Touching God – The 2026 URC Prayer Handbook

Description

Available from early Setpember, the 2026 URC Prayer Handbook is the first from new editors Susan Durber and Jonnie Hill. It comes in A5 and A4 Lectern editions. 

From the Editors: The United Reformed Church is well known for its hymn writers, but is also notable for writing or creating prayers, especially prayers rooted in the scriptures. Some prayers are freely created in the moment, some crafted for one occasion, and others honed with great care over time to be printed and used on many occasions and in different contexts. We might be wary of fixed forms and authorised prayers, but wherever prayer is heartfelt it may be celebrated and treasured.

The prayers in this 2026 edition come from many and diverse writers, both from within and beyond the United Reformed Church. All of them are shaped by scripture; the lectionary-based prayers in the first part, but no less the prayers for worship together and private devotion in the second part. Many relate to the theme for the year, reflecting on times when God comes close to us and when we, in prayer and in daily life, may come close to God. They have been composed thoughtfully, edited carefully and presented beautifully in the hope that they will find a ready home, whether from a lectern or at a bedside. May they provide words with which to pray, so that God’s loving touch may be known.

As editors, we are so grateful to those who took the risk of submitting prayers and whose words often moved us deeply. We have been mutual editors of each other’s work too and grateful for the process of what we hope is a refiner’s fire! Thanks are also due to those at Church House who turn the text into a work of beauty. Above all, may praise be given to God who touches us through words, silence, and sacrament.

Susan Durber and Jonnie Hill, Editors of the 2026 URC Prayer Handbook