Mothering Sunday Call to Worship
God of love, mother of us all, we give thanks for the life that you have brought to birth in us.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all, we give thanks for your steadfast love for each of us, your children.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all, we give thanks that you sustain us and support us throughout our lives.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all, we give thanks for the church which nourishes us, and enables us to grow.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all, we give thanks for the gift of those who love us, and those whom we love.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
The Lord’s Prayer for Mothering Sunday
God of all love, divine mother of us all, your name is holy to us.
May your loving embrace enfold our lives and our world.
You sustain us every day of our lives, from birth to death.
You do not turn your face away from us,
and you enable us to not turn away from others.
Inspire us to live lives of love, but keep us safe from those who enact hatred.
For your loving embrace is eternal, unbreakable, and unconditional;
today, as it always has been, and always shall be.
Amen.
Opening prayer for Mothering Sunday
Great God of all love, we come into your presence today
as people in need of your loving embrace.
We recognize that our independence of spirit,
and our desire to make our own way in the world,
have sometimes taken us far from you;
and we acknowledge the many ways
that we have pushed you away.
We are sorry for those times when we have turned our faces
away from your loving gaze.
So today, trusting in your unconditional acceptance,
we open our lives to the light of your love;
and we ask that you will forgive us those dark places
in our souls and in our lives
where we have tried to keep you out, and ourselves hidden.
Help us today to hear you calling us once again,
speaking words of love, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Amen.
Prayers of intercession for Mothering Sunday
God of love, mother of us all,
we give thanks for the life that you have brought to birth in us.
We thank you for the gift of this day,
and for our own lives, these precious gifts of incarnation.
We pray today for all those who are being brought to life.
We pray for unborn babies, for expectant parents,
for excited and fearful grandparents,
for good families and loving relatives.
We pray also for all those whose experience of new life is unexpected,
troubling, or traumatic:
We pray for refugees, for victims, and for all those
who fear for the health and future of their children.
We recognise in you the mystery of life,
and your willingness to recommit yourself to your children
in the midst of all our failings and faults.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all,
we give thanks for your steadfast love for each of us, your children.
We thank you that you never turn your face from us,
and that your gaze is ever of love and not despair.
We pray for all those who struggle with the responsibilities of childcare,
for those who find their own deepest fears and doubts
reflected back at them in the lives
of those whom they have brought into being.
And so we commit to your loving protection
all those whose parents have failed them,
and we pray for those who seek to provide care and nurturing
where others have been unable to do so,
and in so doing echo your own love for each created soul.
So we pray for adopted parents, for step-parents,
for foster carers, social workers,
and all those who work in the juvenile care system.
May they discover in their role,
the love that you extend through them to those in their care.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all,
we give thanks that you sustain us and support us throughout our lives.
We thank you for our bodies,
and we thank you for those who care for them
helping us keep healthy, and intervening when we face illness.
With each passing year,
we grow ever more aware of our own mortality,
and we are grateful for our own continuing lives.
So we pray today for those who are reaching the end of their lives,
for those who are very old, and for those who are very ill.
Give comfort and assurance in place of fear and doubt,
and hold in your eternal embrace
all those who long for your loving touch.
We pray for nurses and doctors,
for hospice workers and hospital chaplains,
and for all those who work in healthcare.
And we ask that, when our own lives draw to their conclusion,
we will know good care and love
as we make our own journey into your eternity.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all,
we give thanks for the church which nourishes us,
and enables us to grow.
We thank you for this body, which is your gathered congregation
drawn together in this place, and at this time.
We pray for one another,
with all our diverse needs and cares and joys and sorrows.
May we experience your love for us
as we discover our mutual love for one another.
Help us to discern one another’s needs,
and to be active in carrying one another’s burdens.
Loving God, thank you for your tender care.
God of love, mother of us all,
we give thanks for the gift of those who love us,
and those whom we love.
We thank you for friends and family,
and in silence now we name in our hearts before you,
all those whom we love, and who love us.
Thank you, loving God for your tender care.
Amen.
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