Five prayers have been written by Julia Dorsey Loomis, St. Andrews, Norfolk, who has been appointed Search Committee Chaplain. We ask your regular use during the search process.

O God, in your wisdom and mercy you have entrusted us to Jesus, your Word made flesh:  Grant us his clear vision, kind heart, and self-giving love, as together we seek a Bishop for this diocese.  Through his Spirit may our wills be so gathered into your will that your reign of justice and love come on earth as in heaven.  In our blindness enlighten us, from our stubbornness free us, in the breaking of the bread renew us, that in all things and in every creature we may love you and serve you now and to the ages of ages.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, you call us each by name, both comforting us and challenging us:  Be with us as we seek a Bishop for this diocese.  Heal our wounds -- and make us healers. Teach us, when we hurt each other, to seek forgiveness--and to forgive. Give us open and discerning hearts.  Help us to find you in one another and to see others as you see us—with compassion and hope for all good things to come. Quicken in us a sense of your purpose, that with joy and courage we may carry our task forward to your glory, and in the fellowship of your Holy Spirit.

O God our strength, you set before us opportunities and challenges and give us a variety of gifts with which to meet them: Open our eyes to see your will for the ordering of our common life as we seek a new Bishop; grant us patience and a listening heart; fill us with your peace; and lead us together as one people to a shepherd who will guide us on a path of healing and renewal till we and all the world reflect your love.

O God, the source of love and light, you guide us through narrow places, teaching us through your Son to return good for evil and to love and serve you by loving and serving our neighbor:  Grant us, as we seek a Bishop for this diocese, a vision of your kingdom, that with clarity of purpose and singleness of heart we may welcome a shepherd who will lead us towards its fulfillment.  As we journey together, deepen our charity towards one another, empower our forgiveness, and increase our joy, for your tender mercy's sake.

Patient God, whose wisdom unsettles our certitudes and whose love challenges our prejudices: Open our hearts to be attentive to your Christ as together we seek a new Bishop for this diocese. Grant us so to see that we may perceive, so to hear that we may understand, and so to understand that, together with our leader, we may be drawn more and more into your mission of healing and transforming this world, through Jesus Christ, our teacher and our Lord.