Almighty and everlasting God, you called your servant N. to preach the Gospel to the people of _________ [or to the __________ people]: Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Preface of a Missionary or Evangelist
For the gifts of your Holy Spirit poured out upon prophets and evangelists, to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and to bring all peoples under the reign of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
Written for the 1979 US Book of Common Prayer, this collect anchors a new category of saints' commemorations and draws its central petition almost verbatim from Paul's description of his own calling in Ephesians 3:8, to preach "the unsearchable riches of Christ." The ACNA 2019 prayer book carries the same collect with a characteristic small revision to the opening.