We hear God’s CALL TO WORSHIP in Psalm 150
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his holy place.
Praise him in the sky, his stronghold.
Praise him for his deeds of power.
Praise him for his boundless greatness.
We listen in silence for God’s still small voice, CENTERING ourselves, becoming aware of God’s presence within us and around us
We respond to God with ADORATION using the words of Jonathan Edwards
Almighty God, all true virtue consists, at its root and in its essence, in you. For you are not only infinitely greater and more excellent than all other being, but you are the head of the whole system of existence; the foundation and fountain of all being and all beauty; the one from whom everything is perfectly derived, and on whom everything is most absolutely and perfectly dependent; the one from whom, through whom, and to whom belongs all being and all perfection; whose own being and beauty is the sum and fullness of all existence and excellence — far more than the sun is the source and fullness of all the light and brightness of the day. Amen.
We hear God’s CALL TO REPENTANCE in 1 John 4:7–8, 20–21
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God, and knows God. The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
If someone says ‘I love God,’ and yet hates others, they are a liar. For the person who does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Indeed, we have this command from Christ: Those who love God must also love each other.
We respond with CONFESSION using the words of Anselm of Canterbury
Lord, I am bowed down and can only look downward; raise me up that I may look upward. My iniquities have gone over my head; they overwhelm me; and, like a heavy load, they weigh me down. Free me from them; unburden me, that the pit of iniquities may not close over me.
Be it mine to look up to your light, even from afar, even from the depths. Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me, when I seek you, for I cannot seek you, except you teach me, nor find you, except you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in longing, let me long for you in seeking; let me find you in love, and love you in finding
We hear God’s teaching for our lives in THE READING OF THE LAW in Leviticus 19:13
You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him.
The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
We PRAISE God in the INVITATORY PSALM, the VenitePsalm 95:1–7 · Venite, exultemus
1O come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
2Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, *
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
3For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
4In his hand are all the corners of the earth, *
and the strength of the hills is his also.
5The sea is his, and he made it; *
and his hands prepared the dry land.
6O come, let us worship and bow down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7For he is the Lord our God, *
and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Gloria Patri
Glory be to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
As it was in the beginning,
is now and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
We PRAISE God in THE PSALM OF THE DAYPsalm 51:6–13 · Miserere mei, Deus
6Indeed, I have been wicked from my birth, *
a sinner from my mother’s womb.
7For behold, you look for truth deep within me, *
and will make me understand wisdom secretly.
8Purge me from my sin, and I shall be pure; *
wash me, and I shall be clean indeed.
9Make me hear of joy and gladness, *
that the body you have broken may rejoice.
10Hide your face from my sins *
and blot out all my iniquities.
11Create in me a clean heart, O God, *
and renew a right spirit within me.
12Cast me not away from your presence *
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
13Give me the joy of your saving help again *
and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.
We pray a PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION in words from the Universalist “Gospel Liturgy”
Father of all, through your holy word you granted us the light of life. May the Scriptures be opened to our thoughts so our hearts may burn within us, and when it is towards evening and the time of day is far spent, may Christ continue to abide with us by faith, so that the night may be radiant with the promise of a morning without clouds.
We hear God speaking to us in THE READING for the day2 Kings 5:1–19
Thursday, 18 June 2026 · Ordinary Time
1Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria; he was also a mighty man of valour, but he was a leper. 2The Syrians had gone out in bands, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “I wish that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would heal him of his leprosy.”
4Someone went in and told his lord, saying, “The girl who is from the land of Israel said this.”
5The king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
He departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.”
7When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his leprosy? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.”
8It was so, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall come again to you, and you shall be clean.”
11But Naaman was angry, and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leper.’ 12Aren’t Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
13His servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
14Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. 15He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, “See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from your servant.”
16But he said, “As the LORD lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.”
He urged him to take it; but he refused. 17Naaman said, “If not, then, please let two mules’ load of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice to other gods, but to the LORD. 18In this thing may the LORD pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon. When I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant in this thing.”
19He said to him, “Go in peace.”
So he departed from him a little way.
World English Bible. Or read it at Bible Gateway in the NRSV: 2 Kings 5:1–19 · the short form, 2 Kings 5:9–14.
We REFLECT in silence
We greet the day with THE SONG OF ZECHARIAH, the Benedictus Luke 1:68–79
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham,
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
Free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
To give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
We pray the LORD’S PRAYER as Jesus taught his disciples, in those words which are most meaningful to us
Our [ Father / Mother / Creator ] in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our [ trespasses / sins ]
as we forgive those who [ trespass / sin ] against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Amen.
We pray a PRAYER OF INTERCESSION in the words of the Book of Common Prayer
God, the protector of all those who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy — increase and multiply on us your mercy; that you being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We silently pray PERSONAL PRAYER
Followed by
Amen.
We pray a PRAYER FOR UNITY OF ALL PEOPLE
God, you have made of one blood all nations of the earth, and your will is that all your children should be gathered into one family of love: break down, we pray you, the walls that divide us; deliver us from hardness of heart and from contempt for those who differ from us; and hasten the time when all shall dwell together in that peace which passes understanding, knowing you as Father and one another as brothers and sisters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but all are one. Amen.
We pray a PRAYER OF GENERAL THANKSGIVING in the words of Hubert Louis Simpson
We thank you for the good things of this life: for food and clothing and shelter; for work to do and zest in the doing of it. We thank you for the perpetual touch of the divine in life, for the image of yourself in the human soul; for the vigor of youth, the wisdom of age, and for all the lessons of experience; the steps by which we climb to higher things; for the courage of the brave, the indignation of the righteous, the kindness of the thoughtful, and all that makes us human and keeps us Godlike.
Amen.
A concluding BENEDICTION or blessing Numbers 6:24–26
The Lord bless us and keep us;
the Lord make his face to shine upon us,
and be gracious to us;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon us,
and give us peace.
Amen.