The Uniting Church of St James
Curtin, ACT
Minister-in-Placement: Revd Rex A E Hunt, MSc(Hons), GradDipCommMgt
eMail: rexae@optusnet.com.au
Web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com
LITURGY FOR THE
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
11 February 2007. Epiphany 6C. (Green).
10.30am. Contemporary liturgical worship.
(Evolution Sunday)
Acknowledgement of land
(An act towards reconciliation by the Church of St James, Curtin.)
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 Ngunnawal People and their stewardship
of this land throughout the ages.
St James is a safe place for all people to worship regardless of
race, creed, age, cultural background or sexual orientation
GATHERING
Gathering music
Entry into celebration
The gong is sounded three times
Come into this place,
where the ordinary is sanctified,
the human is celebrated,
the compassionate is expected.
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of God.
Lighting of the Community candle
A candle is lit
In this place of friendship there is freedom.
Let the light we kindle go before us,
strong in hope,
wide in good will,
inviting the day to come.
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"Colourful creator" (Tune: Houghton', 65 65D) 190 TiS
Remain standing
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.
Prayer of awareness
We pray:
Creativity in all times and seasons,
and of all the seasons of our lives,
we gather in this sacred place,
thankful for the days that have been,
and hopeful for the days that shall be.
May we become one with ourselves and you
in all the seasons to come.
Amen.
Hymn “Touch the earth lightly” (Tune: ‘Tenderness’, 85 5 10D) 668 TiS
People sit after the hymn
Welcome
In your own words
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are worshipping at St James 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
Meditation
"To look"
By Stephen Shick. Consider the lilies/51.
Centering silence
As we gather let us claim
some stillness,
some silence.
(Silence)
May we become conscious in this moment
and in every moment of our gathering,
that the Holy One, Creator God,
is the life giving energy pulsing through us...
Energy which connects us, and us to all of creation.
(Silence continues)
Music of reflection
EXPLORING
Readings from our broad religious tradition
Some readings from our broad religious tradition shall now be read.
Hebrew scriptures:
Proverbs 8:1-7a, 8-9 (NRSV)
Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live.
O simple ones, learn prudence;
acquire intelligence, you who lack it.
Hear, for I will speak noble things,
and from my lips will come what is right;
for my mouth will utter truth...
All the words of my mouth are righteous;
there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.
They are all straight to one who understands
and right to those who find knowledge.
The world around us:
"Our whole system"
By Maria Mitchell. Singing the living tradition/537.
Small as is our whole system
compared with the infinitude of creation,
Brief as is our life
compared with the cycles of time,
We are so tethered to all
by the beautiful dependencies of law,
That not only the sparrow's fall is felt to the uttermost bound
but the vibrations set in motion by the words that we utter
reach through all space
and the tremor is felt through all time.
Hymn In solidarity with those for whom standing is not easy or possible
we will remain seated to sing...
"God of the galaxies" (Tune: Cheam) 54 AA
God of the galaxies spinning in space,
God of the smallest seed, our living source,
yours is the gift of this beautiful place.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Careless and covetous, gross are our greeds,
taking the riches the garden provides,
wasting its goodness, forgetting its needs.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Forests and rivers are ravaged and die,
raped is the land till it bleeds in its clay,
silenced the birdsong and plundered the sea.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Let there be beauty, and let there be air
fragrant with peace, never poisoned with fear,
freed from the plagues of pollution and war.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth.
Life is a holy thing, life is a whole,
linking each creature and blessing us all,
making connections of body and soul.
Let us care for your garden
and honour the earth. Shirley Murray
The people sit
Gospel:
Matthew 6: 26, 28-29 (NRSV)
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not of more value than they...?
And why do you worry about clothing?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they neither toil nor spin,
yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory
was not clothed like one of these.
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
A litany celebrating evolution
In response to the word reflected on
let us share together a litany celebrating evolution.
The people stand as they are able
Out of the stars in their flight, out
of the dust of eternity, here
have we come,
Stardust and sunlight, mingling
through time and through space.
All Out of the stars have we come,
up from time;
Out of the stars have we come.
Time out of time before time
in the vastness of space, earth
spun to orbit the sun,
Earth with the thunder of
mountains newborn, the boiling of seas.
All Earth warmed by sun, lit by sunlight:
This is our home;
Out of the stars have we come.
Mystery hidden in mystery, back
through all time;
Mystery rising from rocks in the
storm and the sea.
All Out of the stars, rising from
rocks and the sea,
kindled by sunlight on earth, arose life.
Ponder this thing in your heart;
ponder with awe:
Out of the sea to the land, out of
the shallows came ferns.
All Out of the sea to the land, up
from darkness to light,
Rising to walk and to fly,
out of the sea trembled life.
Ponder this thing in your heart,
life up from sea:
Eyes to behold, throats to sing, mates to love.
All Life from the sea, warmed by
sun, washed by rain,
life from within, giving birth,
rose to love.
This is the wonder of time; this is
the marvel of space; out of the
stars swung the earth; life upon
earth rose to love.
All This is the marvel of life, rising
to see and to know;
Out of your heart, cry wonder:
sing that we live. Robert Weston/slt
The peace
This is a house of God. A place of peace.
A place where we befriend one another.
Let us greet another as a sign of God's peace.
The peace of God is here... to stay.
All Thanks be to God.
You are invited to share the peace with your neighbours.
CELEBRATING
Hymn of the Month The people stand as they are able, to sing
“May the mystery of God enfold us” (Tune: ‘Marlborough Sounds’) 95 AA
May the mystery of God enfold us,
may the wisdom of God uphold us,
may the fragrance of God be around us,
may the brightness of God surround us,
may the wonder of God renew us,
may the loving of God flow through us,
may the peace of God deeply move us,
may the moving of God bring us peace. Joy Cowley
The people sit
The offering Offerings are presented
Let us bring our offerings as a symbol
of our ministry in this place.
The presentation The people stand as the gifts are brought forward
We pray:
God, by our smallest actions,
we become part of a bigger world.
The smallest giving can be an expression
of the good spirit of generosity and caring.
Help us to carry through the doorway of each new day
this good spirit of generosity and caring.
Amen.
Offerings placed on the table.
With the children
Children gather on the conversation mat
Conversation
"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)
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 Loving God, within and around us, we revere you.
We seek to live life as you would want us to do:
with love and respect for all people
and all things in the universe.
May we find each day sufficient for our needs.
And find forgiveness when we do wrong,
just as we forgive those who do wrong to us.
In times of trouble, may we centre our lives in you.
For your being is love,
which comes with strength and with beauty.
Throughout eternity.
Amen. Margaret Rolfe.
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“A firemist and a planet” (Tune: 'Aurelia', 76 76D, 457 TiS). 343 (v1-2) SLT
A firemist and a planet,
a crystal and a cell,
a starfish and a saurian,
and caves where ancients dwelt;
the sense of law and beauty,
a face turned from the sod
- some call it evolution,
and others call it God.
Haze on the far horizon,
the infinite tender sky,
the ripe, rich tints of [wheat]fields,
and wild geese sailing high;
and over high and low-land,
the charm of golden rod
- some people call it autumn,
and others call it God.
Words of mission
Let us take on this week’s life
with renewed hope and imagination...
The candle is extinguished
Blessed be God
All Blessed be the earth
Blessed be those who compost
and nurture the earth
All Blessed be the petals, leaves and stems
that become compost for the seeds of the plant
Blessed be the life cycle that sustains and nurtures
All Blessed be God who creates and co-creates
Blessed be those who walk on the earth with respect.
All Blessed be all who care for the earth
Blessed be all! Maggie Abbott/sotc
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.) “A firemist and a planet” (Tune: 'Aurelia', 76 76D, 457 TiS). 343 (v3-4) SLT
Like tides on crescent sea-beach,
when moon's so new and thin,
into our hearts high yearnings
come welling, surging in,
come from the mystic ocean
whose rim not foot has trod
- some people call it longing,
and others call it God.
A sentry lone and frozen,
a mother starved for her brood,
and Socrates' dread hemlock,
and Jesus on the rood;
and millions, who, though nameless,
the straight, hard pathway trod,
- some call it consecration,
and others call it God. Wm H Carruth
The people sit after the hymn
'This week' at St James
Birthdays
Anniversaries
Significant events
Journeys
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.
The contemporary hymns used in this liturgy,
in addition to those from Together in Song,
are reproduced with permission under license #A1197.
LicenSing - Copyright cleared music for churches.
Some of the resources used in shaping this liturgy:
Abbott, M. 2001. Sparks of the cosmos. Rituals for seasonal use. SA: Unley. MediaCom Education.
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.
Burgess, R. 2001. A book of blessings. Scotland: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Holy Bible. NRSV. 1989. Ten: Nashville. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. Scotland: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Macnab, F. 1996. Hope: The deeper longings of the mind and heart. VIC: Richmond. Spectrum Publications.
Morwood, M. 2003. Praying a new story. VIC: Richmond. Spectrum Publications.
Shick, S. M. 2004. Consider the lilies. Meditations. MA: Boston. Skinner House Books.
Singing the living tradition. 1993. MA: Boston. UUA.
Together in song. Australian hymn book 2. 1999. NSW: Sydney. HarperCollins Religious.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA.