Prayers of the People
In the first letter of Peter, the church is described as the priesthood of all believers. The Torah teaches that the work of the priesthood is to mediate between God and people, and prayer is bringing people’s concerns to God. So, prayer is part of the work of the church; it invites God to work in the lives of people.
When we pray, we talk with God about situations that concern us, events in our personal lives: the birth of children, the death of loved ones, crises we go through, situations happening in our community, and concerns we hear on the news such as war, natural disaster, elections.
When we pray, we express our feelings to God, our feelings of joy, thanksgiving, anger, doubt, and sorrow.
When we pray, we remind God of his promises in the scriptures, and ask God to act. Hearing scripture read or a sermon preached, may bring to remembrance someone or something in need of prayer. Our prayers can tie in things that were said in the scriptures of the day and the sermon.
The Prayers of the People, then should reflect what we, as a community, want to tell God. The person leading the Prayers of the People helps us to pray as a worshipping community. From the rubrics p. 190 Book of Alternative Services (BAS), “A deacon or lay member of the community leads the Prayers of the People after the following model. Intercession or thanksgiving may be offered for the Church, the King and all in authority, the world, the local community, those in need, and the departed.”
The rubrics are instructions printed in red italics. We read them to get a sense of how the liturgy is intended to be celebrated.
Appointment
People, who wish to lead the Prayers of the People, should let the Pastor or the Reader Coordinator know, and they will be added to the list. Mentoring is available from other people who lead the Prayers of the People, and a training session is held as required.
The Reader Coordinator emails a Participants List to participants, and on it, the date, service, participants, readings, and the litany are noted.
Preparation
Ideally, the person leading the Prayers of the People should take some time to prayerfully prepare the prayers at home. Printed prayers are aids to help us pray as a community; the person leading the prayers uses them to help us pray. They take the concerns of the community, the Anglican, Diocesan and Parish Prayer Cycles in the bulletin, and the forms in the BAS or the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and blends them into the Prayers of the People. The Anglican Cycle of Prayer can be found at www.anglicancommunion.org, the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer can be found at www.dioceseofalgoma.com, and the Parish Ministry Prayer Cycle is found below.
When the person leading the prayers arrives at the worship service, they should review the requests in the Prayer Intercession Binder that is on the prayers’ lectern that is in the middle of the nave. This captures a tradition from the Book of Common Prayer whereby the Great Litany is said from a prayer desk in the middle of the nave.
At St. Stephen’s people are invited to enter their thanksgivings and intercessions in the binder. Intercessions are invited for: thanksgiving; the Church, Anglican, Algoma and St. Stephen’s; the World, Canada, Thunder Bay & Current River; those in need; and the departed.
When praying for someone or people who have died, once their names have been said, it is customary to say:
Rest eternal grant unto him/her/them
and let light perpetual shine upon him/her/them.
May his/her/their soul(s), and the souls of all the departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Leading the Prayers of the People
The notes about ‘Voice’ and ‘Lectern Light and Mike’ in Reading a Lesson apply to leading the prayers of the people.
The person leading the Prayers of the People goes to the prayers’ lectern to lead the prayers.
When a prayer or bidding has ‘Elizabeth our Queen’, say instead ‘Charles our King’.
The posture for the Prayers of the People at St. Stephen’s is sitting. Litany #6 directs people to stand; omit the clause ‘As we stand in God’s presence’, so that people will sit.
It is not necessary to announce the litany you are using. A litany has a common bidding which makes it easy for them to say it. For people who want to follow along in the BAS, the prayer with a page number is in the bulletin so they may look it up. Announce the page number for a special prayer that is not in the bulletin and which you would like people to say with you.
The person reading prayers should read them prayerfully. Short pauses are good; silence allows people to focus their thoughts or clear their mind and pray silently.
At the Eucharist, once the prayers are completed, the person leading the prayers returns to their seat. At Morning Prayer, the person remains at the prayers’ lectern until the Lord’s Prayer is completed.
Extemporaneous Prayer
Extemporaneous prayer is free prayer, without reference to a printed prayer.
The person leading the prayers ought to invite members of the congregation to voice their own prayer; a suggested wording is, “I invite you to make your intercession [or thanksgiving] either silently or aloud.” He or she allows an appropriate period of silence so that people can pray, and then concludes with the response for the litany.
The person may invite members of the congregation to add their intercession during a litany. As an example, Litany #4, the person leading the prayers could say, “I invite you to pray for those in need.” Then, wait a few moments for people to pray their intercession, continue with, “For all who are facing trials and difficulties…”
Or the person leading the prayers may invite members of the congregation to voice their intercession once the requests from the Prayer Intercession Binder have been read.
Preparing the Prayers of the People using the Book of Alternative Services (BAS)
There are different forms of liturgical prayer. The BAS has litanies, a bidding intercession, a responsive intercession and collects. A litany is a series of biddings, each followed by a common response such as ‘Lord have mercy’. A bidding is a request to pray for something. Litanies are found on pp. 110-127. Also, litanies may be sung; music and directions are found on pp. 915-917.
The person leading the prayers may modify the biddings at their own discretion. From the rubrics p. 110 we read, “In the litany, petitions may be altered or omitted according to circumstances. Other petitions may be added.” A bidding may be omitted if it is less applicable; sometimes this is done to shorten the litany. A confession is omitted if one occurs elsewhere in the liturgy.
Biddings may be altered, making them more specific by naming people or situations, ex. Anne our Bishop, Justin our Prime Minister, Doug our Premier, and Ken our Mayor. People who are to be baptized or married, or who have died may be added at the appropriate bidding. Sometimes you look for a bidding to fit people in.
At the discretion of the person leading the prayers, the prayer cycles and requests in the Prayer Intercession Binder can be inserted before or after the litany or worked into it.
To work the prayer cycles and Parish Intercessions into the litany, the person leading the prayers needs to pay attention to the literary structure of the litany. In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for parishes and their clergy. In Litany #3, we can pray, “We pray for Anne our Bishop, for the Very Rev’d Jim McShane and for all bishops and other ministers”. In biddings where we pray for Thunder Bay, we can add specific situations; for situations in our country and in the world, we can add situations that we hear on the news.
To add a bidding, identify the form of the litany, and then compose a bidding with the same form. From Litany #3, “We pray for the victims of our society and those who minister to them; that you will be their help and defense.” It has two clauses. The first clause begins with, “We pray for”, and it names someone to pray for, and the second clause begins with, “that”, and it asks you to pray for them in a specific way. Biddings are added to a litany when there is something special to pray for, but not mentioned in the litany. Litany #3 does not bid us to pray for anyone who has died. We could add, “We pray for N who died and his/her family, that God may grant him/her peace and his/her family comfort.”
Seasonal Litanies (#12 through #16) The leader inserts the prayer cycles and requests in the Prayer Intercession Binder after the litany.
Bidding Intercession #17 on p. 123 The leader bids people to pray about specific things, then pauses, and then concludes with a collect on the theme of the bidding. The rubrics for the bidding intercession read, “The leader should add particular intentions to each bidding. During silence after each bidding, the people offer their own prayer, either silently or aloud.
The Solemn Intercession in the Good Friday liturgy on p. 309 is a bidding intercession; the leader reads the bidding, and the Officiant reads the collect.
Responsive Intercession #18 on p. 128 Note the rubric, “The penitential section may be omitted.” The liturgical principle here is each Eucharist needs only one confession. In this intercession, this confession or the one on p. 191 would be used, unless the Officiant directs otherwise. If the confession on p. 191 is used, the penitential bidding in Intercession is omitted. When it says that people may add their own petitions, it may be silently or aloud.
Great Litany (p. 138) The Great Litany may be used during Morning Prayer in Lent. It is based on The Litany from the Book of Common Prayer p. 30.
The leader inserts the prayer cycles and requests in the Prayer Intercession Binder before the Concluding Prayers in the Great Litany. The Officiant then concludes with the Collect of the Day, and the Lord’s Prayer.
Baptism (p. 155) and Confirmation Intercession (p. 627) In the Prayers for the Candidate in Baptism, the prayer cycles and requests in the Prayer Intercession Binder are inserted between the litany and the concluding collect (p.156), and in Prayers in Confirmation they are inserted where the rubrics read ‘Other prayers may be added‘.
Collects are found on pp. 129-132 and 675-684. These prayers focus on different themes such as an inner peace, the royal family or those in affliction.
The Parish Ministry Prayer Cycle
1st Sunday of the Month
Pray that the Holy Spirit helps those who prepare and lead our worship so that we grow in faith and love, remembering especially the: Clergy, Music Director, Liturgy Committee, Altar Guild, Parochial Lay Readers, Choir, Servers, Readers, Prayer Leaders, Eucharistic Assistants, Sidespersons, and Cleaning Team.
2nd Sunday of the Month
Pray that God may bless Canon Ed, Archdeacon Eric, Rev’d Barb and the Church Wardens: Arlene and Janet, and the Parish Council that people may listen to God and each other as they make decisions.
Pray that the people of St. Stephen’s will grow in knowledge and understanding of Jesus and the church and that our spiritual lives will be nourished, remembering especially the Sunday School: teachers and students, and the youth.
3rd Sunday of the Month
Pray for the parish mission that we will meet real needs and express the love of Christ through our outreach, remembering especially: St. Stephen’s ministry at Chartwell Thunder Bay Retirement Residence and Pioneer Ridge, Current River AA Group, Current River Churches Food Cupboard, Mission to Seafarers, Camp Gitchigomee, and PWRDF.
4th Sunday of the Month
Pray that the Holy Spirit builds up our parish family as a loving Christian family of faith, remembering especially the Pastoral Care Team, Men’s Club, Ladies Night Out Group, and parishioners who reach out and care for each other. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move in people’s hearts to provide the finances to fund God’s work and for the Stewardship and Finance and Fund-raising Committees.
5th Sunday of the Month
Pray that churches may work together for God’s purpose, remembering the Current River Churches: Epiphany Lutheran Church, Harmony United Church, Our Lady of Loretto Roman Catholic Church, and Refreshing Waters Community Church; and the Anglican parishes in the Deanery of Thunder Bay-North Shore and the Thunder Bay-North Shore Deanery Council.
If the person leading the Prayers of the People would like assistance with understanding how to prepare and lead the prayers, ask the clergy or one of the people who lead the Prayers of the People.
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