Revd Rex A E Hunt
eMail: rexae@optusnet.com.au
Web site: www.rexaehuntprogressive.com
LITURGY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE
7 March 2010. Lent 3. (Purple).
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
Gathering music
Entry into celebration
The gong is struck three times
Come into this gathering.
May this time together be creative
Of a new outreach of trust and confidence
That life was meant to be lived at the full tide. Bob Holmes
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of God.
Lighting of the Community candle
A candle is lit
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"Whispers rippled through the cosmos" (Tune: 'Nettleton', 87 87. 392 TiS)
Whispers rippled through the cosmos,
pan-galactic breath of God;
marking paths of whirling planets,
stellar strings where stars first trod.
Major chords of constellations
ringing on the staves of time,
soften to a sombre minor,
echoes of an ancient rhyme.
God is in this wild confusion
bringing order, giving grace;
author, ground of all creation,
fount of being, Lord of space.
All transcendent power and glory
now distilled, condensed, confined;
shaped while shaping rich resources
cradling waiting humankind © APratt
Remain standing
Opening sentences
In hope, in longing
All We're glad to come together.
In trust, in community
All We're glad to come together.
In many moods, in many shapes and sizes
All We're glad to come together.
In peace, in joy
All We're glad to come together.
In solidarity with those who struggle
All We're glad to come together in this Lenten season. (Nelson-Pallmeyer/wsj)
Prayer of awareness
We pray:
Remind us, O Spirit, that life is worth living.
Remind us, O Creator, that the struggle for justice is worth undertaking.
Remind us, O Mercy, that love and action are one.
Amen. (Nelson-Pallmeyer/wsj)
Hymn "Past and present" (Tune: 'Cwm Rhondda' 87 87 47, 569 TiS) 28 TMT
Past and present, with our dreaming,
Join to make us what we are;
Ancient wisdom, ancient follies
Shape the way we love and care:
Give us reverence,
Give us wisdom,
From the past for life today,
From the past for life today.
Make us mindful of the present -
Ev'ry force, each strength, each flaw;
Free us from those selfish motives
Which consume us more and more:
Give us vision,
Give us courage,
For this modern age of change,
For this modern age of change.
We must face the future's challenge
To create a better earth
Hand in hand with all who labour
Dream and suffer for its birth:
For through sharing
And through caring
We shall build community,
We shall build community. WWallace
People sit after the hymn
Also check Special Purpose Hymns under Special liturgies
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
Meditation
"Resting in the grace of the world"
Wendell Berry. Earth Prayers/102.
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the
presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Centering silence
Let us take a moment to settle into the silence of this place.
(Silence)
May our silence grow profound
as we are embraced by the spirit
of our highest hopes. BHamilton-Holway
(Silence)
Music of reflection
EXPLORING
Readings from our religious tradition
Some readings from our broad religious tradition shall now be offered.
Our reader is (NN).
World around us:
"Grounded faith"
By Henry Nelson Wieman. Reprinted in Outstretched wings of the spirit/17.
Faith is essential to religion.
A faith is a transforming and activating belief. It is belief becoming dynamic, functioning in life...
What we call our faith is the total, integrated structure of all of our beliefs,
made coherent and rational, and constantly tested out
and either reaffirmed or corrected by continuing life experience.
It becomes the foundation for our personal morale and morals
as we confront the challenges of daily life.
Faith is our character.
Gospel:
Luke 13:1-9 (Inclusive Text)
Some people arrived and told Jesus about Galileans
whose blood Pilate had mingled with that their sacrifices.
At this Jesus said to them,
‘Do you suppose these Galileans who suffered like that
were greater sinners than any other Galileans?
‘They were not, I tell you.
No, but unless you repent you will all perish as they did.
‘Or those eighteen on whom the tower at Siloam fell and killed them?
Do you suppose that they were more guilty
than all the other people living in Jerusalem?
‘They were not, I tell you.
No, but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.’
Jesus told this parable:
‘A vinedresser had a fig tree planted in his vineyard
and came looking for fruit on it but found none.
‘The vinedresser the said to the one who looked after the vineyard,
Look here, for three years now I have been coming
to look for fruit on this fig tree, and finding none.
Cut it down: why should it be taking up the ground?
‘The vineyard worker replied,
Leave it one more year and give me time to dig around it and manure it:
it may bear fruit next year;
if not, then you can cut it down.’
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
Celebration of faith
In response to the word reflected on let us stand
and share together a celebration of faith.
The people stand as they are able
Beckoning Christ,
you call us out of our comfortable ghetto of 'us' and 'them'
to risk discipleship without walls.
All You call us into a world-wide fellowship
where God is worshipped above all other.
Wn You call us into a world-wide fellowship
where prayer is offered day and night.
All You call us into a world-wide fellowship
where we can share what we are with others who love you.
Mn You call us into a world-wide fellowship
where each person has something to give to the whole.
All You call us into a world-wide fellowship
where compassion and respect shape missionary endeavour.
Keep on beckoning us out of our safe havens
into your rich fellowship of
challenge and reconciliation, faith and hope. KCompston/sco
The peace
God makes peace within us. Let us claim it.
God makes peace between us. Let us share it.
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.
Lenten hymn 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. JCowley
The people sit
Optional hymn
“Chilean earthquake” (Tune: “Gonfalon Royal”, 88 88, 332 TiS)
Is this the judgement of
a God,
a God who wind and waves
obey?
Where is compassion,
grace and love
when earthquakes, death
and fear hold sway?
Here we have watched in
helplessness,
here we have wondered,
'are we right?'
What is the logic of this
loss?
Grace is removed from
human sight.
We know this world is
finely set,
this globe is tuned for
life and birth.
Tectonic plates that
drift and shift
create the chance of life
on earth.
There is no other way to
be.
Our God of power, God of cross,
knows human pain and
shares our fear
in frail communion and
loss (©Andrew
Pratt 28/2/2010)
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
As one heart is lifted
All May we share its celebration
As one heart is burdened
All May we share the pain it knows (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 Eternal Spirit
Source of all that is and ever shall be,
Loving Parent in whom we discern heaven,
May knowledge of your holiness inspire all peoples.
And may your commonwealth of peace and freedom
flourish on earth, until all of humankind
heed your call to justice and compassion.
May we find the bread that we need for today.
And for the hurts we cause one another
may we be forgiven in the same measure
that we forgive.
In times of trial and temptation,
help us to be strong;
When life seems overwhelming,
Help us to endure;
And thus from the yoke of sin deliver us.
May you reign in the power of human love,
Now and forever. (THall)
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
Open our eyes, our ears, our mouths.
Let us be doers of the word and not hearers only,
taking on those tasks set before us
with uncommon vision and
wholehearted expectation. FMacnab
Offerings placed on the table.
Invitation
Friends
we are about to share in the sacred story
and
celebrate community together in a symbolic meal.
But
we have also been reminded by our tradition
that
when we gather around the table
if
our sister or brother has anything against us,
we
must leave our gifts of bread and wine
and
first cleanse our hands for the giving.
May a clean heart be created in us.
Discernment
Loving
and caring God,
you
have searched us out and known us,
all
that we are is open to you.
(Pause)
Look
not upon our shortcomings but upon our active faith.
Break
down all barriers which we erect against your love.
Cover
us with the blanket of your peace.
And
let your justice reach to the ends of the earth.
All So
that we come glad to this celebration.
When
our prayers are as dry as a concrete block,
and
our spirits like spinifex
All May
we be drenched with a downpour of mercy!
When
we take things for granted and gratitude goes to sleep
All May
a new song be put on our tongues.
When
life's abrasive pressures fray us,
loosening
our hold on life around us
All May
we be reminded again about the changing colours of Autumn,
and
currawongs, and a God
who
loves and seeks after us.
Silence
O
God...
All O
God, bring new life, where
we are worn and tired;
new
love, where we have turned hard hearted;
forgiveness,
where we have wounded,
and
the joy and freedom of your holy spirit,
where
we are the prisoners of our selves.
Silence
Thanksgiving
In
time beyond our dreaming Creativity God hovered over the water,
and
was revealed in fire and storm and precious law.
Likewise,
humanity in this creative likeness evolved on this earth,
along
with earth’s minerals and waters, flowers and fruits,
living
creatures of grace and beauty!
All We
offer this our thanks and praise.
In
the 40 days of Lent,
we
also remember the love made manifest in the
birth, life,
and death
of Jesus of Nazareth.
In
his healing acts and radical teachings
we
recall the words he spoke
to
call forth love, care
and respect for one another.
We
are grateful for this assurance of love amidst human betrayal,
care
amidst hatred,
respect
amidst oppression.
And
so, with Elizabeth who prophesied a birth,
Martha
who longed for the Christ,
and
James and John who sought to follow on the Way,
we
continue our praise, saying:
All Holy,
holy, holy, vulnerable God,
heaven
and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna
in the highest.
Blessed
is the one who comes in the name of God.
All Hosanna
in the highest.
Bread
and wine
We
remember...
Long
ago, so our tradition says, Jesus took bread,
offered
thanks for it, and broke it:
v2 'This
bread is broken, as my body will be'.
Bread
broken
He
handed it to his friends, and invited them to eat:
v2 'Remember
all that I have been to you'.
We remember...
Long
ago, so our tradition also says, Jesus poured a cup of wine,
offered
thanks for it, and gave it to his friends:
v2 'This
wine is poured out, as my life will be.
As
you drink give thanks for all I have given'.
Wine
poured out
Bread...
the very stuff of life.
Wine...
fruit of the vine and celebration.
Communion
Let us share this bread and wine knowing
that our lives are forever changed
by
this and every breaking of bread.
Bread
and wine served in continuous line
After
communion
v2 Life
affirming God, bless this table-gathering of your people.
May
the supper shared together, strengthen us
in
our witness to the world.
End of Summer...
Today, so our yearly calendar says, also marks the end of summer.
When we begin to celebrate a time of transition,
a season of change - one of the hinges of the year.
We also welcome each other back
to the world of responsibilities and duties
to the home-bound, work-bound joys and duties
of autumn followed by winter followed by spring.
The work and the promise of another year intrude
even though our hearts still cling
to warm sunlight, blue skies...
to long days and short nights.
On this first day of autumn then, I would share with you a summer gift.
Gifts are distributed - flowers, herbs, twigs, etc.
In these baskets are some tiny fragments of summer remains:
captured sunlight, quiet herb gardens, bbq conversations,
walks in the bush or along the beach.
As we end one season - summer, and begin another - autumn,
you are invited to take one of these gifts.
Take it home with you, put it away somewhere special -
a place where you will not encounter it every day,
but at frequent intervals,
when you are most in need of a bit of summer.
Then, in the midst of hectic activity,
may it give you pause to relive for a moment
the relaxed and lazy hours of summer
when life gather strength and renews itself (Adapt.DBumbaugh/tcb).
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“Jesus – The Canberra Affirmation” (Tune:
‘Triumph’, 87 87 87) 28 (v1-2) SNS2
We would honour one called Jesus –
Wisdom teacher, Jewish sage;
Nurtured by his own tradition
And religion of his age;
Long ago he took his journey; setting forth from Galilee.
Through distinctive oral sayings,
By the parables he told
Of inclusiveness and justice,
Of integrity so bold
He invited others trust in his great vision for his day.
Words of mission
The God we worship is never confined to this holy place.
So go and travel with the God who is found
in ordinary and surprising places.
The candle is extinguished
Those who dodge growing pains
will never arrive at their full spiritual height.
As you prepare to leave this sacred place,
pray that you may have the courage to stretch once more
towards the goals set by the Man of Nazareth.
All There is no shame in failing.
But there is in not trying. (BPrewer).
Blessing words
May the love that gives to life its beauty,
the reverence that gives to life its sacredness,
and the purposes that give to life its deep significance,
be strong within each of us and lead us
into ever deepening relationships with all of life. GGBrooks
All Amen.
Hymn (Cont.) “Jesus – The Canberra Affirmation” (Tune:
‘Triumph’, 87 87 87) 28 (v3) SNS2
Life, one's neighbour and the 'sacred'
Re-imagined when he taught;
Table fellowship was open -
Symbol of his warm support;
As we too share in his vision, we affirm and follow him. GStuart
The people sit after the hymn
'This week' at (NN)
Notices
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.
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.
Duncan, G. (ed). 1998. Seeing christ in others. An anthology for worship, mediation and mission. GtB: Norwich. The Canterbury Press.
Harrington, D. S. 1980. Outstretched wings of the spirit. On being intelligently
and devotedly religious. MA: Boston. UUA.
Holmes, R. H. 1972. The Bob Holmes worship materials. Vol 1. NY: Little Falls. Self published.
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.
Lee, B. J. (ed). 1987. Alternative futures for worship. Vol 3. The eucharist. MIN: Collegeville. The Liturgical press.
Morely, J. 1992. All desires known. Expanded edition. GtB: London. SPCK.
Macnab, F. 1996. Hope: The deeper longings of the mind and heart. 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 Pilgrin Press.
Prewer, B. D. 1983. Australian prayers. SA: Adelaide. OpenBook Publishers.
Roberts, E; E. Amidon. 1991. Earth prayers from around the world. 365 prayers, poems, and invocations for honoring the earth. NY: New York.
HarperCollins.
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.
The St Hilda Community. 1996. The new women included. A book of services and prayers. GtB: London. SPCK.
Uniting in Worship. Leader’s Book. 1988. VIC: Melbourne. Uniting Church Press.
Vosper, G. 2008. With or
without God. Why the way we live is more important that what we believe. Canada: Toronto. HarperCollins.
Wallace, W. L. 2001. The mystery telling. Hymns and songs for the new millennium. NY: Kingston. Selah Publishing.
Withrow, L. 1995. Seasons of prayer. Resources for worship. GB: London. SPCK.
Web sites:
Hamilton-Holway. UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. http://uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/index.php
Bruce Prewer Web Site. VIC: Bendigo.
Andrew Pratt. UK. eMail hymn service from the author.