UNKNOWN

These prayers of lament, thanksgiving, and praise arose out of worship at Bayside Uniting Church in Queensland, Australia after May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic challenged worship “as usual,” since services were restricted to online gatherings. During this time, Paul Mercer felt stirred to discern how he could contribute positively within his own faith community. Over Easter 2020, he recognized the possibility of writing congregational prayers, both for in-person gatherings as well as online use. These were based on the weekly morning and evening liturgical readings of each Sunday as the pandemic gripped the world stage. What emerged was an eclectic set of integrated Old and New Testament “psalms” that follow the liturgical year. As people gather in Christ, amidst both “bad times” and “good times,” they can receive the strange gift of a “new normal” world. May the circulation of these “new normal” prayers be to the glory of God.

Paul Mercer is a primary care doctor and educator. He has written a number of published articles and contributed to four books. He serves as the chair of the INGO HealthServe Australia and coordinates the Theology on Tap team in Brisbane. He is married to Katrina and has three adult children and ten grandchildren. He is a life member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.



Beth M. Stovell is Professor of Old Testament and Chair of General Theological Studies at Ambrose Seminary of Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Besides Beth's co-authored book The Book of the Twelve with David J. Fuller in the Cascade Companions series, her books include Mapping Metaphorical Discourse in the Fourth Gospel (Brill), Making Sense of Motherhood (Wipf and Stock), Biblical Hermeneutics (IVP) with Stanley E. Porter, and Theodicy and Hope in the Book of the Twelve (Bloomsbury T&T Clark) with George Athas, Daniel Timmer, and Colin Toffelmire. Beth is currently writing a book on interpreting biblical metaphor and writing commentaries on the Minor Prophets, Ezekiel, Hosea, and John's Gospel.

SVS 2013 - Beth Stovell - Read This Writing And Tell Me What It Means from Society of Vineyard Scholars on Vimeo.