AN ORDER OF SERVICE FOR THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH
The dedication, will probably be combined with the ordinary Church Service. The Service should start with the dedication, and the theme of dedication and consecration will be the keynote running throughout the whole Service, including the Address.
OPENING HYMN
(Appropriate "Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come," A. and M. 156)Minister:
LET US PRAY
O GOD, our Heavenly Father, we beseech Thee to look down upon Thy children gathered here, and to pour Thy blessing and Thy strength into this Church, which we present to Thee as an offering for service. Purify the material structure, create within it vibrations of tender and spiritual worth, and fill it with Thy holy power. We dedicate ourselves as temples of the Holy Spirit, and pray that we may co-operate in effort and in harmony for the upliftment of humanity. O God, our Father, let Thy Divine Spirit dwell not only in this place made by men's hands but in our souls; so that all who come within these doors may recognise that this is Thy House, and go forth blessed and ready to pass on the blessing to others. Amen.
OUR FATHER, Who art in Heaven, all hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. When in temptation Thy love sustains us, and deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory. For ever and for ever. Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING
(Appropriate: Parable of the Vineyard, Matt. 25:14-30; Sending forth the disciples, Matt. 10: 5-20 or 24-42; Mark 6: 7-13; Luke 16: 15; Feed My sheep, John 21: 1-19).HYMN
MINISTER:
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, this Church is now dedicated to all things spiritual. Amen.
LET US PRAY
HEAVENLY FATHER, we thank Thee for all Thy goodness in enabling us to bring about this happy realisation of our efforts, and we pray that we may be worthy of the sacred trust and responsibility reposed in us. We thank Thee also for the generous gifts from friends, for the labours of many hands, for the thought expended, for the material means, and all the mental and physical work which has made our Church possible. Grant that the spiritual aspirations and high ideals we hold now will ever be maintained.
