Note: GECCC is a small Baptist congregation – about 70 people – which went through a hard time a couple of years ago, when their two pastors resigned, and about 10-12 individuals/couples/families left, including many leaders. My task as Intentional Interim pastor has been to try to help the ‘remnant’ come to terms with their past, and prepare for the advent of a new senior pastor (which they now have). I was helped in the process by a ‘Transition Team’. Here’s the final act (we hope) in that process. Rowland Croucher, April 22, 2004.

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GLEN EIRA CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH

SERVICE OF HEALING AND HOPE: April 18th 2004

Let us hear the Word of God:

Reader 1: All Things Work Together For Good (Romans 8: 18-28)

Reader 2: Nothing Can Separate Us From God’s Love (Romans 8: 31-39)

The Shepherd Psalm (all recite together):

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths For his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; For you are with me; Your rod and staff – they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me In the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life, And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord My whole life long.

Invocation and Prayer (Rowland)

Liturgy of Thanksgiving

Pastor Mick: We have come together to recall the good times, and the hard times; to thank God for his many blessings, for friendships and opportunities to grow in faith and hope and love together. But we also bring to God our pain and regrets, asking him for healing and for hope.

Lord, ‘our dwelling-place in all generations’ thank you for your guidance and your protection in the past.

All: ‘Thank you Lord!’

We thank you for strengthening us to face trials and testings, sadnesses and disappointments. We have experienced the grief of friends and loved ones who have left us. We have wondered why things have happened in ways we would not have chosen. But we trust you to have been in our ‘yesterdays’ and to have had a Divine purpose in it all.

‘Thank you Lord!’

And Lord, as we now face a new future together, we affirm that you are the God of the future: you are already there. You are preparing us and strengthening us for a different ‘tomorrow’. You will not lead us into any place without the strength to face the challenges we encounter. So we trust you.

‘Thank you Lord!’

Song: ‘For all that you’ve done’

Homily (Rowland)

Small Groups: in which we share our feelings, our regrets, our grief, and the learnings we have experienced from our past.

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Feedback: Helpful sharing from our personal lives and group discussions.

Offering of private confessions and prayers (written confidentially, and anonymously).

Prayer of Confession, Absolution and Commitment

Song/Benediction: ‘Now Unto Him!’