Revd Rex A E Hunt
eMail: rexae@optusnet.com.au
Web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com
LITURGY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE
15 February 2009. Epiphany 6B. (Green).
Evolution Sunday
Celebrating community: Sacrament of Holy Communion
Acknowledgement of land
(An act towards reconciliation)
For thousands of years Indigenous people have walked
in this land, on their own country.
Their relationship with the land is at the centre of their lives.
We acknowledge the (NN) People and their stewardship
of this land throughout the ages.
(NN) is a safe place for all people to worship regardless of
race, creed, age, cultural background or sexual orientation
GATHERING
Gathering music
Entry into worship
The gong is sounded three times
Here we have gathered the elements of our lives and brought them to this place –
the joy of waking and living,
the blush of health,
the pain of illness,
the grief of loss,
the gift of love.
Some of these we have carried a long way.
All All we have carried through the seasons of our lives
has brought us here to this place
which we make sacred
by our coming together.
Come, you are welcome here (Adapt.SShick/ctl)
So let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of God.
Lighting of the candle
The community candle is lit
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"O Brother Sun" (Tune: Ye banks & braes, 88 88D) 1066 STJ
O Brother Sun, you bring us light,
all shining 'round in fiery might.
O Sister Moon, you heal and bless,
your beauty shines in tenderness.
O Brother Wind, you sweep the hills,
your mighty breath both freshens and fills.
O Sister Water, you cleanse and flow
through rivers and streams, in ice and snow.
O Brother Fire, you warm our night,
with all your dancing coloured light.
O Sister Earth, you feed all things,
all birds, all creatures, all scales and wings.
O Sister Death, you meet us here
and take us to our God so near.
O God of Life, we give you praise
for all your creatures, for all your ways.
Remain standing (Adpated/St Francis of Assisi/SAnway)
Opening sentences
In our humanity we bring our desire:
for relationship with God,
for relationship with others.
All We bring our differences and diversity.
And celebrate them.
We are church.
Prayer
We pray:
Illuminating God, each sunrise and sunset reminds us of your constant presence.
Awaken in each of us
the possibility for new life, new vision
and renewed energy. (TWatts/s)
Amen.
Hymn “For the music of creation” (Tune: ‘Russington’, 87 87D. 99 TiS) 41 AA
For the music of creation,
for the song your Spirit sings,
for your sound's divine expression,
burst of joy in living things:
God, our God, the worlds composer,
hear us, echoes of your voice:
music is your art, your glory,
let the human heart rejoice!
Psalms and symphonies exalt you,
drum and trumpet, string and reed,
simple melodies acclaim you,
tunes that rise from deepest need,
hymns of longing and belonging,
carols from a cheerful throat,
lilt of lullaby and lovesong
catching heaven in a note.
All the voices of the ages
in transcendent chorus meet,
worship lifting up the senses,
hands that praise and dancing feet;
over discord and division
music speaks your joy and peace,
harmony of earth and heaven,
song of God that cannot cease! SMurray
The people sit
Welcome In your own words
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are worshipping at (NN) for the first time,
or who have returned after an absence.
Your presence both enriches us and this time of celebration together.
Refer to printed liturgy.
Fellowship hour following worship.
Those visiting, please sign our Visitors book.
CENTERING
Reflection
“Crystal of Creation”
By Tess Baumberger. UUA Worship web.
If there is a heaven, it is right here, right now,
in this particular arrangement of nature,
this happening of earth, moon, and star,
this constellation of instants,
this laden moment,
this flash of recognition,
this particle of time.
If there is a god,
it is all around us, everywhere,
in every blinking eye,
in every pulsing possibility,
in every ugliness, every beauty,
in every wholeness, every part.
If there is an axiom in the universe
it is life,
it is love,
it is death,
it is hatred,
it is wanting and needing to be
in this crystal of creation.
Music of celebration
Silence
Let silence be placed around us now, like a mantle.
Let us enter into it,
where stillness reigns
and God is present.
(Silence)
EXPLORING
Reading from our broad tradition
A reading from the world around us, by Charles Darwin, and
a story from our biblical tradition, as told by the teller we call Mark.
Both shall be read by (NN).
From the world around us:
“Conclusion”
Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species/362
It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds,
with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about,
and with worms crawling through the damp earth,
and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms,
so different from each other,
and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner,
have all been produced by laws acting around us.
These laws, taken in the largest sense, being
Growth with Reproduction;
Inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction;
Variability from the indirect and direct action of the conditions of life, and from use and disuse;
a Ratio of Increase so high as to lead to a Struggle for Life,
and as a consequence to Natural Selection,
entailing Divergence of Character and the
Extinction of less improved forms.
Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death,
the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving,
namely, the production of the higher animals,
directly follows.
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers,
having been originally breathed by the Creator
into a few forms or into one;
and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on
according to the fixed law of gravity,
from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful
have been, and are being, evolved.
Gospel:
Mark 1:40-45 (Inclusive Text/NRSV)
A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to him,
'If you choose, you can make me clean.'
Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him,
'I do choose. Be made clean!'
Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
After sternly warning him Jesus sent him away at once, saying to him,
'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest,
and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded,
as a testimony to them.'
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely,
and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly,
but stayed out in the country;
and people came to him from every quarter.
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
An litany: ‘Heart of matter’
In response to the word reflected on, let us stand and share a special litany for today.
The people stand as they are able
Blessed be you, harsh matter, barren soil, stubborn rock:
you who yield only to violence;
All You who force us to work if we would eat.
Blessed be you, perilous matter, violent sea, untameable passion:
All You who unless we fetter you will devour us,
Blessed be you, mighty matter, irresistible march of evolution, reality ever new-born;
All You who, by constantly shattering our mental categories,
force us to go ever further and further
in our pursuit of the truth.
Blessed be you, universal matter, unmeasurable time,
boundless ether, triple abyss of stars
and atoms and generations;
All You who by overflowing and dissolving
our narrow standards of measurement
reveal to us the dimensions of God (Teilhard de Chardin/slt)
The peace
“Life should be a pattern of experiences to savour, not endure” P D’Arcy
The peace of God is here... to stay.
All Thanks be to God.
You are invited to share the peace with your neighbours
Hymn of the Month
“Imagination of the heart” (Tune: ’Imagination’, 88 86) 104 RP
Imagination of the heart
will rise on soaring wings of song;
will elevate our bland desires,
transcend our human wrong.
The spirit will inspire, define
the love that gives this passage worth,
the pain we gather on the way,
the trust of love's new birth.
We emulate that wild design,
the flaunting serenade to peace
that brought a saviour to his knees
that brought a thief release.
High-handed love, incarnate hope,
that freed our stony hearts by grace;
we offer praise, it is your due,
from all the human race. (APratt)
Reflections and prayers
Care candle
We are people of all ages who enter this space bringing our joys and concerns.
Joys and concerns shared.
Listening response
In the light and beauty of day
All We give thanks in awe and wonder.
In the dark and stillness of night
All We dream of healing and hope (GVosper/wwg)
And so we take this flame and light our special care candle.
The Care candle is lit
In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
of the presentness of God among us,
and to see new possibilities of the now.
Pastoral prayer
Lord's Prayer
You are invited to pray in the spirit of the Lord's Prayer, and in your original language, as appropriate
All God, lover of us all, most holy one.
Help us to respond to you.
To create what you want for us here on earth.
Give us today enough for our needs.
Forgive our weak and deliberate offences,
just as we must forgive others when they hurt us.
Help us to resist evil and to do what is good.
For we are yours, endowed with your power
to make our world whole.
Amen. (LWinkley/cw)
Conversation with the children
"Somewhere someone"
The kingdom of love is coming because:
All somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient - and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.
Is that someone you? (jke)
CELEBRATING
Offerings
Our offerings for the celebration of life in this place and beyond,
and our gifts of bread and wine, shall now be received.
Presentation People stand as gifts are presented
As a river without an outlet becomes stagnant,
so life which receives but does not give
becomes polluted and sour.
All As we give, we know we will be refreshed and cleansed
as well as being a blessing to others.
People sit
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY: SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
The celebration
When Jesus gathered with his friends
to tell them of a re-imagined way of living and being,
the conversations often went
on into the time for a meal.
Jesus ate and conversed
with the high and mighty,
with the pious and self-righteous, and
with those considered outcasts and sinners.
His table fellowship included everyone.
He often told them stories that caused them
to wonder and ask questions.
He also welcomed these opportunities
to eat with those who disagreed with him
and engaged them in open discussion.
In this way, the issues of life and death,
justice and injustice,
conflict and peace,
goodness and evil
were talked through and made real to ordinary people.
Jesus at a meal is a demonstration of his teaching.
He urged his followers to include a wide variety of people
in what he called the realm of God.
And he encouraged them to be open
to the insights and understandings that come
from honest and respectful dialogue
among those who seek a worthy way of life.
We are here to carry on this tradition
of seeking for truth and recognising goodness
wherever they may be found.
To this end, everyone is invited and encouraged
to share in this symbolic meal.
All This being so, we who are followers of Jesus in these times
gather around this table to pledge ourselves anew
to his words and ways.
Let us then, in the spirit of Jesus, welcome this knowledge
and determine to use it as he would use it
in the service of justice and well being
for all persons, creatures, and things.
All We welcome the new ways of truth
and seek a deeper wisdom about all that is known.
Communion
And we remember the tradition...
Jesus took bread and blessed it,
acknowledging with gratitude the hands that produced it
and the earthly goodness that made it possible.
He broke the bread and gave it to his friends.
In the same way, we break this bread
and share it with one another.
All We give thanks for this bread.
The bread is broken and distributed.
Jesus took a cup of wine and blessed it
for the sense of joy and celebration wine can bring.
Thus do we lift this cup and drink this wine,
celebrating the blessedness of our fellowship
and this time together.
All We celebrate together.
The wine is poured and served.
After communion
Let us renew our sense of belonging to this congregation
as we seek to bring the words and ways of Jesus
into relevant connection with life
as we live and understand it today.
All May true knowledge increase in our minds.
May compassion increase in our hearts.
May there be energy and strength for good actions
that serve a suffering world.
And may peace be our portion
and the portion of all who live on this small planet
which is our human home.
All Amen. (Adapt.R Jones)
SCATTERING
Hymn “The cosmos is revolving” (Tune: 13 13 13 13, Sprowston) 147 RP
The cosmos is revolving with endless rhythmic rhyme,
the circle keeps on turning to mark off chance and time;
and through the life we're living and images we see
we plot the hopeful story of God's eternity.
The summer sheds its harvest as autumn turns to gold,
the springtime and its newness are lost in time, grown old;
the cold of winter beckons, the trees are crippled, bare,
but seeds of hope are hidden, await the spring's repair.
Words of mission
The presentness of God reaches beyond this place...
The candle is extinguished
Remembering that the universe is much larger
than our ability to comprehend,
All let us go from this time together
with the resolve to allow wonder,
- that sense of what is sacred -
to find space to open up our minds and illumine our lives MNLeaming
Blessing words
Walk softly.
Speak truthfully.
Love gently.
Breathe deeply.
Live wisely.
Go in peace EGehrmann.
All Amen.
Hymn (Cont). “The cosmos is revolving” (Tune: 13 13 13 13, Sprowston) 147 RP
This broadens expectation, the life for which we hope,
the gift of resurrection, the faith for which we grope,
are found within our compass and not beyond our grasp,
these gifts of grace and loving are sown in us to last. APratt
The people sit
'This week' at St James
Notices
Birthdays and anniversaries
Significant events
Journey candles
Music
Fellowship
Morning tea is now served.
You are invited to share in the moment of fellowship.
You are invited to keep this copy of the liturgy and take it home with you
to share with another member of your family, or with a friend.
I recommend the use of
LicenSing - Copyright cleared music for churches
Some of the resources used in shaping this liturgy:
Alleluia Aotearoa. Hymns and songs for all churches. 1993. NZ: Raumati. New Zealand Hymnbook Trust.
Binkley, C. G.; J. M. McKeel. 2001. Jesus and his kingdom of equals. An international curriculum on the life and teaching of Jesus. CA: Santa Rosa. Polebridge Press.
Darwin, C. 2008. On the origins of species by means of natural selection. Preface by George Davidson. GtB: London. Arcturus Publishing.
Holy Bible. NRSV. 1989. TN: Nashville. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Inclusive readings. Year B. 2005. QLD: Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. GtB: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Jones, Robert V. 2005. “Liturgy: The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper”. In private circulation from the author. L & L Seminar.
Liebelt, P; N. Nicholls. (ed). 1996. Gentle rain on parched earth. Worship resources for rural situations. VIC: Melbourne. JBCE.
Pratt, A. 2006. Reclaiming praise. Hymns from a spiritual journey. GtB: London. Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Shick, S. M. 2004. Consider the lilies. Meditations. MA: Boston. Skinner House Books.
Singing the journey. 2005. MA: Boston. UUA.
Singing the living tradition. 1993. MA: Boston. UUA.
Vosper, G. 2008. With or without God. Why the way we live is more important that what we believe. Canada: Toronto. HarperCollins.
Ward, H.; J. Wild, J Morley. (ed). 1995. Celebrating women. New edition. GtB: London. SPCK.
Watts, T; G. Lord. 2005. Sanctuary. Where heaven touches earth. A group resource for those seeking simplicity, silence, and nurture. Canada: Kelowna. Wood Lake Books.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA. < www.uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/>