Today is the first Sunday of a new year and the last Sunday that public worship will ever be observed in The Chapel Without Walls. We gather in praise of the God who has been with us every moment during the past twenty-one years, and who promises to be with each of us individually as we go our separate ways into the future. Let is give honor and thanksgiving to the God of all our beginnings and endings.
Pastoral Prayer
Gracious and ever-loving God, we gather to praise Thee for Thy presence with us during the past years of our existence as a small congregation of the vast ecumenical Church of Jesus Christ. We have been nourished and sustained by Thy spirit among and within us. We are grateful for the warm fellowship that has developed here, and the blessings we have been granted by our connections with one another. We thank Thee for all those who were with us in this congregation of the Church Temporal and now dwell with Thee in the Church Eternal. May the communion of saints that was engendered through the foundation of this congregation uphold us in the years to come, until at the last all of us shall be gathered together with all the saints from all times and places.
We ask for Thy blessings for all the Hilton Head churches in their efforts to strengthen Thy kingdom in this place. Despite any doctrinal or denominational differences they may have, may they together deepen their commitment to the one head of the one Church of Jesus Christ. Bless all churches everywhere, whether they are gigantic megachurches, towering cathedrals, simple mudbrick structures, or out-of-the-way house-churches that meet in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of anti-religious governments or national despots.
Now, O Father of all Thy daughters and sons, we who have been members of this chapel commit ourselves to Thee as we make another transition in our lives. Guide us as we seek a new church home. If, because of our age, we are hesitant in our quest, help us to feel Thy presence in the search. Nourish our faith, increase our hope, and broaden our love for Thee and for one another. All these things we pray in the name of Jesus, the earthly Lord of the Church. Now we join together in prayer sas he taught his disciples, saying , Our Father….