Disrupted -
A Poem From the New Parish Conference 2017
We
The gathered
And the dispersed
Are called into
The habit of community, called
To witness to unity and
unexpected beauty
To walk through our streets
As neighbourhood pilgrims
Facing chaos-crafted encounters
With listening ears, open hands
And humility
We
The gathered
And the dispersed
Are called into
Loving mutuality, called
To dwell deeply
With our neighbours
Becoming friends
Becoming family.
Living well with integrity
Taking the slow path
Holding hands -
Travelling light with former
strangers
Disrupting cynicism with hope
Ever deepening, ever lovingly
We
The gathered and
The dispersed
Are called into
Weaving peace into
A noisy world,
To live alongside
The displaced, in the midst of
empire
To build homes of hospitality
With deep down roots
To be open to interruption
Looking for disruption - holy
intersections
As kingdom collaborators
We
The gathered
And the dispersed
Are called into
Being present
Watching football with
Our neighbours or
Chatting while putting the bins
out, or
Finding our voice at a shared
table
With each other, sewing seeds of
resurrection
Amidst the noise.
We
The gathered
And the dispersed -
We are called.
A Prayer of
Preparation (A Sending Out) - A Prayer From the New Parish Conference 2017
Lord, Creator
Speaker
of love
Bringer
of peace
Sustainer
of all things
We come before you,
Bearing our scars
Nursing old wounds
Waylaid by past failures
Forgive us,
For
the time we have wasted
For
all our foolish outbursts and lack of discipline
For
all our well-intentioned programs that give no space for the voices of our
neighbours
Speak to us afresh,
Call
us from the shallows to the deep waters of the neighbourhood
Lead us by your Holy Spirit
Place your Word as a seal on
our hearts
Hold and sustain us
When we falter and fall back
into old damaging patterns
When
we slip into busyness
When
temptation whispers its seductions to us... “excellence”...
“success”...
Transform us by the power of your Holy Spirit
Strengthen
our resolve to seek you
Open
our hearts to your mysteries
Open
our eyes to see as you see
Call us onwards
Into
our streets
Into community
Into
service
Attune us to your ways
That we might
Live
simply
Learn
obediently
Worship
extravagantly
All this we pray, in the name of
The Father
The Son
And the Holy Spirit
Amen.
Prayer adapted from ‘A
Prayer of Preparation’, in Tim Watson, Journey
to the Inward Wild (Proost, London: 2016)