Tess Ward is a hospice chaplain and writer of prayers and liturgies. She facilitates both traditional Christian services and more personal, spiritually focussed ceremonies. Her books include The Celtic Wheel of the Year and Alternative Pastoral Prayers.
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Alternative Pastoral Prayers
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……has at last arrived. The labour felt long but funny how that all disappears once you set eyes on the baby! They have made it compact and holdable but given each liturgy and prayer space on the page. And best of all, it has a ribbon which I’m very thrilled about. Amazon are selling it for under £20 but if you live in the Oxford area, do wait for the book launch which will be a public event. The arrival date was also quite perfect, the day before my 50th birthday. I do not have an ordinary Birthday blessing in the book. (There are so many other blessings I could have chosen but there’s always another time!) So I offer the last few lines of “Blessing for Coming of Age” which is meant for young people but we come of age several times throughout our life.
Edited extract from “Blessing for Coming of Age”
May you be unfrightened by your fear.
May you take the time to hear your voice into speech,
befriend silence and listen to the world with compassion.
May you be awake to the wonder of the earth
and see the single flame that lights every living thing.
Go bravely and greet each new horizon with trust and gratitude
and may God bless you on your journey
and let flourish the person you were made to be.
c. Tess Ward, Alternative Pastoral Prayers Canterbury SCM 2012
