FOR THE CHURCH

O gracious God, we pray for your holy Church universal,
that you would be pleased to fill it with all truth, in all peace.
Where it is corrupt, purify it;
where it is in error, direct it;
where in any thing it is amiss, reform it;
where it is right, establish it;
where it is in want, provide for it;
where it is divided, reunite it;
for the sake of him who died and rose again,
and ever lives to make intercession for us,
Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.
(THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, U.S.A., 20TH CENT., ALT.)

Most merciful Father,
send your heavenly blessings upon this your Church,
that all its members may dwell together in unity and love.
Keep far from us all self–will and discord.
Endue your pastors with righteousness,
and enable them faithfully to fulfill their ministry,
to bring again the outcasts, and to seek the lost.
And grant to us so to receive their ministrations,
and to use your means of grace,
that in all our words and deeds
we may seek your glory and the advancement of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, U.S.A., 20TH CENT., ALT.)

O God of all times and places,
we pray for your Church,
which is set today amid the perplexities of a changing order,
and face to face with new tasks.
Baptize her afresh in the life–giving spirit of Jesus.
Bestow upon her a great responsiveness to duty,
a swifter compassion with suffering,
and an utter loyalty to your will.
Help her to proclaim boldly the coming of your kingdom.
Put upon her lips the ancient gospel of her Lord.
Fill her with the prophets' scorn of tyranny,
and with a Christlike tenderness for the heavyladen and downtrodden.
Bid her cease from seeking her own life, lest she lose it.
Make her valiant to give up her life to humanity,
that, like her crucified Lord,
she may mount by the path of the cross to a higher glory;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH, U.S.A., 20TH CENT., ALT.)

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Copyright: Prayers 1 and 2: The Book of Common Prayer (The Episcopal Church, 1928), 37, 547. All three prayers are Public Domain.