Prayer life at Bossey

  

     If the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey is the classroom of Ecumenism, the Chapel at the Institute of Bossey for me will be the laboratory of Ecumenical worship. From the opening worship, where through song we asked the Lord to “bind us together” till our closing service where we were challenged to be humble and not think that we know it all, the chapel has been a place where I have seen worship / prayer being defined and redefined, at times disturbing always reflective. 

        

    Being one of the first to arrive in the chapel each morning, as I would do in my own church, being a priest, I have been able to spend time in silence and soak in the ambiance of this quaint place of worship, and to be reminded that many a great persons who have been part of the ecumenical movement and are yet part of it are those who have been touched and blessed to pray together with brothers and sisters of different countries and confessions and cultures in this chapel. 

 

 

Book marks made for the prayer with
the United Methodist remembering the
hymns of Charles Wesley

      During this period it has been wonderful to be given the opportunity to lead the community in pray through Anglican Morning prayer, as South Asia and with the Non-denomination church of China, with the United Methodist Church and in the final week with a lady pastor from the Protestant Church of Maluku in Indonesia. This has given an insight into the liturgy of the other confessions, blending our traditions and confessions together to lead the community in prayer and also to acknowledge the resources within each other. 

        Prayer life every morning is something much looked forward to. Each student and Faculty brings out something new to make us reflect, to encourage and motivate us, preparing me for the day and the week, even bringing warmth to cold shivery mornings. We have also been blessed with good singing and music, which has been a key element of our morning prayer. 

        Morning prayer every day has been a reminder that we are coming from different cultures and live in one place learning from each other, sharing and struggling together. The question whose God is our God? with reflections that help us understand that God is the God of humanity, a God is for all, reflections on the Lords prayer with the focus on "our daily bread”, that God is not exclusive, the wine and the branches being encouraged to abide in Christ amidst the differences and illustrations such as walking uncomfortably with a stone in the shoe to illustrate that the ecumenical journey is not easy, are some of the reflections that have been shared. '

        Morning prayer reflections have also been a reminder that our ecumenical journey is also about accompanying each other with the need to listen and keep praying, flowing out of the words of Jesus, "remain here and keep awake". At times reflections have been timely and encouraging, like when we heard about the importance of fishing in the deep waters, being obedient to Jesus, and trusting in him and how he can change situations in our lives. 

        It was also an experience when members of the Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation as the well as the member of the WCC Exco were part of the daily morning prayer during their meetings as they also shared reflections with us which was encouraging. Through the different methods of bible study and thematic worship - i.e. the sower, it was helpful to know how the diverse Christian community experience God across the globe and make him relevant. There was also an opportunity to experience morning prayer of the Church of England led by their ordinands.  

        At times morning prayer would be different, where the Orthodox used only a monastic prayer “Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or the Non-denomination had only a confession and Intercession which also was meaningful. 

The chapel ready for creative prayer

        Creativity too had its place in worship, where we have prayed in spaces of silence, music and creativity through which we understand that God can speak to us through our own different spaces and comfort zones. Breathing exercises to understand that the hand of God, the hands that stills the storm is with us every day; Sharing our prayer request and each one carrying another’s request and praying for it, committing our prayers with the hymn “Jesus, Jesus how I trust him…..O for grace to trust him more” have stuck on in my mind. 

                Much was also learned by being part of the prayer life committee - working on rosters, preparing the chapel for worship, planing the Advent carols and getting the opportunity to lead morning prayer for one last time during the final week at Bossey. The Advent carols was an experience that will be in my mind for a very long time. Songs from different regions, in different languages sung by a choir with different languages, interspersed with readings and prayer from various regions was  an evening to remember. 

  The last week of chapel for me was a sum of the entire course. Led by different members of the prayer life committee, we heard about the qualities that give hope for the future, we were posed the question, "is God calling you to do something you never expected" and reflected on Philippians 4:4-9 not be anxious, do what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy with the song open my eyes to see your face, ears to hear your voice and heart to love like you, recapturing life at Bossey and encouraged to look ahead as we get back to our vocations, and life that God has called us to do. 

        For me the chapel has been a place for experiment, experience, struggles, disturbances, disappointments, shocks and expectations as I participated in denominational, regional and interdenominational acts of morning prayer. Each new day becomes one of expectation, learning, reflection and appreciating the other as well as appreciating your own tradition and the richness each has to offer. My experience has also made me realize where I and my own church has failed and how much more worship can be enriched in our own context. 

        Songs and prayers from different traditions, the ancient and the contemporary, the movements and the actions, the symbols and the arrangements, the reflections and the homilies has helped me to see how vast worship can be and how people are touched in various ways as they express their worship to God in diverse way. The beauty of morning prayer for me has been how our prayers are summed up in the prayer of our Lord said in our different languages. That is what ecumenism can do - make you sing together and pray together, through which you understand and appreciate each other, talk together and walk together taking you step by step towards the realisation of the Jesus' prayer, "that they all may be one".  

        The disappointment would be that prayer life at Bossey does not allow us to celebrate together in the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, it is a reminder that the ecumenical journey of becoming “that they may be one as we are one" is incomplete, and song and prayer can drive us towards the realisation of visible unity. 

        The effort that goes in to plan, prepare, practice and present morning prayer each day, after working together with colleagues from different regions, cultures and denominations is not easy but interesting and rewarding. Pray life at Bossey will always be etched in memory. To end I give thanks to God for this new experience which I believe will continue to enrich me and my congregations who I lead.