Convention Prayers
A collection of Collects written for our Diocesan Convention
Among the many tasks I enjoy about my job as Canon to the Ordinary here in the Diocese of Tennessee, is the preparation for the closing worship for our Convention. This is a brief service, usually no more than one page. The Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Tennessee require that our Convention open with Eucharist, and that a Eucharist be celebrated each day of Convention. This means that the closing service does not need to be elaborate.
Part of what I do is to craft a collect appropriate to the occasion. In some years, I’ve been inspired by prayers from the tradition—often found in resources such as Give us Grace: An Anthology of Anglian Prayers or Love’s Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness.
Below are the collects from the last several Conventions:
The 189th Annual Convention (2021)
(Note the date on the logo was incorrect. We were so locked into referring to 2020)
Theme: The Wilderness Road
Almighty and Everlasting God, who through your beloved son has taught us the strength of weakness and the courage of gentleness; grant that we, along this wilderness road, may exercise with one another the gift of patience, and that we may not only bear one anothers burdens, but together lean on you and the power of your spirit, so that our limitations, being overcome by what only you can provide, may be your glory, and our need, being met by your abundant grace, become the heart of our testimony; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The 190th Annual Convention (2022)
Theme: Truth Shall Spring up from the Earth, and Righteousness Look Down from Heaven
O Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who came not to strive nor cry, but to let your words fall as the drops that water the earth; grant all who contend for the faith once delivered, never to injure it by clamour and impatience; but speaking your truth in love, so to present it that it may be loved, and that all may see in it your goodness and beauty; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen1
The 191st Annual Convention (2023)
Theme: My Grace is Sufficient for You
Almighty and eternal God, who bestows upon all your people grace, mercy, and peace. Fill our hearts, we pray, which are your own, with your gifts, and adorn them with your graces, that our every heartbeat, every pulse, may be a prayer; and every prayer, charged with the Holy Spirit, a fit sacrifice for your altar, through Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest. Amen2
The 192nd Annual Convention (2024)
Theme: Abide in my Love
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. (John 15:9)
Almighty and eternal God, whose very life is constancy, and in whom there is no variation or shadow of change, you know our need before the asking. Amid uncertainty--changes, challenges, and cares--fill our hearts with the knowledge of your unfailing care for us and all you have made, so that we may abide in the assurance of what is certain from the foundation of all: your love for us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, world without end. Amen
Adapted from a prayer by Frederick Temple, 1821 - 1902, found in Give us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers ed. Christopher Webber, p. 289
Adapted from a prayer by Bryan Duppa (1588 - 1662), found in Give us Grace: An Anthology of Anglican Prayers ed. Christopher Webber, p. 59