and celebrate the mustardseeds, wineskins and pearls of the past, even while we anticipate the new growth, community, and treasure of the future. Amen
Prayer for Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Gracious God, we give thanks for the welcome of Baptist Theological Seminary – our ark in the storm, Jacob’s pillow, Lydia’s home, tent in the wilderness, well of living water. We are given a home for our wayfaring and we rejoice.
Bless this seminary as it prepares and educates pastors and counselors, chaplains and theologians, social workers and missionaries. Help us to learn during our sojourn in this academic community something about our ministry as a local church in a changing world, even as our hosts learn new things about faith and congregation because we make our holy space in their midst.
Guide us, O God, in living this covenant — to be mutual in care, understanding of both sets of unique needs, hesitant in complaint, generous with possibilities for sharing, and, in all things, committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Prayer for discerning the future (taken from words in the “Building Narrative)
God we do not know what happens next,
but we are committed
to be the body of Christ,
to serve our neighbors, to walk together.
Now we know we can face challenge,
embrace change, let go of much from the past,
share sadness, loss and uncertainty,
and let go of our timetables and plans.
With you, we will live into our future,
find our path, claim our beginning,
discern the future.
This is our story, God.
It is a story we are making up as we go along.
It is less scripted, more improvisational;
less classical, more jazz.
And it is not finished,
because you are not finished with us. Amen.