Ideas to bring together our work and worship
Joanna Cox, formerly the Church of England's National Adviser in Lay Discipleship and Shared Ministry, encourages us to bring together our work and worship.
Why?
'Send us out, in the power of your spirit, to live and work to your praise and glory.' This prayer, sometimes used towards the end of a church service, reminds us that praise should continue – and not be forgotten – until the congregation arrives at church the following week.
Living and working to God's glory is our calling and aspiration. We are all called to be disciples '24/7'. Our worship must reinforce our recognition of daily activity as a valued part of God's purpose and of our service and praise. A wise spiritual mentor once said, 'We become what we pray.' What is true for an individual is also true for a church community. If we are to become a church of whole-life disciples, we must pray for this in our corporate worship, asking God to use all our activities as channels of grace to the world.
We need to do this continually, offering prayers for the work and witness of all worshippers, not just for the minister and family. We may praise and thank God for the different ways in which we experience grace in the world, as well as for the good things that happen within the congregation. We may offer intercession for the challenges faced by congregation members in their daily work, as well as for current world crises or disasters reported by the media. We may think, too, of the witness offered by the church, as well as the witness offered by involvement in the wider community.
When?
The summer months offer a time of refreshment and renewal; one session comes to an end and another begins. This offers an opportunity to hold a service of thanks for activities that have been undertaken, or of commitment to work that is to be done in the months ahead. Other opportunities to focus on this theme may be particularly appropriate in certain denominations or geographical contexts. Several denominations designate a particular Sunday as 'Vocations Sunday': this is a chance to remember a range of callings and service. Harvest celebrations offer an opportunity to focus on the offering and stewardship of the gifts we use in the world. Some Church of England parishes mark 'Rogationtide' – the traditional time to pray for seed that has been sown. This offers opportunities to pray for the growth and development of the service we offer in the world.
How?
The following suggestions are ingredients that can be woven into any worship service. Alternatively, they could be put together to create a service that celebrates and prays for the life, activity and work in which members of the congregation are involved. It is important to include those whose current chapter of life involves retirement, unemployment, voluntary work, parenthood or domestic caring roles as well as those in administrative, leadership support and service activities.
Possible Bible readings
Proverbs 8.22-31
Amos 5.6-15
Micah 6.6-8
Matthew 5.13-16
Matthew 25.14-29
Matthew 25.31-40
Luke 10.25-37
Pray
A prayer of intercession
Alternatively this can be adapted and used as a meditation.
Lord Jesus, we give thanks that you came to live, incarnate, in this world. We ask you to live in us, so through us your love may be seen in the world.
Lord Jesus, carpenter of Nazareth, we pray for those who make and mend,
craftsmen and labourers
in workshops, factories and homes,
in town and in country.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, who walked in fields and with fishermen on the shore,
we pray for those who help provide our daily needs
from land and sea,
producing and moving and distributing,
maintaining services we often take for granted.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, friend of outcasts and sinners,
we pray for those whom society sidelines and those who work with them
in prisons and in courts,
with asylum seekers and refugees,
amongst elderly people and those with mental difficulties.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, healer and life giver,
we pray for those who work to promote healing and health,
medical workers and researchers,
those who shape and organise health services,
carers in communities and hospitals.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, teacher on hillside and in synagogue,
we pray for those who teach and show others the way,
parents and carers of children,
workers in schools and colleges and universities,
makers of resources that encourage learning.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, who challenged convention and asked questions,
we pray for those who speak out for the values of your kingdom,
those who challenge injustice and untruth,
those who campaign for the well-being of others,
those whose work promotes the common good.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, hailed as king,
we pray for those who lead and those who govern,
those whose decisions shape patterns of business, commerce and trade,
those who hold power in local and national government,
those who seek to create a peaceful and just world for all.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, scorned and rejected,
we pray for those who feel they are not wanted or needed,
those who seek employment,
those who have no home,
those whose lives feel curtailed by illness, disability or bereavement.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, dying for others,
we pray for those who daily make sacrifices for the good of others,
supporting the vulnerable,
working as volunteers in communities,
those whose sacrifices are known to you alone.
Inspire them, Lord Jesus.
Fill them with your love.
Lord Jesus, risen and glorious,
we pray for all those who through their lives bring hope to others,
those whose gifts and skills enrich our lives,
those whose work brings light to the world,
Inspire us all, Lord Jesus.
Fill us with your love and grace,
so that our lives reveal your hope and glory in the world.
Amen.
Offertory
The offertory is sometimes thought of as a 'collection', rather than as an 'offering of gifts'. Plan an offertory procession so that people (either representatives or, with prior notice, all who would like to participate) bring a symbol of their activity or work and offer it at a central point. For example, a shop worker might bring an item of their 'uniform', a craftsperson a tool of the trade, a parent a book on childrearing. In an all-age service a child could bring a schoolbook or toy and so on.
It is appropriate to say a prayer over the offerings:
We offer these symbols of our life in our work,
in the name of the Father, who created the world, and all that is in it,
in the name of the Son, who offered himself,
in the name of the Spirit, who empowers our lives today.
Amen.
Appropriate Scripture verses are 1 Chronicles 29.14 or Matthew 5.16.
Creative ideas that could be included in this service
1. Monday morning
Advance preparation
Make available postcard-size cards and a crayon for each person.
Activity
- Invite people to draw on the card a sketch of the place where they will be on Monday (or where they regularly spend weekdays).
- In pairs or small groups, invite people to share where this is and what they will be doing, and pray for each other.
- People can be invited to come and put their cards in a suitable place (maybe at the front of the church). An appropriate song could be used while this is done – such as the South African song 'Thuma Mina' (Send me, Lord) in Common Ground , or Matt Redman's 'I will offer up my life'
2. Based on a service held at St Martin-in-the-Fields
Advance preparation
Arrange for three or four people to come forward with saucers of salt (more if numbers are large). If your church has a large candle (such as a paschal candle) stand around this.
Activity
Read Matthew 5.13-16
Christ bids us be salt of the earth.
Lord, make us salt of the earth
for the service of your people and the glory of your kingdom.
Christ bids us be the light to the world.
Lord, make us light to the world,
showing light to your people for the glory of your kingdom.
Invite people to come forward to receive a pinch of salt in the palm of their hand, given with the words: 'Remember. You are salt and light for the world.'
Music and additional resources
Some songs can be adapted by adding extra verses, for example 'In my life, Lord, be glorified' can include 'In my work, Lord… In my home, Lord…' and so on.
Brother, sister, let me serve you
Come, Holy Spirit, come
Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy
Make me a channel of your peace
May the mind of Christ my Saviour
O thou who camest from above
Take my life, and let it be
Teach me, my God and King
When I needed a neighbour, were you there
Additional prayers
A prayer of praise
O praise God in his holiness;
praise him in the world that he has made.
Praise him for his mighty love;
praise him for creating and inspiring life.
Praise him through our living and our working;
praise him through our speaking and making and thinking.
Praise him in encounters with neighbours and with strangers;
praise him in creations of art and of science.
Praise him through work for peace and for justice;
praise him through struggles for a world like his kingdom.
Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord through all its life.
Amen.
A prayer of confession
Christ has no body now on earth but ours,
no hands, no feet, on earth but ours.
Our hands have done our work, not Christ's – forgive us.
Our feet have followed our ways, not Christ's – forgive us.
Our eyes have not looked with Christ's compassion – forgive us.
May God forgive us and bless us.
Through God's grace, may we be Christ's body on earth.
Lord, may our hands do your work in the world – Christ be with us.
May our feet walk your way through the world – Christ be with us.
May we see the world with your eyes – Christ be with us.
Amen.
Books
Mark Greene, Supporting Christians at Work from www.licc.org.uk
Bernard Braley (Ed.), Touching the Pulse: Worship and Where We Work , Stainer and Bell, 1996, ISBN 0852498314.