"A Christmas Prayer for Pastors"

e-HUM Bishop

December 20, 2004

"A Christmas Prayer for Pastors"

Dear pastors in the North and South Indiana Conferences,

As you approach these final days prior to Christmas, I know that your lives are busy caring for your congregations, for your families, and for the preparations of this season. Perhaps in the midst of your busy schedules, you have little time to take care of yourself -- or even to enjoy the blessings of Christmas.

So, let me offer this prayer for you and all of the pastors of our Indiana Area:

Gracious God, whose coming we celebrate during Advent and Christmas, may You come swiftly and powerfully to the pastors and the people of Indiana. Protect those who are traveling, guide those who lead, comfort those who grieve, and strengthen those who are weakened by illness, by heartache, or by discouragement.

Especially I pray, O blessed Lord, that You may bring JOY into the lives and ministry of our pastors. Let their preparations for worship services be blessed with responsive parishioners and visitors. Let their sermons be filled with the power of Your Holy Spirit speaking and working through them. Let their hectic times be balanced with times of peace and reflection. Let their ministry during this Advent and Christmas time bear the fruit of the JOY of this season -- not just for those they lead, but also for themselves and their loved ones.

And may You, O God, grant each pastor a time of personal respite and renewal during the afterglow of Christmas, so that Christmas JOY may be fully born in each one of their hearts this season.

I ask these things, most Gracious God, in the name of the One whose coming we celebrate, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Along with this prayer, comes my hope that you, too, may have a Merry Christmas, and I thank God for the ministry and leadership that you offer to the people of Indiana.

from Bishop Michael J. Coyner

Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church
"Making a Difference ... in Indiana
and around the world"

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