God of grace,
 
As we walk our path of communal faith,
it is only natural to our human nature to join
with those of like mind to ourselves
in bringing glory to your name.
 
Help us to make the most of those with which we join,
but help us also to find unity with
those who walk a different path from ours.
 
For truly it is only when we realize
our paths have a common goal
that we all take another step towards it.
 
Grant us perseverance that we may all may be one with you,
young and old,
experienced in faith and new,
postmodern and modern,
those trying and those not trying,
those who cling to recent tradition and those who reject it,
those who agree and those who do not,
the energetic and the worn out,
 
That we might join with your children in every corner of the world,
geographically and otherwise,
together discovering the fullness of your glory.
 
Amen.
 
 
Jeff Slater is the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Great Bend, Kansas. He is a Provisional Elder in the Kansas West Conference and finds his passion when human gifts join with God's resulting in true creativity. He also enjoys writing three sentence biographies about himself in the third person.