Sheldon’s Paschal candle is burning as everyone takes their seats in silence.
Members of the Community each light their individual candles from the Paschal candle.

Introduction
Tonight brings the annual opportunity for the Community to reflect together on the past year, and open our hearts to receive whatever the future year brings. We give thanks for the completed and fully funded Courtyard Development. We offer up our day to day ministry of welcoming guests, praying for all those whose lives have touched ours in the past year, and all those we will meet during the year to come.

As a Community, we share our day to day life with many who live and work with us. We give thanks for all that Lindsey contributed to the life of Sheldon in her time here, and pray for her as she settles in to her new work. We give thanks for Mary who continues to live alongside the Community; and for all the part time staff and volunteers who give such faithful service. We ask God’s blessing on each one.

We try to allow space at Sheldon for each of us to mature in our individual personal journeys. We try to grow in tolerance and commitment as we struggle to create Community together. We try to create a place of refuge where we welcome people but don’t hold on to them, a place where we minister more from our own woundedness and less from our neediness.

And we rejoice and give thanks that God is faithful. That our feeble offerings are transformed into something greater than ourselves; that God is generous in providing for our needs and entrusts us with each other and with this ministry.

Confession and absolution
God you know us as we are
you know our selfishness
our anger and bitterness
our fear and apathy
our hardness of heart
our deliberate blindness
our need to begin again.
In your mercy and love forgive us,
change and renew us in Christ
Amen.

period of silence
the absolution is pronounced together, to one another

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Hear then the word of grace : your sins are forgiven.

Readings
after each reading, a short period of silence is kept

Community - a quality of heart: from Henri Nouwen “Bread for the Journey”
The word Community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation and romantic naivete. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another.
Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own. The question, therefore, is not “how can we make community?” but “how can we develop and nurture giving hearts?”

Paul’s Letter to the Philippians ch 2 v 1-5
If our life in Christ means anything to you, if love can persuade at all, or the Spirit that we have in common, or any tenderness or sympathy, then be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. That is the one thing that would make me completely happy. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody must be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of their own interests first, but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead. In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus.

Intercessions
In silence
or if any prayers are offered aloud, each finishing with
Lord in your mercy
Hear our prayer

At the end of the prayers:
Dear God,
we ask you to accept all our prayers
and the unspoken desires of our hearts
in the name of Christ,
Amen.

Dedication for the Community for the coming year

Carl pours water into the large bowl
All say:
God of all that is, may this water be a sign to us of the life of Christ flowing in and through our lives.

Friends say to the Community:
Will you live, work and pray together as the Sheldon Community, seeking to develop stability in your common life?
Community response:
We will support and encourage one another as we seek to live out God’s calling rooted and grounded in the rhythm of our common life
Members of the Community make a sign of the cross on each other’s palms around the circle.

Friends say to the Community:
Will you accept the calling of servanthood, treating with love, dignity and respect all the guests entrusted to your care?
Community response:
We will seek to meet the needs of each guest in a spirit of hospitality and service through the coming year.

Everyone stands
Members of the Community dip small bowls to take water to make a sign of the cross on the palms of each guest.
Each person sits down after receiving. When all are seated ...
Friends say to the Community:
Will you be good stewards of all the resources God gives you, living as witnesses to the faithfulness of God’s provision?
Community response:
We will be trustworthy in our stewardship of God’s gifts, seeking God’s purpose and God’s glory.
The bowls of water are poured back into the central bowl

Community to Friends:
Will you as Friends pray for us and support us in our common life, our ministry and our witness?
Friends’ Response:
We pray for you now as you make these promises of stability, servanthood and stewardship. We will continue to pray for you throughout the coming year. We pray that you will be richly blessed in your life together, and that through your service will bring blessing to many. We pray that you will be given strength, wisdom, guidance and support. We ask all these things of the God who calls you and equips you in His service, in the name of Christ. Amen.

A short period of silence
All stand and join hands round the circle to say together:

The Grace
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all, evermore. Amen.