Revd Rex A E Hunt
eMail: rexae@optusnet.com.au
Web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com
LITURGY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE
18 April 2010. Easter 3C. (White).
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) 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 worship
The gong is sounded three times
Let there be joy in our coming together this morning.
Let there be truth heard in the words we speak and the songs we sing.
Let there be help and healing for our disharmony and despair.
Let there be silence for the voice within us and beyond us.
Let there be joy in our coming together. CSeaburg
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of God.
Lighting of community candle
The candle is lit
For gathering today in this sacred space,
we light the flame.
For the opportunity to be together as a community,
to remember the past,
to claim our future,
to be alive in our present,
we light the flame. (Apt./DSorrells)
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“I danced in the morning…” (Tune: ‘Lord of the dance’) 242 TiS
I danced I the morning
when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon
and the stars and the sun;
and I came down from
heaven and I danced on the earth,
at Bethlehem I had my
birth:
Refrain:
Dance, then, wherever you
may be;
I am the Lord of the
dance, said he;
and I’ll lead you all
where ever you may be,
and I’ll lead you all in
the dance, said he.
I danced for the scribe
and pharisee,
but they would not dance
and they wouldn’t follow me.
I danced for the
fishermen, for James and John,
they left with me and the
dance went on:
Refrain:
I danced on the Sabbath
and I cured the lame:
the holy people said it
was a shame.
They whipped and they
stripped and they hung me high,
and they left me there on
a cross to die:
Refrain:
I danced on a Friday when
the sky turned black;
it’s hard to dance with
the devil on your back.
They buried my body and
they thought I’d gone;
but I am the dance and I
still go on:
Refrain:
They cut me down and I
leap up high,
I am the life that’ll
never, never die;
I’ll live in you as you
live in me:
I am the Lord of the
dance, said he: (SCarter)
Refrain:
Remain standing
Opening sentences
Through this time of celebration,
we leave for a time the daily sequence of events,
to examine life in its eternal dimensions
and consequences:
All asking questions about our values
our directions, our goals, and our relationships.
Let us spend this time in the presentness
of the Sacred One - God.
All Praise be for this gathered community
in this sacred place, for all people.
Prayer
We pray:
God, help us to listen to our inner spirits...
To the inner yearning to belong
to something greater than ourselves.
Help us to listen to our inner spirits
and find there the presence
of your good encouraging spirit. Francis Macnab
Amen.
Hymn “Morning has broken” (Tune: ‘Bunessan’, 55 54D) 156 TiS
Morning has broken
like the first morning;
blackbird has spoken
like the first bird.
Praise for the singing,
praise for the morning,
praise for them,
springing
fresh from the word.
Sweet the rain’s new fall
sunlit from heaven,
like the first dewfall
on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
of the wet garden,
sprung from completeness
where his feet pass.
Mine is the sunlight;
mine is the morning
born of the one light
Eden saw play.
Praise with elation,
praise every morning,
God’s recreation
of the new day. (EFarjeon)
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.
Music of celebration
EXPLORING
Readings from our religious tradition
Let us now listen to some stories from our broad religious tradition.
From our world around us:
“Christian toleration?”
By Sue Brown. Seeing Christ in others/98.
Toleration is often
exalted as a virtue.
I am not so sure.
I know I do not yearn to be 'tolerated'.
Did the father barely tolerate the prodigal?
Does the father merely tolerate us all?
I tolerate, without much thought,
the motorway at dawn,
stale air in city streets,
siren and motor horn.
I tolerate an icy wind,
I tolerate the daily grind.
I tolerate the miscellany
of pulsating humankind
Do I tolerate my brothers and my sisters?
I know I do not long to be tolerated.
I long to be
loved,
understood,
welcomed.
Hebrew scriptures:
Psalm 30
A contemporary paraphrasing by Francis Macnab. A fine wind is blowing/14-15.
• The author of the Psalm finds himself 'in the pits". Yet he also feels God lifting him up… ‘Let me throw off the heavy blanket of depression’, he says.
When I really stop to think, I know I have a lot to thank God for.
There were times when I clearly needed help,
when people around me were being of no help at all.
I began to sink into the worst misery.
I kept asking: How can I get out of
this hell-hole?
Then I felt the listening God was hearing me.
I began to feel his presence
lifting me up;
and the things and the people against me
became less dominant in my thoughts…
After all, what is the good of my life,
if I am down in the pits of despair,
continually griping about this and groaning about that…?
Let me throw off the heavy blanket of my depressions,
and put on the lighter clothes of a buoyant spirit.
Set me free, O God, so that I can sing good songs every day.
Yes, everyday,
I want to be part of God's great-song!
Hymn In solidarity with those for whom standing is not easy or possible, we will remain seated to sing
“In the bulb there is a flower” (Tune:
“Maria’s Tune”, 87 87D, 420 TiS)
In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise;
butterflies with soon be free!
in the cold and snow of winter
there's a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
There's a song in every silence,
seeking word and melody.
there's a dawn in every darkness,
bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future,
what it holds, a mystery;
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning;
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing;
in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
at the last, a victory,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see. NA W Sleeth
Gospel:
John 21:1-17 (Inclusive Text)
Jesus showed himself again to the disciples.
It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this:
Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee and two more of the disciples were together.
Simon Peter said, 'I'm going fishing.'
They replied, 'We'll come with you.'
They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night.
It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore,
though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus.
Jesus called out, 'Have you caught anything, friends?'
And when they answered, 'No',
Jesus said, 'Throw the net out to starboard and you'll find something.'
So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish
they could not haul it in.
The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is Jesus.'
At these words, Simon Peter, who had practically nothing on,
wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water.
The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish;
they were only about a hundred yards from land.
As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there,
and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it.
Jesus said, 'Bring some of the fish you have just caught.'
Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore,
full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them;
and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken.
Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.'
None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, 'Who are you?
Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them,
and the same with the fish.
This was the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples
after rising from the dead.
After the meal Jesus said to Simon Peter,
'Do you love me more than these others do?'
Peter answered, 'Yes, you know I love you.'
Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.'
A second time Jesus said, 'Simon, do you love me?'
Peter replied, 'Yes, you know I love you.'
Jesus said, 'Look after my sheep.'
Then said a third time, 'Simon, do you love me?'
Peter was upset that Jesus asked the third time, 'Do you love me?' and said,
'You know everything; you know that I love you.'
Jesus said, 'Feed my sheep… Follow me!'
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
An affirmation of faith
In response to the word reflected on, let us stand
and share together an affirmation of faith.
The people stand
We experience the holiness of God
All in wonder of creation
in endless sky and sea;
in breathless beauty and quiet bush;
in acts of courage and silent heart.
We know Jesus as a gateway into God
All in gifts of healing and liberations of life;
in recognitions of love and callings to serve;
in sufferings for others and glimpses of grace.
We live from God's Spirit
All in moments of faith,
in dreams beyond hoping
and in rhythms of new energy.
We name the God who is our centre.
All We claim the goodness that is ours in God.
We announce the truth that lies at the heart of the gospel.
We believe we are not alone in our struggle
to be the church. (Adapt.D McRae-McMahon/eoj)
The peace
We enter as strangers. We leave as friends.
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.
Hymn of the Month
"Climate is warming" (Tune: 'The Ash Grove", 12 11 12 11D, 531 TiS) 44 SNS2
As climate is warming
Will bees keep on swarming
If we just continue to damage the earth?
Will birds and sea-creatures
With beautiful features
Forever be lost by denying their worth?
Will trees and each flower
Succumb to the power
Of poisons and toxins we put in the air?
As ice-caps diminish,
A sign of the finish,
We must meet this crisis and show that we care.
If we start to measure
Some things that we treasure
It may cause us anguish to let these things go;
For comfort and leisure,
Our life-style and pleasure,
We claim we have earned and don't wish to forgo;
But we can all ponder
And face what we squander,
Then start to make change in the way that we live;
We can curb excesses;
Each harms and oppresses
The poor and the weak; we take what they don't give.
To greenhouse emissions
We make our additions
And by them we foster some possible gloom,
But with perseverance
We can make a diff’rence;
We can work to limit the fuel we consume,
We'll tell each law-maker
That every green acre
Is ours to look after and not to destroy,
God's bounty possessing;
We're stewards of blessing;
We meet our commitment with challenging joy.
With nature so fragile,
Yet dazzling and fertile,
We ponder its beauty, its charm and its grace;
Evolving triumphant
With life so abundant,
Confounded we are with so much to embrace.
Yet these green-house gases
Pollute in their masses;
We need to decrease them; we know that we should!
When nature is bleeding
We hear urgent pleading
To change our behaviour; we know how we could!
If we stop this warming
Then bees will keep swarming
And sweetness of honey remains for our taste.
Then birds and sea creatures
And hills and sea beaches
Will stay in their magic, unharmed by our waste.
The charm every hour
Of trees and each flower
Will bring us to silence in wonder and awe.
With God so surrounding
In beauty astounding
We kneel in God's presence to praise and adore. (GStuart)
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)
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 joy and in sorrow
All We do not walk alone (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 that is 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)
CELEBRATING
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY: SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
The offering Offerings are presented
Let us bring our offerings as a symbol of our ministry in this place and beyond.
The presentation The people stand as the gifts are brought forward
The landscape of life is filled with the nearness of God:
a daffodil in bloom,
a single green leaf,
the red and green flash of a parrot.
May we too be a people of adventure and life,
grace-filled companions, offering
courage and hope in ordinary places.
Offerings placed on the table. People sit
Thanksgiving
God
is the heart of life.
All And
we are the heartbeat.
May
our hearts be filled
with
thanks and praise and songs of joy.
All We
rejoice in the miracle of life
and
delight in our participation SWeinberg
We
give thanks for the wonderful gift of reflective awareness
that
allows us to recognise and name
the
presence of a Creative Spirit
beyond
all imagining, in our universe.
All We
give thanks.
Everything
we have
Everything
we see
Everything
we do
Everyone
we love and everyone who loves us
reveals
this sustaining Presence
and
our total dependence on it.
We
marvel and wonder at the size and
complexity of our universe.
We
marvel and wonder at the development of
life on this planet.
We
give thanks for the creative Presence that
'energises' this life and all that exists.
We
recognise that human life gives this Presence
a
particular way of coming to expression,
and
that in us the Presence can
sing
and dance,
speak
and write,
love
and create.
All Conscious
that we live, move, and have our being in this Presence,
we
give thanks for all those throughout history
who
have affirmed this loving presence in all people.
And for
those who have invited people to give witness to this by
lives characterised by
gratitude,
compassion, generosity
and forgiveness.
Especially
we give thanks for Jesus of Nazareth.
He
loved so greatly and
taught so clearly and courageously,
he
was able to set people free
from
images and ideas and religious practices
that
bound them into fear
and
a false sense of separation from the Spirit of all Life.
Through
him we have learned
how
our loving is a sharing in the life of this Spirit.
All In
him we see this Presence urging all of us
to
make its creativity on earth more visible. (Adapt.M
Morwood/pns)
We
also remember the night before he was handed over
Jesus
again shared a meal with his friends.
Through
grain and grape, bread and wine, and
in fellowship together,
Jesus
spoke of his enduring love for each of them.
So in the spirit of that tradition we take this bread and this wine
mindful
of the Presence at work in our lives,
in
the ordinary,
in
the everyday,
and
in our desire to love as generously as Jesus loved.
Bread
and Wine
Bread
is broken
We
break this bread in celebration of the great truth
that
on this tiny planet, hurtling through cold, empty space,
death
is made the servant of life,
and
out of death life is forever resurrected.
Wine poured out
This
cup with its fruit of the vine,
is
a celebration that things are not always as they seem:
that
out of faithfulness and steadfastness,
out
of suffering and sorrow,
may
come unsought blessings. (Adapt.DBumbaugh/tcb)
Bread...
the very stuff of life. Broken.
Wine...
fruit of the vine. Cup full.
Communion
The
bread and the wine will be served.
After communion
God
of love, God of compassion,
may
the celebration of the wonder
and
the mystery of your Presence
strengthen
and enable us to
be your body the church.
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“It all depends” (Tune: Te Horo) 39 (v1-2) FFS
It all depends on where I'm going
if I reach my anywhere,
but this I'm surely, surely knowing,
that I'll never leave God's care;
it all depends on when I'm travelling,
maybe now or maybe then,
but the Son of God will lead me
through each where and why and when.
It all depends on how I'm choosing
for the life that is in me,
but I will never lose the hand of Christ,
the one who walks with me;
if I stumble or I falter
he will steady me once more,
for there is no darkest pathway
that we cannot both explore.
Words of mission
As we prepare to leave this sacred space
where we have worshipped together,
let us return to our work enlivened and renewed...
The candle is extinguished
Worship need not cease.
All It can echo in our lives, in our words,
in our deeds, in our moods, in our dreams.
Carry worship with you wherever you may go.
Be a blessing in your going out and your coming in. GMcKeeman
Blessing words
Walk well your journey in peace and in justice.
May you be wrapped in the shawl of God's loving.
May you be cherished.
May you be blessed… this day, and for ever.
All Amen.
Hymn (Cont.) “It all depends” (Tune: Te Horo) 39 (v3) FFS
It all depends on who comes with me
if I break or if I bend,
but this I'm surely, surely knowing,
God will be there at the end -
in the laughter and the sadness,
in the pleasure or the pain,
by my side and all about me
God's own Spirit will remain. CGibson
The people sit after the hymn
'This week' at (NN)
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:
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.
Duncan, G. (ed). 1998. Seeing christ in others. An anthology for worship, mediation and mission. Gt. Britain: Norwich. The Canterbury Press.
Faith forever singing. Songs for a new day. 2000. NZ: Raumati. New Zealand Hymnbook Trust.
Inclusive readings. Year C. 2006. Qld: Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. GtB: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
McRae-McMahon, D. 1993. Echoes of our journey. Liturgies of the people. VIC: Melbourne. JBCE.
Macnab, F. 2006. A fine wind is blowing: Psalms of the bible in words that blow you away. VIC: Richmond. Spectrum Publications.Morwood, M. 2003. Praying a new story. VIC:
Richmond. Spectrum Publications.
Nelson-Pallmeyer, J; B. Hesle. 2005. Worship in the spirit of Jesus. Theology, liturgy, and songs without violence. OH: Cleveland. The Pilgrim Press.
Seaburg, C. (ed). 1993. The communion book. MA:
Boston. UUMA.
Stuart, G. 2009.
Singing a new song. Traditional hymn tunes with new century lyrics.
Volume 2. NSW: Toronto. G Stuart.
Together in song. Australian hymn book 2. 1999. NSW: Sydney. HarperCollins Religious.
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.
Web sites:
Sorrells, Seaburg, Sleeth, McKeeman. UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. http://uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/index.php
Sherri Weinberg. St
Paul's Presbyterian Church. NZ: Devonport.