This responsive prayer of confession was designed for the Opening Worship of the Cal-Pac Annual Conference in 2019. It is adapted from the prayer of confession found in the General Services in the United Methodist Hymnal.

Prayer of Confession:

Merciful God,

We confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.

We have made idols of our desires, our perceived righteousness, and even our fears.

We have failed to be an obedient church.

We have failed to embrace one another as equally valued members of one body,

     of which Christ alone is the head.

We have not done your will, we have broken your law…

We have been lured into legalism and the confines of church polity,

     favoring human security over divine, radical grace.

…we have rebelled against your love,

   believing that your favor is earned by faithfulness,

   rather than freely given to us and every sibling in Christ.

…we have not loved our neighbors,

when we valued certain voices, perspectives, and bodies above others.

…and we have not heard the cry of the needy.

when we overlooked the hungry, the poor, and the outcast;

   when we turned our back on the one who was lost;

   when we chose for ourselves who was welcome at your feast.  

Even when we fail to seek forgiveness,

and have not yet forgiven one another,

forgive us, we pray.

Free us for joyful obedience, through Christ our redeemer.

Amen.

Silence for personal prayers of confession.

Words of Assurance:

Hear the good news:

Through the expansive, mysterious, divine gift of grace,

made known in the person of Jesus Christ,

we have been reconciled and restored to our Creator,

and entrusted to bear this unimaginable love to the world.

Through Christ, we are forgiven.

Thanks be to God. Amen.