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Goodbye to Hetton Chapel

We thank you Triune God— + Father, Son and Holy Spirit—
For this chapel:

* For all the people you have called by name, who have gathered here

*  For speaking a new Word to us here

*  For gently touching the places that are wounded or as yet un-transformed
within us

*  For calling us to remember the ancients paths and to ask where the good way is and    
walk in it

*  For bread broken and wine outpoured

* For the peace passed and joy shared

* For relationships reconciled and feet washed

* For the harmonies of brothers and sisters, singing with one voice

* For the silence which has held us and allowed deep to call to deep

We thank you God of Creation:

* For the call of baby tawny owls from without, and the squeak of baby wrens from within…. and indeed for all your creatures who have joined in our prayers

* For views of snowdrops and wild garlic, of aconites and chestnut trees

* For times we’ve come through sunshine, rain, wind, snow, and ice

* For times we’ve come during bright-shining days and star-lit nights

* For times we’ve come in freezing cold and allowed you and one another to be our warmth and our light

We thank you Jesus the Incarnate Lord:

* For times we’ve gathered for rites of passage—to celebrate a birth, to bless a marriage, or to mourn a death

* For the ways you have broken us down here…or put us back together in a new way

* For responding to our heart-cries in ways we could have never imagined

*  For your faithfulness to meet us here again and again and again

We thank you Holy Spirit:

* For all that’s been caught on the fishing net, posted on the map, and represented in the lighting of candles

* For the surprise of a conker hitting the roof, a fighter jet flying just overhead, or sitting on a wet cushion after a good rain

*  For irrepressible giggles over a word misspoken or a note wrongly sung

We thank you Living God:

* For those who with strength, vision, and creativity built this chapel

* For those who have been Sacristans over the years and lovingly tended and prepared the space for others to pray

* For those who will in the coming days, dismantle this chapel

* May God give His blessing to the Chapel that will soon be gone from this place.
God bless the taking down of this chapel from roof to floor,
from wall to wall,
from end to end,
from its foundation and in its covering.

Lord, as the chapel is taken down
and some of the materials used again to build the new,
remind us that to everything there is a season.
We are a people of pilgrimage rooted in You,
and not in bricks and mortar, wood and stone.

Lord, we will trust You.
Help us to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.

Give us the faith to leave old ways
and to break fresh ground with You.

We believe You for our future,
chapter by chapter,
until the story is written.

You are our God,
And our times are in Your hand.
Our times are in Your hand.

+  In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen