Prayers
Prayers form a central feature of Episcopal worship.
Rather than uniting around complete agreement on doctrines, Episcopalians and others in the Anglican Communion unite around the shared practice of prayer.
The title of the Book of Common Prayer captures this idea of worshiping together, praying together. “Common” prayer means that prayer is something we have in common – something we do together. Regardless of all the differences among us, we turn to God together in prayer.
Types of Prayer
The prayer book includes various types of prayer, classified by their format or their purpose. For example, a longer back-and-forth style is called a ‘litany.’ A frequently used style offering a succint summary is called a ‘collect’ because it collects together several ideas in one prayer. Those leading worship can choose from several forms of the Eucharistic prayer and several options for the “Prayers of the People.” Some prayers in the book are for the whole community gathered together, and some are for people to use individually or as a family or small group at home, at work, and in daily life.
Why Written Prayers?
Writing a particular prayer down makes it possible for everyone to pray together. Written prayers also give a starting point when a person doesn’t know how to pray, in the middle of a difficult situation. The prayer book offers the collected experience of generations of people facing similar situations in their lives, such as sickness, grief, joy, and gratitude.
The prayer book offers guidelines on how to pray. People using them can expand on the framework and offer completely unique prayers as well.
Litany for Social Justice
The Litany for Social Justice will be prayed as part of the opening worship service for the 2020 Diocesan Convention. This is part of the work for racial justice and reparations that we pledged to undertake via a resolution passed at the 2019 Diocesan Convention in the wake of a powerful address by Bishop Eugene Sutton of Maryland. Please read it, pray it, so when we all join together in the live streamed worship at 10 am Saturday, November 14,…
Bishop Mayer statement in wake of Odessa mass shooting
Bishop Scott Mayer has issued this statement in the wake of the mass shooting in Odessa. ——————- And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 13:34). The first words of Odessa Medical Center Hospital CEO Russell Tippin at the news briefing in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Odessa that left five dead and 21 wounded were about love. He asked everyone in the sound…
Prayer Cycle – 2022
The churches and people of the North Region of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas pray continuously for each other, for our brothers and sisters throughout the Anglican Communion. Download Prayer Cycles The diocesan prayer cycle offers two PDF documents for the entire calendar year. One is for Sundays and one for weekdays (Monday-Saturday). EDOTN Prayer Cycle Sundays (PDF) EDOTN Prayer Cycle – Weekdays (PDF) Throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion, daily prayer for provinces, dioceses, and bishops is encouraged: Anglican Cycle of Prayer…
Burial rites in Episcopal church offer comfort, joy, and hope
On page 506 of The Book of Common Prayer of The Episcopal Church is An Order for Burial. It lays out in clear language the order of the service, which remains essentially the same, no matter who is being buried. Everything is grounded in the hope of the Resurrection. The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we too, shall be raised. The liturgy, therefore, is characterized…
Litany in the wake of a mass shooting
Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a group of more than 80 bishops, including Bishop Scott Mayer, released a Litany in the Wake of a Mass Shooting today, following yet another in an almost daily occurrence in the United States this year. “We mourn the murder of 12 precious children of God today in Thousand Oaks, California, and we weep for those who have lost people who were dear to them. We offer our prayers for solace, for healing and for…
Independence Day – Collects for ALL in our nation
Every year, Byron Rushing, vice-president of The Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, shares this about the prayers our Church and people pray on Independence Day. We offer it as a wider perspective on history and as an encouragement to think more critically about the long, hard road to freedom that many in our country have faced. Rushing writes: “July 4 lands on a Wednesday this year; I write this for those who will be commemorating Independence Day then or on Sunday, July 1. “Let me take this…
Prayer Formats: the Collect
The prayer format perhaps most characteristic of the Book of Common Prayer is the collect. A collect is a brief prayer that brings together several ideas succinctly. Though not a common word now, it’s just the noun version of the verb “to collect.” A collect often follows a format something like this: Address – the prayer begins with a name for God and often a description of God’s character or actions. Petition & Purpose – this section asks for something and…
A Prayer for Fridays
Lord Jesus Christ, by your death you took away the sting of death: Grant to us your servants so to follow in faith where you have led the way, that we may at length fall asleep peacefully in you and wake up in your likeness; for your tender mercies’ sake. Amen.
Prayers at the blessing of a marriage
When two people desire to form a lasting, lifelong partnership with each other in God’s love, they make their vows before God and the gathered community of family, friends and the Church. They in turn receive the grace and blessing of God to help them fulfill those vows. These are some of the prayers that The Episcopal Church uses in the blessing of a marriage: O God, you have so consecrated the covenant of marriage that in it is represented…
Prayers for the Royal Wedding
A prayer from the Church of England God of love, send your blessing upon Harry and Meghan, and all who are joined in marriage, that, rejoicing in your will and continuing under your protection, they may both live and grow in your love all their days, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Marriage prayers in The Episcopal Church When two people desire to form a lasting, lifelong partnership with each other in God’s love, they make their vows before God and…
Prayer Cycle – 2018
The churches and people of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth pray continuously for each other, for our brothers and sisters throughout the Anglican Communion, and for those who have separated from us. Download Prayer Cycles The diocesan prayer cycle offers two PDF documents for the entire calendar year. One is for Sundays and one for weekdays (Monday-Saturday). EDFW Prayer Cycle – 2018 – Sundays (PDF) EDFW Prayer Cycle – 2018 – Weekdays (PDF) Throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion, daily prayer for provinces, dioceses,…
A call to a season of prayer
Forward Movement is calling Episcopalians and all others to join with them in A Season of Prayer: For an Election, a 30-day season to pray daily with particular intention for this time in our national life. The season of prayer begins Sunday, October 9, and continues through the day after the election. The Rev. Scott Gunn, executive director of Forward Movement, explains: At a time when nearly everyone agrees that we are being consumed by fear and division, here is a chance to…
Noonday Prayer readers needed at Baylor All Saints Hospital
Baylor All Saints Hospital needs Noonday Prayer readers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week. Please call Deacon Janet Nocher at 817-292-1786 if you are willing to serve on one of these days. From the earliest days of the Church, people set aside times for prayers at 9 am, noonday, and at 3 pm. As monasticism developed, these became the hours of the “little offices” of Terce, Sext, and None. The 1979 Book of Common Prayer restores an abbreviated Noonday office. You…
Fort Worth AME churches invite community to march and pray in solidarity
In memory of the nine people killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, two African Methodist Episcopal churches in the Fort Worth area have organized a solidarity march and memorial prayer service the evening of Thursday, June 25, 2015. Our bishops, the Rayford High and Scott Mayer, encourage you to act and in the wake of this tragedy and to respond to our neighbors’ invitation to stand together in support. Details…
Prayer for Prisons and Correctional Institutions
Lord Jesus, for our sake you were condemned as a criminal: Visit our jails and prisons with your pity and judgment. Remember all prisoners, and bring the guilty to repentance and amendment of life according to your will, and give them hope for their future. When any are held unjustly, bring them release; forgive us, and teach us to improve our justice. Remember those who work in these institutions; keep them humane and compassionate; and save them from becoming brutal or callous. And since what we do for…
Prayer for the Victims of Addiction
O blessed Lord, you ministered to all who came to you: Look with compassion upon all who through addiction have lost their health and freedom. Restore to them the assurance of your unfailing mercy; remove from them the fears that beset them; strengthen them in the work of their recovery; and to those who care for them, give patient understanding and persevering love. Amen.