O God, we pray for the church, which is

O God, we pray for the church, which is set amid the con­fusion of contemporary life and is face-to-face with a great new task.

Be with your church, O God.

Grant the church a new birth through the labor of repen­tance. Put upon its lips the ancient gospel of God.

Be with your church, O God.

Help it to boldly proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God.

Be with your church, O God.

Fill it with the prophet’s scorn of tyranny, and with a Christlike tenderness for the burdened and the oppressed. Give it faith to defend the cause of the people.

Be with your church, O God.

Let it cease from seeking its own life, lest that life be lost. Make it courageous to give up its life to humanity, as did the crucified Christ, in whose name we pray.

Be with your church, O God. Amen.