South Georgia Week of Prayer - January 2018

South Georgia Conference Week of Prayer: January 14-21, 2018

Thanks to the deacons of our annual conference, led by Rev. Meg Procopio, resources are available to guide our week of prayer. Click here to download.

Sunday begins our conference’s designated week of prayer for The United Methodist Church and the work of the Commission on a Way Forward. During this week of prayer, will you join me in worshipping and praying daily using a guide written by our Conference’s deacons? They have also provided a breath prayer to help guide our worship each day.

I am also asking you and your congregation to take time during your regular service of worship on January 21 to pray for the Commission on a Way Forward. You can do this in any number of ways – either through using one of the prayers provided by our deacons, leading your own prayer during the normal service of worship, or by hosting a special prayer vigil that day. In addition to the prayers, the deacons have prepared a litany that can be used in a worship service.

And now, wherever you may be at this moment, please join me in the following prayer.

Lord of all, we praise you for the Wesleyan movement through which millions
of people have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and follow Him in their daily lives.
Inspired by what You have done to bring us to this day, we ask You to bless and
empower The United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ
for the transformation of the world. We pray especially for Your guidance for the
Commission on a Way Forward and for the Council of Bishops.
Give to them—and to us—the mind of Christ and enable us to abide in Him
so that we may be fruitful disciples in our own day and time.
In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.

Through prayer, we are Alive Together in Christ!

Lawson Bryan

 CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

"We are going to pray this week, and every week, for the unity of our denomination, recognizing that our unity is found in Jesus Christ. He is the One who holds us together, whatever we may face in our own lives and in our world. We are also going to pray for the work of the Commission on a Way Forward, for they have been brought together because of their devotion to Christ. We pray God’s blessing upon them and the work they have been called to do."

Week of Prayer

This coming Sunday marks the beginning of South Georgia’s Week of Prayer for The United Methodist Church’s “Praying Our Way Forward” initiative.

During the Week Of Prayer, which runs Jan. 14 through Jan. 21, South Georgia United Methodists are being asked to commit to worshipping and praying daily using a guide written by the Conference’s deacons. A breath prayer is provided to help guide each day’s worship. 

The “South Georgia Prays” daily prayer guide may be found online here. Prayers will also be posted on the Conference’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Click here to subscribe to the denomination's daily prayer emails.

The denomination-wide “Praying Our Way Forward” initiative launched New Year’s Day 2017 with 75 weeks of focused prayer for The United Methodist Church. Each annual conference will take one week to pray for the mission of The United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and for the work of the Commission on a Way Forward. The Commission was proposed by the Council of Bishops and approved by the 2016 General Conference to do a complete examination and possible revision of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and explore options that help to maintain and strengthen the unity of the church.

Bishop Bryan has also asked each South Georgia congregation to take time during its Jan. 21 worship service to pray for the Commission on a Way Forward. He gave pastors and church leaders several ways to engage in corporate prayer for the work of the commission and the future of The United Methodist Church: through the Corporate Litany for Worship written by the Conference’s deacons, through a prayer from the umcprays.org website, with an original prayer, or by hosting a special prayer vigil.

“We are called to a posture of prayer, praying for God’s leadership to guide us effectively in fulfilling the mission of the church,” he said. “All persons – clergy and laity, conferences and congregations – across the denomination are invited to pray for God’s guidance.”

umcprays.org

A Note from Bishop Bryan

I am deeply grateful for the work we have already been doing in South Georgia to equip ourselves for crucial conversations around the recommendations for a Way Forward that will be coming to us in the months ahead.

One of the resources we will be offering to the churches of South Georgia is a process for meaningful engagement with whatever recommendations come to us. I want this to be a time when we experience being Alive Together in Christ as we have important conversations about a future that is fruitful for Christ.

There is one thing, however, that we can all do right now, and that is PRAY.

Each annual conference has been asked to take one week to lead the denomination in prayer. Prayers from the South Georgia Conference will be featured the week of January 14-21, 2018. To join in the prayers from across the connection, visit umcprays.org and sign up for the daily email.

I invite you to join me and the Praying Our Way Forward movement, co-chaired by Bishop Deborah Wallace-Padgett and Bishop Al Gwinn, in praying for the work of the Commission on a Way Forward.

This prayer movement is a response to the Council of Bishops initiative. We are called to a posture of prayer, praying for God’s leadership to guide us effectively in fulfilling the mission of the church. All persons – clergy and laity, conferences and congregations – across the denomination are invited to pray for God’s guidance.

I am also asking you and your congregation to take time during your regular service of worship on January 21 to pray for the Commission on a Way Forward. You can do this in any number of ways – either through using one of the prayers from the website, leading your own prayer during the normal service of worship, or by hosting a special prayer vigil that day.

Thanks to the deacons of our annual conference, led by Rev. Meg Procopio, for taking the lead in our conference’s prayer initiative. The deacons are preparing daily prayers as well as a litany that you can use with your congregation on January 21. I will send it to you in the weeks ahead.

To recap, I invite you to do three things:

1. Sign up to receive the daily prayer from umcprays.org. Then make this a part of your daily prayer practice.

2. Encourage your congregation to sign up and pray each day using prayers from umcprays.org.

3. Use the litany our deacons are developing to engage in an intentional time of prayer for the Commission on the Way Forward during your January 21 worship service. 

I pray that our conference will act with confidence and hope in the power of the Holy Spirit as we navigate the days ahead.

Through prayer, we are Alive Together in Christ!

Lawson Bryan