Extra resources for Church Action on Poverty Sunday: prayer by Nick Jowett

Nick Jowett of Church Action on Poverty in Sheffield wrote this prayer for our 2017 annual conference. You could also use it on Church Action on Poverty Sunday 2018.

Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the voice of those who need a food bank.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the cry of those who get by on low pay year after year.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus,  in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the voice of those who struggle with mental illness.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus,  in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the cry of the disabled to whom our society offers no chance to find work.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the voice of the migrant, the seasonal worker, the asylum-seeker.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Come in the cry of the trafficked, the enslaved, the abused.
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
Father God, we know that our wealthy society is already under judgement because of its inequality and the way it treats its most vulnerable members; we know and sometimes experience that failure every day in postcode lotteries of health, education and housing, in struggling public services, in the disorder of our prisons, in the anger and frustration expressed in social media, in the spiritual poverty among both rich and poor. May the voice of the poor and the marginalised be heard louder and louder, and may all of us, at whatever level of power and influence, speak with that same voice, because we know it is your voice, in Jesus Christ.
Amen
As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen
Come to the Church, Lord Jesus, in the voice of the poor.
May their voice be her voice, their cry her cry.
By Nick Jowett, Church Action on Poverty  in Sheffield