Revd Rex A E Hunt
MSc(Hons), GradDipCommMgt
eMail: rexae@optusnet.com.au
Web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com
LITURGY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE
24 December 2006. Advent 4C. (Blue).
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 music
Entry into celebration
The gong is sounded three times
v1 The season of Advent challenges us
to see God's vision of what is yet to be,
to hear God's voice calling anew,
to smell the scent of God in our world.
v2 Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life in the presentness of God.
Music of celebration
THE ADVENT WREATH WITH THE CHILDREN
Advent 4
Each night we sleep wearily under a large summer moon.
The nights are short
and the dawn comes soon.
All Come, companion Jesus, walk with us.
v1 Let us prepare a manger in our hearts for the birth of the sacred.
v3 Why do we light a fourth candle?
v2 This fourth candle reminds us of love.
A fourth candle is lit.
v4 love
in a young girl's song;
fearful,
determined,
hopeful,
bursting.
love in a mother's song;
tender,
embracing,
challenging,
stern.
love is god's song;
curious yet timid,
playful and wondering,
coming among us again.
This is why we light a candle for love. Kathy Hawker
Hymn “Anna’s Song” 55 IST
Lift this child to the sun,
Raise this child to the sky;
God has come from above,
Come to earth from on high.
Lift this child, lift this child to the sun.
Lay this child on the ground,
One with us, one with earth;
Let God know in his son,
Human clay, human birth.
Lay this child, lay this child on the ground.
Place this child in the shade,
Hang this child ‘neath a tree;
With his hand on the wood,
May this child set us free.
place this child, place this child in the shade.
Give this child to the world,
Let him be common folk;
God has come to be born,
As an ordin’ry bloke.
Give this child, give this child to the world. © Norman Habel.
Opening sentences
Let us acknowledge the awesome mystery embodied in every person.
All Through us God comes to unique and personal expression.
Let us give thanks
for the abundance of life on this earth.
All Through it we and all people
may be nourished. (MMorwood/adapted)
Prayer of awareness
We pray:
Spirit of God, you are the breath of life within us.
You call us to be one with you.
You breathe among us in all of creation.
Give us the strength and courage to live in your love.
Amen.
Hymn "Sarah's God" (Tune: 'Leoni', 66 84D. 125 TiS)
The God of Sarah praise
who turned her grief to joy
when, after many barren days,
she held her boy.
For laughter out of tears,
and bitterness and strife,
she praised God, after ninety years,
for the gift of life.
The God of Miriam!
She saw her brother found,
and learned, like him, that all God's earth
is holy ground.
When Moses sang a psalm,
'God has triumphed gloriously!'
She led the girls in song and dance
across the sea.
All praise to Mary's God
who overcame her dread.
'Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Amen!' she said.
She sang, 'My soul, adore
God who brought down mighty kings,
and fills the hungry and the poor
with all good things.'
The matriarchs' God and ours
who leads us onward still,
inspire our hearts, unite our minds
to work God's will.
Rock, Saviour, Maker, Lamb,
we sing your praise anew.
Mother, Father, great 'I am',
we worship you. Barbara Moss/ssb
The people sit after the hymn
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.
Reflection
"The Rainbow Prayer"
By Andrew Hill/adapted
Great Rainbow Arch
your bright light
your seven colours
link sky and earth above the Christmas stable.
Hold us all in your encompassing arms.
Forgive our exclusion of others:
earth and life and child.
May we too forgive those who have excluded us.
Show us the returning light;
for the light and the colours,
all space and time,
and your seven-fold rainbow compassion
dwell ever in God.
Centering silence
Let there now be a quiet time among us.
(Silence)
Hear and feel your quiet breathing.
Hear and feel the quiet of this place
and this community of people.
I invite you look at your hands.
They've been through a lot, those hands...
they have strengths, scars, beauty.
I invite you to remember that it is your hands
that do the work of love in the world:
hold another's hands,
type emails to politicians,
sign cards of consolation and congratulation,
write words urging peace,
bathe children, feed elders, nurse the ill.
These hands are God's hands, your hands, our hands.
A great mystery of flesh and intention,
A great potential of embodied love. Christine Robinson/adapted
(Silence)
Readings from our broad religious tradition
Some readings and a reflection from our broad religious tradition shall now be read.
The reader is (NN).
From the mystics:
"You are christ's hands"
By Teresa of Avila. The essential mystics/206.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out
Christ's compassion to the world
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless all now.
Gospel:
Luke 1:39-42, 46- (Inclusive Text)
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could
to a town in the hill country of Judah.
She went into the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Spirit.
She gave a loud cry and said,
'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb...'
Silence
And Mary sang a song of praise,
jubilant praise,
prophetic praise,
to the glory of her God.
"Magnificat"
By Miriam T Winter. Woman prayer. Woman song/218.
My soul gives glory to my God.
My heart pours out its praise.
God lifted up my lowliness
in many marvelous ways.
My God has done great things for me:
Holy is Her Name.
All people will declare me blessed,
and blessings they shall claim.
From age to age, to all who fear,
such mercy Love imparts,
dispensing justice far and near,
dismissing selfish hearts.
Love casts the mighty from their thrones,
promotes the insecure,
leaves hungry spirits satisfied,
the rich seem suddenly poor.
Praise God, whose loving Covenant
supports those in distress,
remembering past promises
with present faithfulness.
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
Litany of power, love, and strong minds
The people stand, as they are able
v1 Within our religious tradition many women have been silenced.
They are given no name.
Today, let us break that silence.
v2 God of our years, our lives are in your hands.
We remember today our foremothers,
who throughout time have used their gifts
of power, love, and the strong minds you gave them
to change the world.
We call upon these foremothers
to help us discover within ourselves our gifts.
All We remember Sarah, a strong woman of faith
who answered God's call to forsake her homeland
and to put her faith in the promises and covenant of God.
We pray for her power of faith.
All We remember Esther, Deborah, and Rahab,
who by acts of individual courage saved her people.
We pray for their sound minds and courage
acting for the greater good.
All We remember Mary Magdala, Johanna, Mary,
and the other women who followed Jesus
and who were not believed
when they announced the resurrection.
We pray for their love and faith in the face of skepticism.
All We remember Phoebe, Priscilla, and all
the women leaders of the early church.
We pray for their power and creativity that spread the gospel
and inspired congregations.
All We pray for the love and creativity
of women who were first in their field.
We pray for their power of leadership and their creative thinking.
All May they be granted power and responsibility
as they open up new possibilities for all women.
We pray for our daughters and granddaughters.
May they be granted the power, love and creative minds
to seek that life which is uniquely theirs.
Wn We have celebrated our power.
We have celebrated our love.
We have celebrated our strong minds.
We have been given these gifts from God.
v1 Spirit of God be with us
in our speaking,
in our loving,
in our searching
and in our celebrating.
All Amen.
Hymn “Will you come and see the light?” (Tune: 'The summons'. John Bell)
Will you come and see the light from the stable door?
It is shining newly bright, though it shone before.
It will be your guiding star,
it will show you who you are.
Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
Will you step into the light that can free the slave?
It will stand for what is right, it will heal and save.
By the pyramids of greed
there’s a longing to be freed.
Will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
Will you tell about the light in the prison cell?
Though it’s shackled out of sight, it is shining well.
When the truth is cut and bruised
and the innocent abused,
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
Will you join the hope alight in a young girl’s eyes,
of the mighty put to flight by a baby’s cries?
When the lowest and the least
are the foremost at the feast,
will you hide, or decide to meet the light?
Will you travel by the light of the new babe born?
In the candle lit at night, there’s a gleam of dawn,
and the darkness all about
is too dim to put it out:
will you hide, or decide to meet the light? © Brian Wren
The people sit
Offerings
Our gifts for the work of ministry in this place shall now be received.
Presentation People stand as they are able, as offerings are presented
We pray:
Be with us, Loving God, in the breaking:
in the break of day
in the breaking of our lives
in the breaking of our hearts
in the breaking of our hopes.
Be with us, Loving God,
for you alone can make us whole.
Amen.
Care candle
Joys and concerns
The Care candle is lit
Prayers
Pastoral
Lord's Prayer
You are invited to pray the Lord's Prayer in your original language, as that is appropriate.
All Father, may your name be holy.
May your rule take place.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Pardon our debts, for we ourselves pardon
everyone in debt to us.
And do not bring us to trial
into a trying situation. (B Mack/Q)
Amen.
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"Cloth for the cradle" (Tune: Traditional, John Bell) 54 HSNW
Chorus:
Cloth for the cradle, cradle for the child,
The child for our every joy and sorrow;
Find him a shawl that's woven by us all
To welcome the Lord of each tomorrow.
Darkness and light and all that's known by sight,
Silence and echo fading,
Weave into one a welcome for the Son,
Set earth its own maker serenading.
Claimant and queen, wage earners in between,
Trader and travelling preacher,
Weave into one a welcome for the Son,
Whose word brings new life to every creature.
Words of mission
May we go forth
in the certainty of faith,
in the knowledge of love,
and in the vision of hope.
All And in our going, may we be blessed
with all good things on this day
and forever more. Harold Babcock
Blessing words
May the God who dances in creation,
who embraces us with human love,
who shakes our lives like thunder,
bless us and drive us out with power
to fill the world with her justice.
All Amen.
Hymn (Cont.) "Cloth for the cradle" (Tune: Traditional, John Bell) 54 HSNW
Chorus:
Cloth for the cradle, cradle for the child,
The child for our every joy and sorrow;
Find him a shawl that's woven by us all
To welcome the Lord of each tomorrow.
Hungry and poor, the sick and the unsure,
Wealthy, whose needs are stranger,
Weave into one a welcome for the Son,
Leave excess and want beneath the manger.
Wrinkled or fair, carefree or full of care,
Searchers of all the ages,
Weave into one a welcome for the Son,
The Saviour of shepherds and of sages. The Iona Community
The people sit after the hymn
'This week' at St James
Notices
Birthdays and anniversaries
Significant events
Journey candles
Recessional 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:
Bell, J.; G. Maule. 1989. Heaven shall not wait. Wild Goose Songs Vol. 1. Revised edition. Gt. Britain: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Duncan, G. (ed). 2001. Shine on, star of bethlehem. A worship resource for advent, christmas and epiphany. Gt. Britain: Norwich. The Canterbury Press.
Harvey, A. (ed). 1996. The essential mystics. NY: New York. HarperSanFrancisco.
In spirit and in truth. A worship book. 1991. Switzerland: Geneva. World Council of Churches. Seventh Assembly.
Inclusive readings. Year C. 2006. Qld: Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation.
Mack, B. L. 1993. The lost gospel. The book of Q and christian origins. NY: New York. HarperSanFrancisco.
Morwood, M. 2003. Praying a new story. VIC: Richmond. Spectrum Publications.
Special resources. UCA National Assembly. (Issued from time to time).
Wild Goose Worship Group. 1997. Cloth for the cradle. Worship resources and readings for advent, christmas & epiphany. Gt. Britain: Glasgow. Iona Community.
Winter, Miriam T. 1987. Women prayer. Women song. Resources for ritual. CT: Hartford. Meyer Stone Books.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA.
Kathy Hawker. Outside the box. <liturgyoutside.net/AdventCandleOutside.html>