Offering invitations and prayers for Epiphany through Pentecost were written by Barbara Fullerton (Paris, ON), Kathie Murphy (Toronto, ON), Andrew Richardson (Summerside, PE), Deb Walker (Saskatoon, SK), and Lynn Watson (Bancroft, ON).

Epiphany January 8: Baptism of Jesus Invitation Friends, we are called now to give of ourselves and our gifts. Your generosity to your church and to Mission & Service allows ministry to blossom here and across the world. It assists friends and strangers; those who believe as we do and those who believe differently; neighbours and global partners. Thank God for such a gift.

Prayer Gracious and loving God, who calls each of us into community with you, bless now these gifts and those offered through PAR, that they might be shared without partiality, among the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the just and the unjust, the faithful and the unfaithful. Remind us that in giving freely, we embody your own self-giving nature. Thanks be to God. Amen.

January 15: Second Sunday after Epiphany Invitation Friends, you are now invited to participate directly in the ministry of the church. Your gifts to the church and Mission & Service are one way we make Christ manifest in the world. Let us be generous.

Prayer Gracious God, you invite us to be part of your great plan for all creation. We give thanks that we have been called to participate in such a grand effort, and ask that you give us the courage to respond to your gracious invitation through our offering. Bless these gifts and those offered through PAR, and multiply them for the sake of ourselves and the world. Amen.

January 22: Third Sunday after Epiphany Invitation Friends, God is our light and salvation; of what shall we be afraid? Today you are invited to be fearlessly generous. Let us give to God’s mission here and across the world.

Prayer Gracious God, the source of all our security, release us from those things that make us fearful. Assist us to be bold and brave in generously giving of ourselves, our time, and our gifts. Bless these gifts and those given through PAR, that they might reach beyond the walls of this church and be a means of grace here and across the world. Amen.

January 29: Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Invitation Friends, through the giving of gifts, both locally and to Mission & Service, we do justice, show kindness, and are humble and obedient servants of God. With joyful hearts, let us present our gifts.

Prayer Gracious and loving God, source of all justice, we ask now that you bless our gifts and those given through PAR. May they become part of your mission for all creation. May our gifts touch and change lives, communities and congregations, so that our mission and your purpose are one. Thanks be to God. Amen.

February 5: Fifth Sunday after Epiphany Invitation Friends, I invite you to present your gifts. Through our offering, we are lights to the world, sharing in works of compassion, justice and faith. Let us give with joyful hearts.

Prayer Gracious and loving God, you are the beginning and end of all wisdom and generosity. You have shown your abundance since the beginning of time. Bless now our gifts and those given through PAR, that others might be strengthened, comforted, and made whole. Thanks be to God. Amen.

February 12: Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Invitation The writer of Deuteronomy puts before the reader the option of choosing “life and good.” We hear that the mystery of God is not something outside of us, but that truth comes from within the human heart, as does life and goodness. Let’s approach the giving of our gifts not from obligation and duty imposed upon us, but rather from a place of choosing life and goodness.

Prayer God of life, we choose to live. We choose to live into the fullness of your abundance, and to give from a place of richness. Bless our giving, in person and through PAR, and bless our living. Amen.

February 19: Seventh Sunday after Epiphany Invitation We all have a part to play in the construction of God’s church. Our stories, experiences and understanding are the materials we share. We do what we can. We all share the variety of our gifts and build the Church in beauty and authority. We are now invited to do our part financially. Let us worship God with our offerings.

Prayer God, you have laid a foundation in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The mortar in that foundation is the hope of resurrection. We offer the materials of our living, both here and through PAR, to build a church that shelters the homeless, feeds the hungry, and extends care to others. Bless us as we share what we can. Amen.

February 26: Transfiguration Sunday Invitation Every time we give our offerings, as we do this morning, we experience the transfiguration. God takes what we offer and turns our gifts inside out to show what’s possible in a simple act of generosity.

Prayer God, transfigure our gifts, and those given through PAR, into acts of justice and blessing for the world you have called us to serve. Amen.

Lent March 5: First Sunday of Lent Invitation God has invited us to eat freely of every tree in the garden except for one, but we take more. With eyes opened, we know how our lifestyle decisions make life more difficult for others. Let us now give freely back to God, offering gifts that will enable others to know and walk with God.

Prayer Holy One, we offer back to you these gifts, and those given already through PAR, fruit from the bounty you have given us. Convert them into food both for body and for spirit, to feed those who might otherwise go hungry physically or spiritually. Bless them for the ministries here and for the ministries of The United Church of Canada in this country and across the world through Mission & Service. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

March 12: Second Sunday of Lent Invitation God calls and blesses us like Abram of old. Though most of us cannot leave our country like Abram did to follow God’s call, let us offer our gifts for God’s work locally through the work of this church, and nationally and globally through Mission & Service.

Prayer Use these gifts, O God, to speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen in Christ. May they become a blessing that others may know that you love the world so much that your dream for us is not to perish, but to live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

March 19: Third Sunday of Lent Invitation Our thirst for God is relieved every time we come together as a church to pray and praise and listen and learn. Let us give generously today to make it possible for us to continue to come to this well for refreshment and renewal. Let us give generously today – both through our local offerings and through Mission & Service – as a way of sharing a cup of water from our bucket with other thirsty wayfarers.

Prayer Strike the rock, O God, and let your living water flow from the gifts we offer. Let these gifts, and those given already through PAR, become your living word, food and drink, in ministries in this community and across the world through Mission & Service. In the name of Jesus, whose living water brings us life. Amen.

March 26: Fourth Sunday of Lent Invitation Give glory to God! One thing we know, that though we were blind, in Christ our eyes can be opened. In gratitude, let us joyfully praise God with our tithes and offerings.

Prayer Good Shepherd, you seek us and all your lost sheep. Use these gifts, and those already given through PAR, as your rod and staff to comfort and guide the weary to your pastures, to bind up those who are broken hearted, and strengthen those who are weak, to feed those who hunger and bring sight to the blind. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

April 2: Fifth Sunday of Lent Invitation Today, we are invited to be part of a resurrection story. As we pass the offering plates this morning, hear the great rattle of dry bones joining together—one by one by one—to bring new life to this congregation, and to God’s work in other places through Mission & Service.

Prayer God of life, lay sinews and flesh on the dry bones of these gifts. Breathe life into them that they may bring hope in our congregation and community, as well as in Canada and across the world through the work that The United Church of Canada does with our offerings to Mission & Service. In the name of him in whom we have light and life, Jesus. Amen.

April 9: Sixth Sunday of Lent (Palm/Passion Sunday) Invitation We hear of a king riding on a donkey, a king who is crucified. This is a story of a world in which injustice seems to reign. Our God knows about suffering and invites us to reverse and counter injustice and suffering wherever we can. The United Church of Canada—both locally and through Mission & Service—seeks justice and resists evil, proclaiming Jesus crucified and risen. Please give generously!

Prayer King of the universe, bless these gifts for your kin-dom on earth. In the name of the crucified one in whose name we live. Amen.

Easter April 16: Easter Sunday Invitation God raised Jesus to say YES to life. We dance around the story, hung up on rationally dissecting it. Let us dance with the Resurrected Lord of Easter—a much more radical invitation because he invites our discipleship. Let us live as Easter people and offer our very lives to God—time, talents, lives, and money. We now offer our gifts of money for the work of this congregation and for God’s work across Canada and around the world through Mission & Service.

Prayer VU 401 – sung or spoken: Now in response to the life you are giving, Help us, Creator, to offer our living, Seeking a just and a healing society, Worship and work must be one!

If sung: finish with the chorus: Worship the Lord (worship the Lord) Praise the Creator, the Spirit, the Son, Raising our hands (raising our hands) In devotion to God who is one! Consider using this verse throughout the Easter season. Or use another dedication hymn such as VU 353, Simple Gifts, or the first verse of Psalm 149 (p. 872 in Voices United)

April 16: Easter Sunday (alternate selection) Invitation We have glimpsed the empty tomb and been touched by the mystery. So, like Mary, we cannot be silenced. We cannot keep our gifts to ourselves. We will now receive the offering so our gifts can help spread the marvellous news.

Prayer O God of the empty tomb and the quiet voice, we have walked in a world full of grief and despair. Come now and talk to us. Touch our souls and lighten our grief as we too stand amid the empty tomb. Help us to walk with the angels and hear their invitation to meet the Christ. We confess we are often the nameless disciple who held back: fearful, careful, watching, peeking around the corner. Instead, let us be like Peter, who rushed in to discover what this tale was all about. Come, in power and mystery; come, draw us in to meet the risen Jesus. Help us find our voices, for this week, and for this time in our lives. In the name of the Risen One, Amen.

April 23: Second Sunday of Easter Invitation Let us offer a bold witness to the world with our gifts and with our lives, so that peace may be with our generation. Let us worship God with our offering.

Prayer Come, Holy Presence, and grant us peace, for we are anxious about many things. Let us see anew the marks of your Lordship. Let us meet anew the bold faithful witnesses who have gone before us. Come, Holy Presence, and ease our paralysis of doubt and caution. Grant us this day peace and certainty that you walk among us, that you are risen, that you invite us to follow boldly where you have walked. Come and touch us afresh, for we are needy. Come and prepare us for the challenges and the joys of this week. In the name of the Risen Christ. Amen.

April 30: Third Sunday of Easter Invitation We bring our story of faith and we walk with the world, giving and receiving again and again. You are invited to join your gifts with the gifts of others as we receive the offering.

Prayer O Risen Christ, we walk this week, full of the news of the world. We can recite the gloomy news around us, for we know the stories and have felt them in our lives. May you walk with us, O risen One, reminding us anew of all the saints who have walked this way before us. May you tell us afresh the story of salvation, how we too are saved and given new life. And when we forget that the stranger is one of your friends, humble us and open our hearts afresh, for we would be part of the reconciliation and hope that you began long ago. In the name of the Christ, we pray. Amen.

May 7: Fourth Sunday of Easter Invitation Because we have been so generously invited home, we come in thanksgiving. We celebrate the abundance of God’s grace and welcome by sharing our gifts so that others may experience that welcome, too.

Prayer We bring our struggles and our battles to this place, O welcoming God. We bring the seeking that has not led to finding, and the striving that does not show success, rejoicing that we are welcomed into your zone of grace. We bring the generous smiles and gracious kindness of many around us, for they point us to your abundant welcome and kindness. We lay before you the successes we have tasted, the journeying that has led to arrival and celebration, and the gifts we now share. For we remember that your Spirit has blessed us and given us power. In struggle we come. In abundance we gather before you. In thanksgiving, we open our spirits to your moving. Amen.

May 14: Fifth Sunday of Easter Invitation In God’s economy there are no shortfalls, no deficits, no overdrafts, no running in the red. In God’s household, there is room enough for all, no scraping by, no doubling up. There is room for all. There is plenty. There is a rich and meaningful life for all. Let us give of ourselves out of this assurance, offering to others all that God has already given to us.

Prayer Gracious God, you are the source of all that we have and have provided a world in which all would have enough, if all loved and shared as you do. Use these gifts and those already given through PAR toward that vision. Bless these gifts through the ministries of this church and of the wider church in what we do together through the United Church’s Mission & Service. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

May 21: Sixth Sunday of Easter Invitation Who we are, what we do, and what we have is never separated from God. In God we live and move and have our being, and so the gifts that we offer are also connected and infused with God’s spirit. Who can contain God’s spirit? What will you offer today to the whole of creation to further the mission of the church in the world?

Prayer You, O God, are the One in whom we live and move and have our being. Use these gifts and those already given through PAR and infuse them with your spirit to further the mission of this congregation and of the wider church in what we do together through the United Church’s Mission & Service. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

May 28: Seventh Sunday of Easter Invitation God’s generous nature knows no bounds. God is constantly in a state of giving to us all that we need. Give from that place inside you where hurts are taken seriously and the church can properly respond with compassion and love.

Prayer Holy One, we bring these gifts from the depths of our being, praying that – with the gifts of others – our gifts may make a difference in the world. Bless these gifts and those already given through PAR to your service and use them and the gifts of our lives for your mission. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

June 4: Day of Pentecost Invitation This is the birth of the Church; the spirit is burning and alive in each of us. “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” We share our faith with each other, so that we may be encouraged to grow and nurture the faith of another. We share the blessings of wealth with the community and the world as a sign of our commitment to the journey. We are Pentecost people – let us fuel the flame with our gifts!

Prayer Passionate God, Spirit of Life, bless and use these gifts and those already given through PAR to fuel the flame of Pentecost through the ministries of this church and around the world by what we do together through the United Church’s Mission & Service. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.