January 1, 2000

Six O’clock in the Morning until Noon

from darkness to first light to sunrise to noonday on the first day of the new millennium.

at the

First Baptist Church of Philadelphia

Welcome, Peace be with you!

May you find blessing and joy in this holy place.

Thank you for keeping a reverent silence while you are here.

The following pages contain resources for prayer.

Please use them, or not, as suits your meditative needs or your religious tradition.

God be with you.

MOVING INTO A STATE OF PRAYER

Here are some suggestions for getting started in prayer. They are based on ancient traditions in Christian spirituality.

Settle comfortably in your seat. Let physical tensions ease. Find a posture that is relaxed but alert.

Let go of any stress trailing you into this sanctuary. Let go of distracting thoughts. Gradually quiet all the noisy clamor of stray thoughts and preoccupations.

God is already here, waiting for you. Give God reverent greeting.

Take several slow, deep breaths. "Breath" and "Wind" are names of Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit in as you breathe.

The peace and love of God are already with you. Ask God to disclose and to dissolve any barriers between you and this peace and love.

Wait in stillness. Wait, listen, attend.

Allow as much time listening for God as you do talking to God.

The following prayers, scriptures and hymns may be used, if your choose, to focus and support your meditation.

Blessed are you, God, Creator.

Your Word brought forth all worlds.

You have set us on this shining planet in the sea of stars.

How beautiful, how wondrous are all your works.

Blessed are you God, Redeemer.

You understand our suffering, sorrow and sin, and give us life yet again.

You have revealed yourself in mercy, grace, forgiveness, and salvation.

Blessed are you God, Sustainer.

You give power and wisdom and joy. In your light do we see light.

How near you are to us, and how full of love without limit.

Impart to us your Spirit of truth and peace.

Fulfill in us all that is in your image.

Have mercy upon us.

Where we are lost, lead.

Where we are grieved, comfort.

Where we are anxious, grant your peace.

Where we are divided from each other, connect us.

Where our purposes oppose yours, remake us.

Where we are trapped, deliver us.

Heal us, body, mind and soul.

To you, O God, be the glory and power and honor now and forever.

Amen.

THE SURSUM CORDA AND SANCTUS

Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks unto the Lord.

It is meet and right so to do. It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee, O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God.

Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee, and saying:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.

Glory be to thee, O Lord most high! Amen.

LECTIONS FOR TODAY, JANUARY 1, 2000 from the Revised Common Lectionary

Old Testament Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13

Psalter Psalm 8

Epistle Revelation 21: 1-6

Gospel Matthew 25: 31-46

Other passages well-suited to the day:

Isaiah 40: 12-31 with wings like eagles

Isaiah 42: 1-9 a dimly burning wick I will not quench;

new things I now declare

Luke 11: 1-13 how should we pray?

Psalm 19 delight in the law

Luke 15: 11-32 how to go home again

Daniel 3: 1-28 the fiery furnace

Psalm 36 God’s steadfast love

Galatians 3:28 equality

Amos 5: 21-24 empty ritual v. righteous action

Philippians 4: 4-13 the life of meditation and prayer

Psalm 46 God our refuge

Galatians 5: 22-26 the fruits of the Spirit

Matthew 22: 36-40 the greatest commandment

Mark 9: 33-37 who will be greatest?

Mark 10: 13-16 let the little children come to me

Matthew 6: 25-34 first things first and don’t worry

Micah 6: 8 what does the Lord require of you?

Luke 4: 16-21 dawn of a new age

Psalm 56: 8-13 God is with you

John 1: 1-14 the Word Incarnate

Luke 17: 20-21 the Kingdom of God is among you

SOME HYMNS FOR THE MORNING OF THE MILLENNIUM

Most hymns are prayers. A silent reading of some of these might assist your meditation.

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Here are some suggestions for intercessory prayer, which you may use as you see fit.

PRAY FOR THE FUTURE.

We mark today a rare moment in our measurement of time. Let us with the help of God, through humble prayer, bind over all that is holy, true, excellent, beautiful, just, and pure from ages past, to the ages yet to come. Let us shrink no more from faith but stand upon the promises of God in this new day.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

that by God’s grace we may come together into a spirit of love and creativity, a spirit that cherishes and nurtures, a spirit of courage, a spirit of patience, a spirit of listening and forbearance, a spirit of tenderness and sharing. Pray for repentance and a thirst for righteousness. Pray for humility and reverence before God, for an anointing of the Holy Spirit, for our spiritual evolution. Pray that we will be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, so that we may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

for a transfiguration of our idea of prosperity. Pray that spiritual values will determine material ones, that by One who is the Light of the world, we will derive the place and worth of all of the things of this world.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

for a transfiguration of our idea of power. Pray that we may be converted from lust for conquest and domination to love of liberation and empowerment. Pray for redemption from rivalry to mutuality, from enmity to inclusion, from tyranny to equality, from cycles of retribution to mercy and forgiveness. Pray that we will cease to glorify what is weakness and failure as if it were strength and success.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

for deliverance from all our addictions: to attitudes, to behavior, and to substances which alienate us from God and our true selves, that destroy the soul and the body, that set us against one another. Pray for deliverance from our human addiction to violence and vengeance, to greed and self-centeredness, to prejudice and bigotry, to abuse and exploitation, to envy and anger, to arrogance, to willful ignorance and fear and the hatred they breed, to our delusions of independence from God and each other.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

that God defend us from the forces of evil.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

that God pour out upon us grace that imparts courage and vision, wisdom and temperance, justice and compassion, faith, hope and love.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

that we may see salvation together, that we may achieve the balance of personal with social identity, of individual with communal life, of freedom with accountability.

PRAY FOR the earth,

our home, and all creatures who are dear to the heart of God, entrusted to us and yoked in destiny with us, that they may find us gentle and respectful caretakers.

PRAY FOR all humankind,

PRAY FOR

all leaders and officials of governments of all the nations, for diplomats and heads of state, for the delegates to the United Nations, for tribal leaders and block captains, that they may be resourceful peacemakers and community builders.

PRAY FOR

all artists who reveal the world anew to us, who give us new eyes and ears and touch for truth, that they may increase those powers by which they awaken us.

PRAY FOR

all scientists, mathematicians, and researchers, all who probe the exquisite and mysterious workings of your creation, that they may without encumbrance inquire into every part of it, that we may know more of its order, majesty and beauty.

PRAY FOR

all scholars, philosophers and theologians that they may seek truth without fear or prejudice, that they may help us reflect, order our thoughts, and debate fruitfully.

PRAY FOR

those who wield technological powers, engineers, builders, computer programmers, craftspeople, carpenters, weavers, plumbers, astronauts, deep sea divers, machinists, that all may use their tools well and wisely, with pride and for good.

PRAY FOR

educators, all those who transmit knowledge and train others, that all that is worthy of praise may be preserved and that the joy of learning be kindled in every mind.

PRAY FOR

those in the communication arts, journalists, translators, those in advertising, the media, those who interpret the languages of creatures, that they may truly inform us.

PRAY FOR

those in commerce and finance, that their work may be meaningful to them, and that by their ingenuity we may break through systems of hegemony and economic injustice.

PRAY FOR

those who make things clean, for janitors, housekeepers, trash collectors, recycling technologists, for those who do laundry, who sweep our streets, who clean up toxic waste, and all the messes we make, that they may have will for their work and satisfaction in it, and that we may be grateful.

PRAY FOR

those in transportation, mothers driving car pools, crews of supertankers, those who operate buses, rickshaws, and ferries, those who maintain roads, rails, ports and bridges, those who manage beasts of burden and air traffic control, that they may labor safely for our mobility, that as we span distance in travels, we may do so likewise in understanding and sympathy.

PRAY FOR

those in manufacture and industry, that they may be productive and enjoy just wages, and that throughout the workplace constructive relationships will replace adversarial ones.

PRAY FOR

soldiers and those in law enforcement, that God will protect those who protect us, that they may be guided by the Holy Spirit. Pray that the human race will outgrow the need for weapons and that we will be delivered from the depravity that requires the risk of these lives.

PRAY FOR

those who put food before us, for breadwinners and farmers, for nursing mothers, for grocers and waitresses, for fishing crews and migrant workers, that we may not forget our dependence and that we, nourished through their service, may serve in turn.

PRAY FOR

all those who care for physical and mental health, that there may be healing in their hands and judgment, and all that they say and do, that God may be at work through their skill and beyond it.

PRAY FOR

students, that they may rejoice in the challenges of their studies, that with knowledge and skill will come also confidence, competence, maturity, and faith.

PRAY FOR

parents, that hour by hour they may partake of such grace as will supply their wisdom, invention, patience, and understanding, and that in the most sacred work of child-rearing, they will find at hand support, resource and encouragement to meet every need.

PRAY FOR

the poor, for the marginalized, for those who contend with discrimination, for women, for the despised and outcast, those who are disregarded, left out, to whom Jesus showed most peculiar respect and attention, that their voices may be heard.

PRAY FOR

the oppressed, the forgotten, for those in prison, in debt, those who suffer and are under threat, those who struggle daily against the odds, that the Holy Spirit may hold them above despair, and send to them ones who can effectively minister to their needs.

PRAY FOR

those advanced in years, that they may enjoy comfort, contentment, safety and affection.

PRAY FOR

those who are sick, in pain, those who are grieved, those who are alone, that each may find attentive response from others and that God’s presence and constancy give them solace.

PRAY FOR

those who are dying that their eyes be fixed on heaven, their souls at peace, and that they have angels’ escort.

PRAY FOR

young people, that they be not overcome by cynicism, and that they not yield to forces that crush their potential. Pray that through their natural exuberance and wholesome ambition they may realize worthy dreams and fulfill their talents.

PRAY FOR

children that they may have such protection, love, instruction, care and example as will prepare in them a heart to receive the full measure of God’s love, and bear it to others.

PRAY FOR

those who pray for you, all those of religious vocation whose lives are given to prayer and service, that they may not falter in their sacred commission, that their perseverance will renew itself in the communion of saints, and in the knowledge that God’s strength is sufficient to their weakness.

Now may the Lord of peace give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

Amen.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

Hebrews 13: 20-21

The First Baptist Church of Philadelphia

The members of the clergy, musicians, and all of those who served as deacons, ushers, hosts, security staff and others who volunteered time and talent for the ministry of this day’s prayer sanctuary.

The members of the Morning of the Millennium Committee: Brian Anderson, Rebecca Carr, Roy Harker, Lorraine Jackson, Alan Morrison, Gertrude Streater, the Reverend Dr. Leonard Thompson, Sr.

Nancy Gross, Director of Publicity and Site Liaison

Roy Harker, Prayer Guide Graphics Design

The Reverend Dr. Leonard Thompson, Sr., Associate Executive Minister for Regional Outreach of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. The Morning of the Millennium was made possible in part by a grant from the Philadelphia Baptist Association. The Alethia Foundation thanks the Philadelphia Baptist Association, The Reverend Larry K. Waltz, Executive Minister, and its member churches.

THE PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA

The First Baptist Church has practiced faith, peace and justice in Philadelphia for 301 years. Founded in 1698, it has a long history of ministry in social action, spiritual life and the fine arts.

The Alethia Foundation is a nonprofit, ecumenical scholarly organization dedicated to Christian theology and philosophy. The doctrine of the Trinity is at the heart of the mission of The Alethia Foundation. Drawing from the biblical theology of the great creeds of Nicaea and Chalcedon, Alethia addresses current issues of knowledge and faith, of peace and justice. The Alethia Foundation produces projects in spirituality and the fine arts in addition to its research and educational work.

The Alethia Foundation is a nonprofit organization, 501(c)3 in the Internal Revenue Service Code. It is a public charity, not a private foundation, and depends upon financial support from the public. Contributions are gratefully received and are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. To make a contribution by check, cash or credit card, or for more information, please contact The Alethia Foundation at 93 Old York Road Suite 1-481, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania 19046, or email <info@alethia.org>

Prayer Booklet composed by the Rev. Dr. Sandra Ellis-Killian for The Alethia Foundation.

Copyright 1999 The Alethia Foundation.

This Prayer Booklet may be reproduced in whole or part only under the condition that its source is identified, in print immediately preceding the text, in these words,