Leader
We gather here today knowing that in the weeks ahead, there will be changes in our organization that will challenge us and new grace that will sustain us and move us forward.

We recall the words of the cardinal of the church, John Henry Newman: "Perhaps in heaven it will be otherwise, but on this earth, to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often."

Let us pray today for the gift of being able to recognize the changes that are needed in our organization; the gift of being able to discover the opportunities that lay before us that we had never seen before, and the gift of being able to welcome and embrace these opportunities with courage.

(pause for reflection)

God, we place ourselves into your keeping,
our bodies, our souls, and all that we are,
for you are our help, you are our hope,
you are our highest praise.

Write our names upon your palm,
hold us near your side,
for by your wounds, we shall be healed.
And in your hands, we are home,
where all will be well.
All will be well in you. (based on -Is 40:12)

Leader
Gracious God, we ask you to draw near and be with us.
Help us as individuals and as an association to become who we say we are — to be the women and men you have called us to be, keeping before us always the implications of our ideas for the real, living persons that our association is comprised of and the real, living persons that our association serves.

We invite you into this gathering and ask that everything we do here be for the glory of your name.

All
Amen.