Dedication Festival

Gold or White
Invitation to Confession

We are a temple of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit,

yet we have grieved him.

The temple of our bodies does not belong to us,

but was bought at the price of Christ’s precious blood.

So we come, in sorrow yet with confidence,

to ask forgiveness of our Father in heaven.

Kyrie Confession

Zeal for your house has eaten me up

and the taunts of those who taunt you have fallen upon me.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of ungodliness.

Christ, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

The Lord will defend your coming out and your coming in

from this time forward for evermore.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.

Collect

Almighty God,

to whose glory we celebrate the dedication of this house of prayer:

we praise you for the many blessings

you have given to those who worship you here:

and we pray that all who seek you in this place may find you,

and, being filled with the Holy Spirit,

may become a living temple acceptable to you;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Lectionary

Principal Service

Year A

1 Kings 8.22-30 or Revelation 21.9-14

Psalm 122

Hebrews 12.18-24

Matthew 21.12-16

Year B

Genesis 28.11-18 or Revelation 21.9-14

Psalm 122

1 Peter 2.1-10

John 10.22-29

Year C

1 Chronicles 29.6-19

Psalm 122

Ephesians 2.19-22

John 2.13-22

Second Service

Year A

Jeremiah 7.1-11

1 Corinthians 3.9-17

Gospel at Holy Communion: Luke 19.1-10

Evening Psalm

Psalm 132

Year B

Jeremiah 7.1-11

Luke 19.1-10

Evening Psalm

Psalm 132

Year C

Jeremiah 7.1-11

Luke 19.1-10

Evening Psalm

Psalm 132

Third Service

Years A, B, C

Haggai 2.6-9

Hebrews 10.19-25

Morning Psalms

Psalms 48, 150

Gospel Acclamation

Alleluia, alleluia.

Lord, we love the house of your habitation

and the place where your glory abides.

cf Psalm 26.8

Alleluia.

Intercession

The risen Christ is here in the midst of us.

We bring our prayers to him as Lord of the Church.

For the Church universal,

of which these buildings are a visible symbol,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For this congregation,

as we remember your promise

that when two or three are gathered in your name

you are there in the midst of them,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For this place, that we may be still and know that you are God,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the fulfilling of our desires and petitions as you see best for us,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For your blessings in the past and for a vision for the future,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the gift of the Holy Spirit and new life in baptism,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the pardon of our sins when we fall short of your glory,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For a foretaste of your eternal kingdom

in the sacrament of the eucharist,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the blessing of our vows

and the crowning of our years with your goodness,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the faith of those who have gone before us

and for grace to persevere like them,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For the benefactors of this place who have died in the peace of Christ

and are at rest,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

For a sense of our fellowship with [N our patron and] all your saints,

Lord, receive our thanks and prayer.

O God, from living stones

you prepare an everlasting dwelling–a place for your majesty.

Grant that in the power of the Holy Spirit

those who serve you here

may always be kept within your presence.

This we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Introduction to the Peace

Peace to this house from God our heavenly Father.

Peace to this house from his Son who is our peace.

Peace to this house from the Holy Spirit, the life-giver.

Prayer at the Preparation of the Table

Lord, teach us how to repay you for your goodness towards us.

We will lift up the cup of salvation

and call upon your name.

Preface

And now we give you thanks

for your blessing on this house of prayer,

where through your grace we offer you the sacrifice of praise

and are built by your Spirit into a temple made without hands,

even the body of your Son Jesus Christ.

(or)

And now we give you thanks that,

though the heaven of heavens cannot contain you,

and your glory is in all the world,

yet you chose to hallow places for your worship,

and in them you pour forth gifts of grace

upon your faithful people.

Extended Preface

It is indeed right, our duty and our joy,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

almighty and eternal Father,

enthroned upon the praises of your people.

We thank you for this house of prayer,

in which you bless your family

as we come to you in pilgrimage.

Here you reveal your presence in sacramental signs

and make us one with you through the unseen bond of grace.

Here you build your temple of living stones

and bring the Church to its full stature

as the body of Christ throughout the world,

to reach its perfection at last

in the heavenly city of Jerusalem,

which is the vision of your peace.

Therefore, in union with the heavenly Jerusalem,

with angels in joyful assembly,

with all whose names are written in heaven

and with the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

we lift up our voices to join in the triumphal song of praise:

Post Communion

Father in heaven,

whose Church on earth is a sign of your heavenly peace,

an image of the new and eternal Jerusalem:

grant to us in the days of our pilgrimage

that, fed with the living bread of heaven,

and united in the body of your Son,

we may be the temple of your presence,

the place of your glory on earth,

and a sign of your peace in the world;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

Christ, whose glory is in the heavens,

fill this house and illuminate your hearts;

and the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

(or)

God has given you the citizenship of heaven,

with his blessed and beloved,

and the whole company of the redeemed.

Amen.

God give you the will to live each day in life eternal.

Amen.

God bring you to the home

that Christ prepares for all who love him.

Amen.

And the blessing of God almighty,

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

be among you and remain with you always.

Amen.

Dismissal

Like living stones, precious in his sight,

go in peace to proclaim the mighty acts of God.

Thanks be to God.

For an alternative dismissal for a Dedication Festival, see Common Worship: Times and Seasons, pages 525–526.

Acclamation

How awesome is this place.

This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gateway of heaven.

I saw a ladder which rested on the ground

with its top reaching to heaven,

and the angels of God were going up and down it.

This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gateway of eaven.

You will see greater things than this.

You will see heaven wide open,

and God’s angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gateway of heaven.

You are the temple of the living God,

and the Spirit of God dwells in you.

The temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.

This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gateway of heaven.

Short Passages of Scripture

How awesome is this place!

This is none other than the house of God,

and this is the gate of heaven.

Genesis 28.17

We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God,

in the midst of your temple.

Psalm 48.9

Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labour in vain.

Psalm 127.1

God is spirit,

and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4.24

Like living stones,

let yourselves be built into a spiritual house,

to be a holy priesthood,

to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God

through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2.5

 

Common Worship: Festivals, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2008 and published by Church House Publishing.

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