Thought for the Day-A Grace Exchange?

The Corn Exchange, Mark Lane (published by Rudolph Ackermann, 1808)

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime Harvest Festival at St Olave Hart Street based on the text of 2 Corinthians 9.6-11.

Prayers of Intercession - God of the Margins

Ruth Gleaning. Study for the Painting 'The Gleaner', Sir Joseph Noel Paton, 1844 – Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Prayers written for the Business Harvest Festival at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 5th October 2022, based on the theme of ‘margins’ inspired by the message of Stephen’s excellent sermon, inspired by the Jewish practice of leaving the edge of the fields unharvested to make the grain available for the poor to glean (Deuteronomy 24.19).

 

God of the margins,

We pray for the church throughout the world; for all who use their gifts to glorify your name.

Strengthen those who practice their faith where the margin of safety is slim.

Guide your church to become a marginal habitat; a dynamic place of nurture, transition and change, 

  where we are each able to grow in your likeness;

offering space for reflection; a margin on the story of our lives. 

We welcome into your fellowship the recently baptised, including Leonora, and all those beginning a new chapter in their life of faith.

 

Lord in your mercy

Hear our prayer 

Prayers of Intercession - The Wedding at Cana

Miracle at Cana, Wilson Bigaud, 1951 

Prayers written for The Second Sunday of Epiphany (Year C) based on readings from Isaiah 62.1-5, 1 Corinthians 12.1-11 and John 2.1-11 and the text of The Marriage Service

Almighty God, you blessed the wedding at Cana with your presence

and bless all who have vowed to follow you. 

By your Spirit, unite your church, that it might be a sign of your transforming love to all people.

We pray for our Bishops, Priests, Deacons and all who serve in your name;

for those preparing to make or renew vows of commitment and for those experiencing relationship difficulties.

We give thanks for the gifts of faith, hope and love.

May we use them to reveal a foretaste of the riches of your kingdom on earth.

Sunday School - Good King Wenceslas

Good King Wenceslas by Arthur J Gaskin (1895)

As part of our project this term at St Stephen's Rochester Row, we were invited to prepare a video for Sunday School and a Primary School Assembly which you can see at this link! Our placement has involved many 'firsts' and this was the first time I have written a script for a Sunday School play. Due to the lockdown restrictions some members of the team were not able to join us at the church, so the cast includes two narrators. Good King Wenceslas was played brilliantly by Annie and the Poor Man by Grey. I played the role of King's servant and cameraman. 

Prayers of Intercession - Sacred Gifts

Sacred (Treasure of the Mountain) by Nicholas Roerich, 1933

Prayers of Intercession written for the Choral Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 19th November based on the readings from 1 Thessalonians 5.1-11 and Matthew 25.14-30

Prayers of Intercession - Christ has no hands now but yours

Study of the Hands of an Apostle, Albrecht Dürer 1508

Prayers written for the Business Harvest Festival at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 15th October 2020 which is also the Feast of St Teresa of Avila. The prayers are based on a famous prayer by St Teresa ‘Christ has body but yours’, as well as the readings for the service; Deuteronomy 8.7-18 and Luke 12.16-30. 

Start:Stop - Why Work?

Office in a Small City - Edward Hopper, 1953

Hello and welcome to this week’s Start:Stop reflection from St Stephen Walbrook, my name is Phillip Dawson. Under normal circumstances we would be repeating this short reflection in church every quarter of an hour; commuters on their way to work would drop in as they pass by, starting their day by stopping to reflect for a few minutes. For many, the journey to work at the moment is a somewhat shorter affair - and finding an appropriate environment in which to work may be more of a challenge than it was a few months ago! For those who have been furloughed during the coronavirus pandemic, there is an expectation that they won’t do much, if any work – at least not paid work for their employers.

In our reflection this morning we will be exploring our relationship with work. We begin with a short passage from scripture, to which the editors of the bible we use in church have chosen to add the rather ominous title “Warning Against Idleness.”

You can listen to a copy of this reflection here.