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
10 February 2008. Lent1A. (Purple).
Evolution Sunday
10.30am. Contemporary liturgical worship.
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 worship
The gong is sounded three times
Creativity God fills this place of gathering.
The whole earth is full of God's glory.
All Amen.
Let us then celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of this God.
Lighting of the community candle
The candle is lit
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“We thank you God…” (Tune: ‘Wareham’, 88 88, 377 TiS) 19 (v1-4) WNC
We thank you God for those who know
your depth of wisdom in their lives,
whose pride or power do not prevent
the love of Christ from being shown.
We thank you for the scholar's skill,
the learning that is honed and trained,
the gifts, that given, now are used
for good, for care, for love, for all.
We thank you for the poet's art
that offers prophecy and light,
which through the rhythm of the words
remains with us when thoughts depart.
We thank you for the dancing form
that pirouettes with grace and skill,
that weaves a pattern through the air
and challenges our static norm.
Remain standing
Opening sentences
In the beginning was creativity
All And the creativity was with God,
and the creativity was God.
All things came into being
through the mystery of creativity;
All Apart from creativity nothing
would have come into being. (Gordon Kaufman/ibc)
Prayer of awareness
We pray:
Creativity God, you have made us one with this earth,
to tend it and bring forth fruit;
may we share in the labour of all creation
to give birth to your hidden glory.
Amen.
Hymn “We thank you God…” (Tune: ‘Wareham’, 88 88, 377 TiS) 19 (v5-8) WNC
We thank you for the singing soul
that soars to some harmonious height
above, beyond our human sense,
and glimpses heaven, almost whole.
We thank you for incisive sight
that analyses and discerns,
through science, patterns that inform
predictions, actions we repeat.
We thank you, God, for light and sound
with which we interact and move;
for singing colours, thrumming beat,
that thrill, that shake the solid ground.
We thank you, God, for all the gifts
of human spirit, skill and mind;
O may indifference never numb
our sense of awe at love so deft. Andrew Pratt
The 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
“Meditation for a Beautiful Day”
By Sara Campbell
Ah, how beautiful is this day.
How crisp and clean the air.
How clear the sky.
How full of life the teeming earth.
And we are alive!
Yes, we feel the beat of our own hearts,
the pulsing of life in our veins,
the rhythm of our breathing.
We come into the silence of this time with gratitude for this day.
We come also with our needs.
Our gratitude stirs us to praise and sing our thanksgiving.
Our loneliness draws us into the company of others.
Our restlessness draws us into these moments of quiet.
Our longing for the spirit brings us before the mystery of the holy.
Our desire to heal our own wounds and the wounds of our world
brings us here to renew our strength and hope.
And we come into this space because we have gifts to share:
words of healing and encouragement for those who are burdened; songs of praise and hope;
smiles of comfort and affection;
deeds of love and kindness.
Each of us comes to dip into the well that nourishes our hungry spirits.
Each of us comes with our own cup of goodness to pour into the well.
We drink together.
May we be strengthened in our bonds of love and peace.
Silence
A period of silence is kept
Music of reflection
EXPLORING
Readings from our broad biblical tradition
Some readings from our broad biblical tradition shall be read by (NN).
The world around us:
“Our highest aspiration”
By Anonymous. Singing the living tradition/434.
May we be reminded here of our highest aspirations,
and inspired to bring our gifts of love and service
to the altar of humanity.
May we know once again that we
are not isolated beings but connected,
in mystery and miracle,
to the universe,
to this community and to each other.
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.
Silence
“Consider the Lilies”
By Stephen Shick. Consider the lilies/1.
It is not newness we seek but the fresh return of the eternal.
He said, the truth is not hidden in mountains,
it is not far off,
it is in your hand, your heart, your mouth.
‘So do it,’ he said.
He spoke in parables, mostly about money and the truth it can't buy.
Consider the mustard seed, he said,
how it grows into the largest shrub.
From it, he said, know your true wealth and power.
Consider the birds that nest in the shrub, he said,
how they sing in the spring.
From them, he said, know your true heart's song.
Consider the lilies, he said, and don't worry.
The truth is at hand.
With the seed and the lilies nothing new arrives,
and even the mockingbird
sings songs that other birds once knew.
Nothing arrives with newness.
All is waiting to be reborn.
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
CELEBRATING
Litany: Web of Life
The people stand as they are able
All We create a web of life.
v1 This is finally the time to let go of that crazy notion
that we can live separate and aloof from one another.
All We create a web of life.
v2 This is the time at last
that we can come home to each other,
to our mutual belonging.
All We create a web of life.
v3 And we create a web of life
out of which every single one of us
can use everything our stories have given us.
All We create a web of life.
v4 Every part of our lives... even the cruelty,
even the abuse, even the addictions,
even the loneliness, even the failures...
All We create a web of life.
v5 A web of life is created within
which you can rest in that knowing.
Because out of that you can act.
v1 Out of that, all power is yours.
Out of that, you travel light.
Out of that, you can step forward.
Silence
v2 We create a web of life.
All Let every encounter be a homecoming
as we step forward now for the healing of our world.
v1 The world is not going to be saved by good people or noble people.
v2 The world is going to be healed by ordinary people,
like you and me,
All who are not afraid of pain
and who are not afraid to love each other. Sarah Lammer
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 and of our shared friendship.
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
“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! Shirley Murray
AFFIRMING
Offering
Our offerings for the work of ministry in this place and beyond, shall now be received.
Presentation The people stand as they are able, for the presentation of gifts
In our giving, may
our hearts be opened, our hands unclenched,
our ears unclogged, and our eyes opened
that we may feel and touch and taste and see
the breath and play of Creativity God in our midst.
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
We are people of all ages who enter this space
bringing our joys and concerns.
Joys and concerns shared.
In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful
of the presentness of God among us,
and to see the new possibilities of the now.
The Care candle is lit
And let us recommit ourselves to the inclusive ways of Jesus.
Prayers
Pastoral
Lord's Prayer
You are invited to pray this contemporary prayer in the spirit of the Lord's Prayer,
and in your original language, as that is appropriate
All O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos,
Focus your light within us - make it useful:
Create your reign of unity now.
Your one desire then acts with ours,
as in all light, so in all forms.
Grant what we need each day in bread and insight.
Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,
as we release the strands we hold of others' guilt.
Don't let surface things delude us,
But free us from what holds us back.
From you is born all ruling will,
the power and the life to do,
the song that beautifies all, from age to age it renews.
Truly - power to these statements -
may they be the ground from which all
my actions grow: Amen. (Neil Douglas-Klotz)
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"The sound of history humming" (Tune: 457 TiS, Aurelia, 76 76D) 5 (v1-2) RP
The sound of history humming,
the origins of time,
as galaxies are clustered,
as light and matter rhyme:
philosophers imagine
while science gathers facts,
we reach for understanding,
yet what we know contracts.
We delve beyond the present
through interstellar gas;
we fathom, seek to measure,
a sub-atomic mass.
The God that we conceive of,
a thief within the night:
we cannot gauge this treasure,
beyond the scale of light.
Remain standing
Words of mission
The presentness of God reaches beyond this place...
The community candle is extinguished
And now we take our leave.
All Before we gather here again:
may each of us bring happiness into another's life;
may we each be surprised by the gifts that surround us;
may each of us be enlivened by constant curiosity.
And may we remain together in spirit
til the hour we meet again. Barbara Cheatham
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) "The sound of history humming" (Tune: 457 TiS, Aurelia, 76 76D) 5 (v3) RP
As yet the mystery blinds us,
confined by birth and death,
but human exploration
will not discard the quest;
as yet we live in tension:
the only earth we know
is where all skill and science
must help our love to grow. © Andrew Pratt
The people sit after the hymn
'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.
The contemporary hymns used in this liturgy,
are reproduced with permission under license #A1197.
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.
Douglas-Klotz, N. 1990. Prayers of the cosmos. Meditations on the aramaic words of Jesus. NY: New York. Harper & Row.
Holy Bible. NRSV. 1989. Ten: Nashville. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. Scotland: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Mitchell, R. C; G. A. Ricciuti. 1992. Birthings and blessings. Liberating worship services for the inclusive church. NY: New York. Crossroads.
Pratt, A. 2006. Reclaiming praise. Hymns from a spiritual journey. GtB: London. Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Pratt, A. 2002. Whatever name or creed. Hymns and songs. GtB: London. Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Shick, S. M. 2004. Consider the lilies. Meditations. MA: Boston. Skinner House Books.
Singing the living tradition. 1993. MA: Boston. UUA.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA.