Copyright: © 1996 Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. This rite may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes with acknowledgment and mention of the Lift Up Your Hearts web site http://www.worship.ca/ as the source. This rite was prepared by the Worship Planning Team for Lift Up Your Hearts, the 1996 ELCIC National Worship Conference. This rite has been approved for provisional use in the congregations and communities of the ELCIC.
This rite may be used to welcome at worship groups of visitors --
choirs, instrumental groups, drama groups, liturgical dancers, members
of a partner mission congregation, returning missionaries, visiting youth
or fellowship groups, synod staff people, etc. This rite presumes that
visitors will be invited to receive the bread and cup of Holy
Communion and thus enjoy incorporation into the assembly.
The rite occurs early in the liturgy, following the Gathering Hymn. It is used to embrace at prayer those whom the community welcomes into its midst.
Gathering Hymn
The presiding minister greets the congregation.
Greeting
P The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C And also with you.
Welcome
The minister may announce the day and its significance. The minister welcomes the community's guests:
P We wish to welcome our guests, this day, N. and N.
A We give thanks for the gift of _______________ they share with us, and for their presence here in our midst.
P As together we lift up our hearts in worship, let us also, remembering the witness of Holy Scripture, honour our tradition of hospitality.
A As Abraham,
Sarah and Lot entertained angels;
as Lydia of Thyatira opened her home to Timothy, Paul and Silas;
as Simon of Bethany, Zacchaeus the tax collector, and Mary and Martha received as guest
our Lord Jesus;
so let us welcome our guests this day, in prayer, in the sharing of the Peace of Christ,
and in breaking bread together.
Prayers of Welcome
P Let us pray,
Hymn With One Voice 772 or Hymnal Supplement 793, "O Lord, Hear My Prayer" is sung as a form of congregational prayer.
The petitions are sung by the assisting minister using the
following tone in the key of E minor:
Introduction: D# -- E:
G ----- G -- F# - E --- F#
For ... Hear us, good Lord.
A For our guests, N. and N., and for the gifts they bring, that we may honour them for their ministry's sake. Hear us, good Lord.
C O Lord, hear my prayer... (verse 1, sung)
A For this community, that we may open wide our arms in welcome. Hear us, good Lord.
C O Lord, hear my prayer... (verse 1, sung)
A For Christian unity, that, as God's people, we will be quick to confess one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Hear us good Lord.
C O Lord, hear my prayer... (verse 1, sung)
A For our worship this day, that in Word and Sacrament we may receive Christ. Hear us good Lord.
C The Lord is my song... (verse 2, sung)
The Prayers of Welcome are concluded with the Prayer of the Day which may be sung or said.
The Prayer of the Day
Following the Prayer of the Day, the Peace is shared with particular regard for the guests. The Peace is not repeated at its usual place in the liturgy.
The Peace
P The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C And also with you.
The liturgy continues with the First Reading.