The St Mellitus College Collect

I'm sad, of course, to have missed SBL this year, but I've been away for the past few days at a St Mellitus residential weekend, delivering a couple of lectures on Luke. Phil Ritchie (Director of Lay Ministry Studies) posted the St Mellitus college collect a while ago

God of grace and wisdom,
who called your servant Mellitus
to leave his home and proclaim your Word:
grant to all who belong to the college that bears his name
diligence for study, fervour for mission,
and perseverance for ministry,
that they might shine with your love and truth
in these dioceses and beyond,
for the sake of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

(To the tune of MC Hammer - U Can't Touch This)

For many years as an evangelical I never heard about 'collects'. Can't get enough of them these days. Though recent escapades into traditional liturgical forms of worship have made me also appreciate more 'charismatic' or 'free' forms of worship, I would advise all in the evangelical tradition to pick up the Anglican prayer book. My personal favourite is Celebrating Common Prayer.