Prayer Letters
Prayer Letter for January 2026
Next Service: January 25, 2026, 6:30 pm (6:20 pm, prelude) Location: St. Philip’s United Methodist Church, 16321 Great Oaks Dr, Round […]
Prayer Letter for December 2025
Pastor’s letter for Wholeness Service December 21, 2025 As we leave the season of preparing our hearts to receive the […]
Prayer Letter for October 2025
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, We meet this season to explore our hope beyond hope in Christ. As we […]
Prayer Letter for September 2025
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, The world in which we are living is not a peaceful world. Living in the […]
Hope Beyond All Hope
Community Contemplative Prayer returns to Central Texas in 2025–26 for another season of worship and reflection. This year, we focus on the topic of hope.
Our inspiration for the season is drawn from the ecumenical community of Taizé, France. Long a guide for our music and worship, Taizé’s 2025 theme — Esperer au Dela de Toute Esperance (“To hope beyond all Hope”) — resonates with us deeply this year. In his letter announcing the theme, Prior Brother Matthew recounts a visit to Ukraine with two fellow brothers. A church leader there told them, “Prayer opens up a space that allows healing.” Confronted daily by the devastation of war, this leader described the inner life of faith as a refuge — a place where healing begins and the heart remains open to grace. This is hope: courageous, clear-eyed, and deeply rooted in God.
The Georgetown Ecumenical Wholeness Service has spent over 25 years preparing sacred spaces for prayer and healing. In this season of global unrest and uncertainty, our mission continues. We are honored to be called once again to serve the greater Georgetown community, as we offer curated spaces and times for stillness, prayer, and wholeness. From September, 2025 through May, 2026, three area churches will lend us their sites and support. Our three hosts for this season are:
San Gabriel Presbyterian Church
5404 Williams Avenue
Georgetown, Texas 78633
St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church
881 N Main Street
Salado, TX 76571
St. Philip’s United Methodist Church
16321 Great Oaks Dr
Round Rock, TX 78681
Services will continue to take place one Sunday per month at 6:30 pm, with some noted exceptions (*) around holidays in the November / December months. Meetings take place on these dates and in these locations:
| Date | Topic | Site |
|---|---|---|
| September 28 | Courage to Hope | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
| November 2 * | Listening to People of Hope / Celebration of Saints | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
| November 23 * | Taizé Evening Prayers | St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church |
| December 21 * | Striving for Hope / Christmas by Candlelight | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
| January 25 | Taizé Evening Prayers | St. Philip’s United Methodist Church |
| February 22 | Remaining People of Hope | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
| March 29 | Easter Hope | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
| April 26 | Taizé Evening Prayers | St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church |
| May 31 | Pilgrims of Hope / Pilgrims of Peace | San Gabriel Presbyterian Church |
Please join us as we worship. Lend your voices and hands to our community. When two or three are gathered, God is there. This year, we are blessed once again to be there with you.
A Brief History of the Wholeness Service
Founded in the late 1990’s by Dr. George Biggs of First Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, TX, the Wholeness Service began as a small prayer meeting. On a few Sunday evenings at sunset, Biggs invited friends and neighbors to join him in a circle. The group sang hymns and read scripture together. They lit candles to symbolize private prayers. Ordained ministers laid hands on them, praying with them and anointing them with oil; counseling them when requested. The meetings took place every month, following a template that may be found in many Christian books of common worship, and made a significant impact on Biggs’ congregation. Soon, pastors from other area churches joined the leadership circle and the small Service of Healing and Wholeness grew beyond the walls of First Presbyterian Church. Songs and prayers from Taizé, music based on the haunting chants of early Christianity, eventually replaced traditional hymns, adding an extra dimension to the meditative atmosphere. Today, with an updated name and a tradition established over 25 years ago, the Georgetown Ecumenial Wholeness Service welcomes a community-wide congregation, some of the area’s finest musicians, and ministers across both Travis and Williamson counties.
As we return this year, the Wholeness Service invites everyone, churched and unchurched, to come together and pray. At our services, attendees may sit either with a group or alone as they sing, pray, or simply listen. Unique among the worship experiences in its community, the Wholeness Service is also unique in the place, or places it calls home. Interdenominational and carefully focused on scripture rather than doctrine, this event may take place in many area buildings. To date, First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Wellspring, a United Community of Faith, and San Gabriel Presbyterian Church, all of Georgetown, Texas, have hosted the Wholeness Service. In August, 2024, the service ventured outside of the Georgetown city limits for the first time with a Taizé evening prayer service in the beautiful St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church of Salado, Texas. Many other area churches count themselves as active worship partners.
Join us this season
The Wholeness Service likes to say, “All are welcome, all are embraced.” For us, the place may change from season to season, but the mission is the same: pray for each other, pray for the world, and spend a quiet hour with God. We can’t wait to see where God leads us next. Join the Georgetown Ecumenical Wholeness Service for a peaceful season of candlelight, contemplative prayer.