I am much happier working with someone than working alone. Sometimes being alone with a task is unavoidable. But Jesus knows that two is better than one, our witness is better, our work is easier, the burdens and the joys are shared when we walk and work with someone else. So from all those who were following him he chooses seventy to go out and prepare the way for him. He sends them – they are apostles.

But do we assume these were all men? Luke doesn’t say so and in fact they most probably weren’t. So Jesus sends out women and men as apostles to prepare the way, to work together, representing rounded, complete humanity an image of creation in mission. For God realised at creation that ‘It is not good that the man should be alone’ and it is true in life, in mission, in ministry.

Andrew Nunn

Prayer for the day
Creating God,
you call us to share,
through gift and grace,
in the making of your kingdom.
We thank you for all who
have inspired us through their
courage, vision and daring to
believe in a different future.

Redeeming God,
we celebrate the hard work of
those who seek a richer church,
where the talents of all its
members can be used to your
glory in the service of your
world.

Sustaining God,
keep us faithful to your gospel,
alert to our failings, and open to
your spirit in all creation.
Amen.

Hannah Ward and Jennifer Wild.

June 2014

Luke 10 1-12
Points for Prayer
We pray today:
for our prayer partners
for our mission partners
for those who minister alone
that mission and ministry may reflect the perfection of creation

The WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

Julian
Truth sees God:
Wisdom gazes on God:
and of these is born a third,
a holy, wondering delight in God
which is love.
Where there is indeed truth and wisdom,
there, too, is love,
springing from them both.
And we reflect him, seeing and knowing
that we have been made for love:
and in that love
God keeps us everlastingly.

God
It is I!
It is I, who am the strength and goodness of Fatherhood;
I who am the wisdom of Motherhood;
I who am light and grace and blessed love;
I who am Trinity; I who am Unity:
I who am the sovereign goodness
of every single thing;
I who enable you to love and long;
It is I, the eternal fulfilment of every genuine desire.

from a dialogue created by Alan Webster from the words of Julian of Norwich

Prayer for the day
Wise God declared,
It is not good that man should be alone…
Forgive our foolishness;
forgive our pride;
forgive us for not listening to your Word.

Holy Wisdom,
open our ears
to hear your truth;
guide our walk
in the way of insight;
remind us once again of God’s wise words:
It is not good that man should be alone.
Amen

Lindsay Southern

Wisdom 7:22-30
Points for Prayer
We pray today:

that wisdom is shown in the deliberations at General Synod
that loving wisdom is apparent where there is dissent
that the desire of women and men for a whole church may be fulfilled
that the wisdom of the outsider will be heard

The WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

And ain’t I a woman?
That little man in black there say a woman can’t have as much rights as a man ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman.
Where did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman.
Man had nothing to do with him.
If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down, all alone,
together women ought to be able to turn it right side up again.

From ‘Ain’t I A Woman?’
Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth was a black slave,
who made this speech at the Women’s Rights Convention in Ohio in 1852.

Prayer for the day
May God bless you
with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you
with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you
with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you
with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.
Amen
Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB

Luke 1:46-55
Points for Prayer
We pray today
for all who work for justice
for law-makers and judges
for peace-makers, peace-keepers and agencies working for those in need
for women subject to gender-based violence, and those who offer safe refuge

The WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

Paul’s words to the early church in Corinth, written in the context of factions, infighting and suffering, are deeply grounding. Praise God, he says. Praise God, because when we are vulnerable, we are offered such love and comfort that we can go out to love and comfort others.

The details of the factions and infighting have changed, but 2000 years later, they remain, and Paul’s injunctions remain as powerful as ever.

For some people, a vocation will be realised through an experience of loss. The strange story of the crucified and wounded Jesus speaks a truth that we shall never fully understand – through our loss, we can bring healing. In dying to ourselves, others can find life.

Naomi Shihab Nye expresses something of this paradox in her beautiful poem, Kindness:

‘Before you know what kindness really is,
You must lose things.’

Kate Tuckett

Prayer for the day
All praise to you,
God of grace,
who gives us the promise of eternal love.
May we have the courage to respond:
to live gracefully,
love generously, and
give as we have received,
so that we no longer live for ourselves,
but for Christ
who died for us;
and in entering
into the life of Christ,
may we give life abundant to the world.
Amen

Kate Tuckett

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Points for Prayer
We pray today for all who suffer loss:
practical loss: of homes and livelihoods, food and clean water
loss of opportunity: of education, of prospects, of future (globally girls are many times less likely to receive an education than boys)
loss of dreams: of vocation, of focus, of vision
loss of hope: of faith, of the sight of healing and transformation
May we stand in solidarity with all who experience loss, and offer our love and comfort.

The WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

Love God; Love your neighbour as yourself. This trinity of love is at the heart of our Christian faith and they are interdependent – you can’t have one without the others. The other side of the coin is the fact that God loves us.

A faith community that does not reflect this picture of love is failing in its mission. Women have been asked to give love unreservedly – we have been asked to accept second class status in the Church. We have been asked to be good girls.

But that time is over. Women are asking to be totally included – to be encouraged, to be affirmed, to be enabled to answer the call they have from God to serve God and God’s people, in every way that is open to men.

We know that God loves us; we need to know that God’s people love us too. Then the Church will be whole and we will have a message to the world that the world is longing to hear.

Lillalou Hughes

Prayer for the day
Bound, my soul,
up the steps
of heaven
like a child
come home
from a long
and weary day.

Leap, my heart,
and fall
into open arms
and press
tight against
your Mother’s
laughing breast.

Sigh,
and be
at peace

Christina Robertson,
in Lifting Women’s Voices

John 15:12; 1 John 4:19
Points for Prayer
We pray today:
for a Church that shows forth the love of God
for women who feel unloved
for women longing to live out their vocation
that our churches may be inclusive
that all may see the love of Christ in others
that we are willing to show “tough love” where necessary

The WATCH Prayer

Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

We believe that horizons of hope are never fixed.
They always move beyond,
in the creativity of God.

We believe that powers of evil cannot kill God.
God walks on free
and leaps off our crosses
in the risen Jesus Christ.

We believe that the Spirit
can never be confined.
She dances forth in the world
and is found in surprising places,
leading us on until the end of time.

Dorothy McRae-McMahon,
from Liturgies for the Journey of Life

Prayer for the day
Lord,
when we think only of our own wants and desires,
we are impatient
to have them satisfied;
yet in our hearts
we know that such satisfaction will crumble
to dust.
Give us that spirit of hope which can enable us
to want what you want,
and to wait patiently on your time
in the knowledge
that in you alone
is found true and lasting pleasure.
Amen

Mozarabic Sacramentary (3rd century)

Psalm 91
Points for Prayer
As we pray for a Church led by women and men together, we pray today for:
women who have been prepared by God to lead the Church of England as bishops
men and women who kept hope alive when the Church ignored or rejected their voices
our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church whose wait is long and arduous
protection from terror, pestilence and destruction for all who press on in hope at this time.

The WATCH Prayer

Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

This set of prayers and readings is for you to use during the nine days (Novena) leading up to the vote in General Synod on women bishops.

Many of us feel weary as we prepare, yet again, to hear the Church of England deliberate over the place of women. The shock, frustration, anger and sadness of the debate in November 2012 still marks us but there is hope in the way the church has moved forward with this proposed legislation. We are glad that there is a greater sense of trust but mindful of the continuing mistrust.

This spring has seen a celebration of the ministry of women priests with services and other events to mark 20 years of women’s priestly ministry in the Church of England. There have been moments of real affirmation and rejoicing.

We now await General Synod’s deliberations on the new legislation to allow women bishops.

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6,7

So we pray for Synod, for those speaking and all those voting. We pray for ourselves and the whole church. We pray on our own or with others. Additional prayers and readings, suitable for a longer vigil or prayer meeting, are on the WATCH website www.womenandthchurch.org or from the WATCH Office: St John’s Church, Waterloo Road, London SE1 8TY.

Let us pray.

Prayer for Day 1

Faithful God,
give us faith in you,
the one who answers prayers beyond our wildest dreams;
give us faith in you,
the one for whom nothing is impossible;
give us faith in you,
the one who brings life out of death;
give us faith in you,
the one whose kingdom will come.
Amen

Kat Campion-Spall

Exodus 15: 22-27
Points for Prayer
We pray in faith for –
Those who are weary of the continual debating of the question of women’s place in the church.
Those who feel that their needs are overlooked and their prayers unanswered
Those who have sustained our faith when we feel dry or lost.
Those who look to us for direction.

The WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when
men and women
can serve you,
and all people,
equally in every task
within your Church.
Thank you that every position held
and task done
is valued by you
and furthers
your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord
for hearing our prayer.
Amen

In the run up to General Synod, and we hope the final approval of women bishops, WATCH has produced some prayers and liturgy resources which supporters might find useful both for themselves and their churches.

We will also be publishing a Novena in the nine days leading up to the vote on 14th July.

At a press conference held today ahead of General Synod next month in York, WATCH was encouraged by the determination shown to pass the Women in the Episcopate legislation which will, we pray, receive final approval there.

The vote is expected to be close. This is the same Synod that did not pass the previous legislation in November 2012, and the same people will be voting, so the vote is likely to be tight. However, the new legislation has been agreed by all sides working together: it is much simpler, and gives space for everyone. The legislation has also received overwhelming support from the dioceses, including London and Chichester that voted against it last time.

The wider Church is waiting, watching and willing Synod to say yes this time. This is a moment to reflect on how far we have come and we pray for those voting next month at General Synod. That they might vote in favour for the good of the whole Church and for the courage to abstain if they cannot.

Hilary Cotton, chair of WATCH said, “After 14 years of work on this issue, the mission of the church desperately requires it to be resolved. With a positive result this time the church’s work in God’s world will gain fresh energy, and new opportunities will be opened to us to tell the good news. Please let us not turn our backs on that again.”

____________________

For further details and photographs:

www.womenandthechurch.org.

www.facebook.com/WomenandtheChurch

Twitter. @WATCH_ACT

Contact:

Jody Stowell – Media Officer WATCH

0208 8611710

07940 432410

Women and the Church (WATCH) is delighted and hugely encouraged by the overwhelming support given by 100% of diocesan synods for the new Women in the Episcopate legislation. Such a resounding endorsement, including from the dioceses of London and Chichester which voted against last time, gives us significant hope and encouragement for the final vote at General Synod in July.

Chair of WATCH, Hilary Cotton said, ‘This is really, really good news in the lead-up to the Final Approval vote. In most dioceses over 90% of votes were cast in favour: surely General Synod cannot turn their backs on this again?’