Whether used for worship planning, family devotions, or personal meditation, this book is a beauty. Sledge has composed a collection of prayers and litanies that move through the seasons of the Christian year. Each is built on a single word from the vocabulary of the Christian faith—words from the faith language we draw on as we journey from season to season.
Advent selections include Awakening, Coming, Expectation, and Preparation. Christmas includes Adoration, Incarnation, and Joy. Epiphany investigates Baptism, Calling, Journey, and Seeking. Lent explores Brokenness, Discipleship, Pain, and Renewal. Easter offers Alleluia, Mission, Promise, and Surprise. Pentecost is the longest section and includes Beginning, Dreams, Hospitality, and Thanksgiving.
Sledge is a contemporary psalmist. Her prose is fresh, vibrant, edgy, deeply human, and profoundly biblical. During the season of Lent I have used the prayer “Commitment” at the opening of worship. It begins:
Create in each of us
A kneeling place,
Where we may empty ourselves
Of our self-importance
And become vulnerable
To your Word to us.
Help us set our faces firmly
Against friendly suggestions
For safe, expedient lives,
And toward the risk of discipleship.
Loosen our grip on certainties that smother possibilities.
Forgive our resistance to change…
Or imagine closing and Easter service with “Resurrection”:
When others dismiss your story as an idle tale,
Who will you be?
Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts.
When the world seems to be crumbling around you,
Remember who you are:
Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts.
When despair would seem to squelch all hope,
Believe in who you have become:
Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts.
When it is hard to persevere against all odds,
Trust in God who names you:
Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts.
As we follow Christ into the world,
May God help us remember who we are…
Resurrection people with Easter in our hearts.
You might open a Pentecost service with “Church”:
Young and old,
Sons and daughters of God,
All you who are the diverse creations
Of god’s imagination and love,
Join in praise and thanksgiving
As we worship the One
Who brings us together.
We come to this place,
Bringing our varied stories,
Our unique gifts,
And our distinct calls to serve…
That’s just a sampling of the feast set out in 127 pages. Buy it and enjoy the rest! Your faith will be enriched. Sow ill that of your traveling companions.
—Kenneth Baker
pastor at Third CRC of Kalamazoo, Michigan
