These are resources for the Sunday Next Before Advent: Christ the King (known as The Last Sunday after Pentecost: The Reign of Christ in the Anglican Church of Canada and The Last Sunday after Pentecost: Christ the King in The Episcopal Church in the USA) on Sunday, November 15, 2020. The resources are gathered from a variety of sources and, while assembled mainly for The Anglican Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, on the island of Crete in Greece, others may find them useful.

A Note About the Feast of Christ the King

The observance of the Sunday before Advent as one about Christ the King is relatively new. It was instituted by the Pope in 1925 in the old Roman Calendar, and was initially observed on the Sunday before All Saints. In the revision of the calendar in 1969 it was moved to its current position. The Revised Common Lectionary is based on the Roman calendar, and from there it made its way into revised Anglican, Lutheran, and Protestant calendars in the 1970s and 1980s.

Read

The readings appointed by the Church of England’s Common Worship Lectionary (and the Revised Common Lectionary) are Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Psalm 95:1-7a, Ephesians 1:15-23, and Matthew 25:31-46.

Share

We continue in the lockdown here in Greece until at least the end of November. So, all our liturgies are online with Zoom. You can join us by clicking this link or entering this information in your Zoom app: Meeting ID: 850 4483 9927 Passcode: 010209.

You can also worship at home by yourself using the materials here, interspersing the readings, prayers, and recorded sermon with the hymns below.

Reflect

Last Advent I reflected on the Book of Isaiah, and one of the constant themes was the monarchy of Israel and Judah. One post that may help us as we head in to the Feast of Christ the King is this one.

I have not posted the sermon from last week, but I may get to it.

Pray

Collect
Eternal Father,
whose Son Jesus Christ ascended to the throne of heaven
that he might rule over all things as Lord and King:
keep the Church in the unity of the Spirit
and in the bond of peace,
and bring the whole created order to worship at his feet;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

(or)

God the Father,
help us to hear the call of Christ the King
and to follow in his service,
whose kingdom has no end;
for he reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, one glory. Amen.

Biddings
I bid your prayers for the leaders and people of the nations; especially

• Katerini Sakellaropoulou, President of Greece, and
  • Kyriakos Mitsotakis the Prime Minister of Greece;
• Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and her other realms, and also in her role as Governor of the Church of England;
  • and Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of her British government;
• In the European Union,
  • Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission;
  • Charles Michel, President of the European Council; and
  • Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy;
• for negotiations around Brexit;
• for the peoples of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland facing uncertainty over the fate of the Good Friday Accord;
• the peoples of Belarus, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and Thailand as they continue to demonstrate for democracy and justice;
• for the maintaining of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and between Russia and Ukraine, and for a final, just resolution to their conflicts;
• for the President-elect and peoples of the United States;
• for advocates of Indigenous rights and the adoption and implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
• prisoners and captives, especially the over one million Uigers being held in detention in China;
• for a lessening of tensions between Turkey and Greece; and
• for peace in Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, and between Palestinians and Israelis.

I bid your prayers for the sick and suffering and all who minister to their needs;

• remembering the nearly 16 million active cases of the novel coronavirus, and mourning with the families of the over 1.3 million who have died in the pandemic;
• for the 1.4 million people in the UK with covid-19, the 52,147 who have died of it there, and the 65,000 active cases here in Greece, and the families of the over 1165 dead here;
• and also remembering those ill with other diseases, and those whose operations have been postponed;
• the over 79.5 million refugees and nearly 4 million stateless person, remembering especially the crucial situation of Greece.

I bid your prayers for the Church:

• for Robert Innes & David Hamid, our bishops;
• for Justin Welby our archbishop, Stephen Cottrell the Archbishop of York, and the General Synod of the Church of England as it meets in London and online this November 22nd – 25th;
• we pray especially for congregations that have been obliged to cease in-person services with the resumption of lockdown;
• for the churches and peoples of Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore (World Council of Churches Ecumenical Prayer Cycle);
• in the Anglican Communion, we remember the Church of Bermuda (which is Extra-Provincial to the Archbishop of Canterbury) and its bishop, The Rt Revd Nicholas Dill.
• (from the Prayer Diary of the Diocese in Europe) give thanks for:
  • the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, and its Archbishop, Bernd Wallet;
  • the Evangelical Lutheran Churches of Iceland, Latvia, and Lithuania;
  • the Chancellor: Mark Hill;
  • the Registrar: Aiden Hargreaves-Smith; and
  • the Communications Director: Damian Thwaites.

Intercession
Let us with confidence present our prayers and supplications to the throne of grace.

We pray for all those in positions of power,
that they may govern with wisdom and integrity,
serving the needs of their people.
May your reign come; Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for the Church, the sign of your reign,
that it may extend your welcome to people of every
race and background.
May your kingdom come; Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for Christians of every denomination,
that together we may come to understand
the royal priesthood you bestowed on us in baptism.
May your dominion come; Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for those whose commitment to truth
brings them into conflict with earthly powers,
that they may have the courage to endure.
May your rule come; Lord, hear our prayer.

We pray for this community of faith,
that attentive to your word
we may always worship in spirit and in truth.
May your reign come; Lord, hear our prayer.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

Loving God,
you have taught us that the power of the heart
is greater than the power of wealth and might.
Hear us as we pray for the fulfilment of your reign.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our King;
to him be glory and power for ever. Amen.

Sing

This coming Sunday in our online service we will sing the following hymns.