Karen’s 1961 Prayer

Part of Karen’s prayer in the 1961 service, 10.30, 8.05.2011

Heavenly Father
As we celebrate this year our church’s 50th anniversary of being a part of the community of Anchorsholme, we give you thanks.
We thank you for the blessings that you have poured out on us,
And that with keeping our eyes on Christ at the centre,
We have been able to be a blessing to others.
As we serve you and proclaim the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection,
We ask that you fill us to overflowing with your Holy Spirit
To equip us and keep us a faithful family
And to continue to carry out the great privilege of being the body of Christ:
In our homes, in our workplaces, in our meeting places,
And here in our church as we meet to worship you,
In our local community.

Turning our eyes wider to the world
50 years ago our prayers would have reflected these times.
1961 saw John F Kennedy inaugurated as President of the United States.
The Space Race of men reaching the stars was underway.
Conflicts abroad in Cuba saw the Bay of Pigs invasion,
And as the Civil Rights movement gathered force in America
A wall was built in Berlin.
Throughout all this, God, you were.
Jesus who was, and is, and is to come.
You know eternity and have set eternity in our hearts.
We look back and see how things and times have changed,
But also acknowledge that some things are still the same
And sound so familiar.

‘O Give Thanks to the Lord,
For he is Good,
His steadfast love endures for ever.’