God, be the love to search and keep me;
God, be the prayer to move my voice;
God, be the strength to now uphold me:
O Christ, surround me; O Christ, surround me.
(O Christ, Surround Me by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan)
Last January I had a basket of Epiphany star words to hand out at the end of our church’s worship service. Each person was to take a word home to think about all year. As the last song began, I scooted to the back of the church and stood at the doorway looking up the center aisle toward the pulpit, ready with my stars. As I looked around the sanctuary and heard the gentle singing of “O Christ, surround me; O Christ, surround me,” I started to cry. It was one of the most moving moments I have ever experienced. That ancient Celtic prayer, sung by the faith community that I call siblings in Christ, was literally surrounding me. It was comforting, inspiring, and moving. Quite the God moment.
It’s been an interesting year, hasn’t it? And pssst… it’s not over yet. Good thing Christ surrounds us. And good thing we can each be the hands and feet, and the eyes and ears of Christ to surround others. Others of all generations.
I hope that you will continue to support the mission of GenOn Ministries as we partner with churches to nurture, grow, and deepen intergenerational Christ-centered community in a world that so desperately needs it. We have been challenged this year in resourcing and training churches and gathering for our annual Youth Summits. We adapted our resources to allow for pandemic restrictions. We shifted our in-person training to a video conferencing format. We postponed our Youth Summits. These need to be creative and flexible times!
If you have already donated to GenOn, thank you. If you can donate now, thank you.
Donations to GenOn Ministries can be made:
By check: Mail to the address below.
Electronically: Submit at the link genonministries.org for a secure credit card payment.
May you be surrounded by the love and hope of Jesus Christ,
Liz Perraud
Executive Director, GenOn Ministries
P.O. Box 4
Springdale, PA 15144