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Morning of the Millennium _________________________________________________________ A SANCTUARY FOR PRAYER Sponsored by The at the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia 17TH AT SANSOM NEW YEAR’S DAY 2000 SIX O’CLOCK AM UNTIL NOON The turn of the millennium is a time for festivities. It should also be a time, above all, to turn in reverence to God. What is offered is "sanctuary," a quiet, holy place, a refuge for meditation and prayer. The sanctuary will be open for those who wish to pray at the dawn of a new age. People may come as they are, and come and go as they like. The silence will be broken only by the sound of sacred music offered at intervals by choirs and musicians featuring the rich cultural diversity of Christian faith in Philadelphia.
All persons who seek sacred connections in this rare calendar moment will find a safe haven in the beautiful sanctuary of an historic church in the heart of a great city.
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A PRAYER SANCTUARY 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. Sponsored by The Alethia Foundation 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. Here are some 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. Keep a calm, wakeful readiness to receive whatever God may give. The following pictures, prayers, scriptures and hymns may be used, if you choose, to focus and support your meditation.
Image of Earth with Indian Ocean in view,
taken by the Galileo in December 1990.
A PRAYER Blessed are you, God, Creator. Blessed are you God, Redeemer. 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. Most Gracious God,
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.
SOME SCRIPTURE TEXTS for the MORNING of the MILLENNIUM
LECTIONS FOR TODAY, JANUARY 1, 2000 from the Revised Common Lectionary Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13 Psalm 8 Revelation 21: 1-6 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; 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 1st Corinthians 13 what is 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: 1-8 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
PRAYERS of the PEOPLE on
the MORNING of the MILLENNIUM Here are some suggestions for intercessory prayer, 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.
for a transfiguration of our idea of prosperity. Pray that spiritual values will
determine material ones, that from the 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.
Hieronymus Bosch
"Christ Carrying the Cross" c. 1490
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.
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, that in the centuries to come as in centuries past, God will continue to raise up explorers, prophets, ministers and visionaries. Pray that God will grant us discernment that we may rightly divide the word of truth. Pray that the assurance of faith may free in us a capacity for humor and lightness of heart, for joy and gratitude. Give thanks for the sacred gifts of curiosity and imagination, and pray that, through exercise of them, our understanding of things earthly and of things spiritual will flourish to the end that God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
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 reliably 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, cooperating 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, wisdom 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, all those 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.
BENEDICTIONS 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
Edward Hicks
"Peaceable Kingdom " 1834
The Alethia Foundation Thanks 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, Graphics services The Reverend Dr. Leonard Thompson, Sr., Associate Executive Minister for Regional Outreach of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. THE PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PHILADELPHIA
The 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 ecumenical creeds, 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> or, click on Contributions Prayer Guide composed by 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 text is unaltered from the original and that the source is identified, in print immediately preceding the text, in these
words:
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