Bishop Martyn has called on us all to pray as we enter and journey through the Shaped By God Together process. So we have set out below some resources which might help you/your faith communities to do just that.
Prayer Resources
Practices For Paying Attention
Matt Long has worked with fellow artists in a group called 'Not Yet Now' to create some different resources that can help us each to focus and pay attenton to what God is doing or saying. You can adapt these to apply to your own context and what is happening in your own faith community. Theare are easy guides below - both in pdf document format for you to download and in one-,minute video versions which you can watch yourself and also share:
Prayer Practice - suggestions for individuals, households or small groups
Mandala Making video and Mandala Making pdf
Soundmapping video and Soundmapping pdf
Stone Stacking video and Stone Stacking pdf
Zentangle video and Zentangle pdf
Blackout Poetry video and Blackout Poetry pdf
Liturgy Resources
The liturgical resources provided below, designed to act as a stimulus for prayer, fall into three general categories:
- Praise (which may include or focus on thanksgiving for the past)
- Lament (which may include or focus on dwelling in the present)
- Hope (which may include or focus on looking to the future)
The idea is that churches can either hold one service which moves through all three elements, or hold three services (perhaps on consecutive Sundays or on several days in the same week), with each having a particular emphasis. The resources can be used in main Sunday worship, smaller midweek services, in home groups, or individually. There aren’t any “off the peg” services, but instead we offer options of resources communities can easily put together into something that best fits their tradition and context.
Each ‘theme’ has resources (primarily from Common Worship) in different sections:
- Gathering/opening prayers
- Praise responses
- Penitence
- Introductions to the Peace
- Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer
- Prayers for after Communion
- Blessing/conclusion