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Summary
- “Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings,” a collect in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, asks God’s help for work “begun, continued, and ended” and suits the start of a meeting.
- Short opening prayers cover an office team meeting, a hard decision, a board or council, a tense meeting, speaking in front of others, a difficult one-to-one, a video call and a new project.
- Closing prayers give thanks and ask for follow-through; the Grace, from 2 Corinthians 13:14, is a traditional ending a group can say together.
- For church councils, the 1928 prayer book has the Prayer of St. Chrysostom and a prayer for Episcopal conventions; Catholic councils and synods open with the Adsumus, attributed to Isidore of Seville and said at every session of the Second Vatican Council.
- Acts 15 records the apostles meeting in Jerusalem, and Acts 12:12 a prayer meeting held while Peter was in prison.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Psalm 133:1; Proverbs 11:14; 16:3; 19:21; Matthew 18:20; Acts 12:12; 15:28; 1 Corinthians 14:40; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 4:15; Philippians 2:3; Colossians 3:23; 4:6; James 1:5, 19, 22). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Evening Prayer, “A Prayer of St. Chrysostom” and the Grace, p. 34; “A Prayer to be used at the Meetings of Convention,” pp. 36–37; Collects, “Direct us, O Lord,” p. 49. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- Pontificale Romanum, Ordo ad Synodum, “Adsumus, Domine Sancte Spiritus.” Latin text at Liturgia Latina. http://www.liturgialatina.org/pontificale/088.htm
- General Secretariat of the Synod. “The Adsumus Prayer.” https://www.synod.va/en/resources/the-adsumus-prayer.html
