Invocation for Annual Meeting
Here is a prayer of invocation I wrote and delivered for a plenary session of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Vermont Conference, UCC. The theme was: “Diving In: The Living Waters of the Vermont Conference” which accounts for the water imagery in the prayer. It could be adapted for use in a variety of settings.
God…your life-giving water is everywhere.
It flows from our faucets…it streams through our backyards…
…it falls from the sky…it pools in our lakes…and it covers most of our world.
Our bodies…God…are saturated with it.
As we worship you this morning…
…we pray that your Holy Spirit… you know that same Spirit…
…who swept over the face of the waters at creation…
…who descended at Jesus’ Baptism just as he came up out of the water…
…who was present at our own Baptisms…
…and who continues to blow throughout creation…
…we pray that this one…will sweep over us today in our worship and our work:
not in a distant way…not in a passing way…
…but in a way that rattles our bones…and messes up our hair…
…and gives us goose-bumps…and causes us to gasp…
…and transforms us to the point…
…where we can’t help but dive into the living waters…
…where we can’t help but claim our identity…
…where we can’t help but give witness to the risen Christ…
…where we can’t help being church…
…and where we can’t help fearless discipleship.
Asking much then…expecting much…beloved God…
…blowing God…God of over-flowing and ever-flowing water…
…we pray boldly to you…risking that you will meet us here…
…risking that you will give us what we ask for…
…risking that the Vermont Conference…and each of our churches…
…and every single person who calls them home…
…will be good news. AMEN.
© Rev. Kevin Goldenbogen, 2016
