Call to Worship: Your Church Gathers

Here’s a contemporary call to worship (or opening prayer) written by Kristin Holbrook.

Contemporary Call to Worship

Your church gathers, Lord,
in Virginia and Mozambique,
in Brazil and to the ends of the earth.
Your church gathers, Lord,
in city and country, in suburbs and slums,
in sanctuaries and buildings,
under trees and by streams of water.
Your people gather to praise you, Lord,
in English and in Portuguese,
with organ and guitar and drum,
with voices of young and old,
with song and with silence,
with dance and with prayer.
Your people praise you, Lord,
for hope in the midst of despair,
for strength in times of weakness,
for justice in situations of oppression,
for courage in the face of fear,
for life in the midst of death.
We are the people who call you Lord.
Let everything that breathes, praise you Lord!

~ written by Kristin Holbrook, Brazil 2008.  From a collection of calls to worship on the Roanoke UMC website. http://www.roanokeumc.org/