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
9 March 2008. Lent 5A. (Purple).
10.30am. Contemporary liturgical worship.
Celebrating belonging: Sacrament of Baptism
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
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life in the presentness of God.
Lighting of the community candle
The candle is lit
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
"Wake, now my senses" (Tune: Slane, 10 10 10 10, 547 TiS) 298 SLT
Wake, now my senses, and hear the earth call;
feel the deep power of being in all;
keep, with the web of creation your vow,
giving, receiving as love shows us how.
Wake, now my reason, reach out to the new,
join with each pilgrim who quests for the true;
honour the beauty and wisdom of time;
suffer your limit, and praise the sublime.
Wake, now compassion, give heed to the cry;
voices of suffering fill the wide sky;
take as your neighbour both stranger and friend,
praying and striving their hardship to end.
Wake, now my conscience, with justice your guide;
join with all people whose rights are denied;
take not for granted a privileged place;
God's love embraces the whole human race. TJS Mikelson
Remain standing
Opening sentences
Praise to Creativity God, present through the ages,
All source of our living.
Praise to Creativity God, dancing within our lives,
All transforming and overflowing our lives.
Prayer of awareness
We pray:
May our coming and our going be blessed,
this day and forever more.
Amen.
Hymn “Brother, sister.../The call of Christ” (Tune: 'Servant Song', 87 87, 650 TiS)
Brother, sister I'm beside you,
Let me be as Christ to you,
Pray that I might have the grace
to let you be as Christ to me.
We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will share your problems with you
I'll support you in your space
I will help you run your distance
I will look you in the face.
I'll remember that God made you
I'll not take your dignity
I'll encourage you in your skills
to create and feel and be.
Brother, sister I'm beside you,
Let me be as Christ to you,
Pray that I might have the grace
to let you be as Christ to me. Shirley Murray
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
Silence
In the safety of this sacred place
I invite you now into a time of silence
(Silence)
May this time of silence together
renew our hope
refresh our courage
lift our spirits
restore us in faith.
(Silence)
Music of reflection
CELEBRATING
CELEBRATING BELONGING: THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
Presentation
Alexis (N) and Robert (N)
have come today to present their son for baptism.
I also present Joshua who is glad to be welcoming
a new brother into the family
and Narelle (N) and Roger (N)
who are supporting the family in love.
The narrative
Hear these words from the stories of our faith:
People brought little children to Jesus,
for him to lay his hand on them and say a prayer.
The disciples turned them away, but Jesus said:
‘Let the little children alone, and do not stop them coming to me,
for it is to such as these that the reign of God belongs.'
Then he laid his hands on them...
Baptism is the church's way
of celebrating and naming the grace of God
living in everyone of God's children.
It is the way we initiate new members
into the life of the universal community of faith.
And it marks the entry point
into the life-time pilgrimage of following in the Way of Jesus.
The request
Alexis and Robert
by what name is your child to be known?
Par. Ryan Ashley.
How did you come to decide on these names?
Par. (Response).
Little one, born to love, surrounded by love,
child of the universe, one with all that lives,
we now name you Ryan Ashley.
Take this name and make it your own.
Live in freedom and fullness
as you travel your journey of life.
And what do you ask of God's church at (NN) for Ryan Ashley?
Par. We ask that he be baptised
into the faith and family of God’s love.
Ryan Ashley, we welcome you
to this family and this community.
We rejoice that you are here.
Thanksgiving
For us in Australia, the driest continent on earth,
water is a precious commodity...
Water is everything.
Water is life.
We claim the joy of water
and the way it sustains and nourishes us.
All Let it flow and pour and sprinkle for all people.
That all may know each day the gift of God in water.
The biblical stories also talk of the preciousness of water.
These stories remind us
that water is a blessing and the source and strength of life.
Without it humanity and all that is created could not survive.
Our stories also remind us that God’s way
is the way of compassion and love.
God's love, like a shower of rain in drought,
awakens the sleeping seed within the soul
and lures it to blossom.
God's love, like a hot shower after a long day's work,
cleanses us,
reawakens us.
The water is poured into the font
So let's give thanks for this love
that reaches out to us in what we say and do in love for this child
whom we are welcoming into our midst.
Prayer
We gather to pray,
believing that God prays in us.
We acknowledge our responsibility
to ensure we use the resources of water well,
and make available future resources
for our children
and their children.
We give thanks for the gift of this water.
May it be the birthing waters of a new and holy life.
All Amen.
The congregation stands as they are able
The baptism
Ryan Ashley
in the touch of this water, the ancient symbol of new life,
I baptise you into the love, service and joy of God:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...
Source of Life, Companion, Enlivener.
All Amen.
The minister takes the child
Ryan Ashley may the presence of the Spirit of Love in you
be nurtured and constantly affirmed by
your family, your friends, and by your church community.
May the sun and the stars
delight and touch your heart with fire
and so may you find passion to be creative.
May you know God’s blessing.
Blessing (Sung)
All “May the mystery of God enfold us” (Tune: Marleborough 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
During the Blessing the elder introduces the newly baptised child to the congregation.
At the end of the Blessing the congregation sits.
Responses
Robert and Alexis, I ask you now to respond to God's graciousness to Ryan,
by making these promises:
Will you provide for Ryan a welcoming home of love and trust?
Par. With God's help, we will.
Will you help Ryan grow in his understanding
and appreciation of a broad religious faith?
Par. With God's help, we will.
Will you encourage Ryan to reach out to others with love and compassion?
Par. With God's help, we will.
Narelle and Roger,
you have been asked by Alexis and Robert
to be god parents for Ryan.
Will you do everything possible to ensure Ryan
is nurtured so his faith is healthy and strong?
Gp. We will.
And you, the people of God gathered here at (N),
will you provide an environment that will
nurture and enrich the wellbeing of Ryan
and of all the children among you?
All With God's help, we will live out our baptism
as a loving community in the spirit of Jesus:
nurturing one another in faith,
upholding one another in prayer,
and encouraging one another in service.
Baptismal prayer
We pray:
Bless this newly baptised child.
May he always know that the Source of all Love
lives and comes to unique expression, in him.
All Amen.
Gp. Bless Robert and Alexis,
may they always show their gratitude for the new life given them
by loving and caring for Ryan.
All Amen.
Bless this faithful people.
May we all live in love.
And may we continue to draw encouragement
from the faith which connects our loving
with the mystery we call ‘God’.
All Amen.
This is a day of celebration for Ryan Ashley (N).
All Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Baptismal hymn
Now let Ryan receive the gift of the congregation
as we stand and sing the Baptismal hymn…
Parents and God parents return to their seats
"We are your people” (Tune: ‘Whitfield’, 54 55 7) 468 (Five verses only) TiS
We are your people:
Spirit of grace,
you dare to make us
to all our neighbours
of every nation and race.
Joined in community,
treasured and fed,
may we discover
gifts in each other,
willing to lead and be led.
Rich in diversity,
help us to live
closer than neighbours,
open to strangers,
able to clash and forgive.
Give, as we venture
justice and care
(peaceful, resisting,
waiting or risking)
wisdom to know when and where.
Christ, as we serve you
in different ways,
may all we’re doing
show that you’re living,
meeting your love with our praise. Brian Wren
EXPLORING
Reading from our biblical tradition
A story from our biblical tradition shall be read by (NN).
• For much of the early Christian communities, the most important story about Jesus, was his crucifixion and resurrection.
So now, in our Lenten journey, we hear a story told by the writer of the gospel of Matthew.
Imagine a small group of early Christians, huddled into somebody's home,
eager to hear a story they all knew.
They had been telling the Jesus story to each other,
piecing together the parts they remembered,
from those who had known Jesus.
But there were gaps in the story and contradictions.
Now they were going to hear the story read from a scroll,
a story of Jesus last days and written down
by someone they had decided to call Matthew,
though no one knew who had done the actual writing.
Gospel:
Matthew 26: 6-13. (Inclusive Text)
While Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,
a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment,
and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.
But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said,
‘Why this waste? This ointment could have been sold for a large sum,
and the money given to the poor.’
But Jesus, aware of this, said to them,
‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me.
For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.
‘Bypouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial
‘Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world,
what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
A litany: Life in all its fullness
The people stand as they are able
Bless you Wise and Holy One,
for your down-to-earth vision
of the best of what human life can be.
All Bless you Wise and Holy One,
for your call to life in all its fullness…
v1 when we honour who we are as easily
as we are enthralled by what others want us to be;
v2 when we stop pursuing happiness and let it embrace us;
v3 when we love not in the hope of getting
but for the joy of giving;
v4 when love is not what-you-can-do-for-me
but what-we-can-be together;
v5 when we choose our leaders not for their image
but for their imagination,
not for the politics they play
but for the principles they live;
v6 when our economy thrives on our expressing who we are
not on our spending what we have;
v7 when the earth itself is our communion table;
v8 when we bite into theology's questions
as readily as we swallow technology’s answers;
v9 when we celebrate today as not just all we have but all we need.
Bless you Wise and Holy One
All for calling us to life in all its fullness,
not just hereafter, but here and now. (N S D Esdon.edited/ea)
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, and with AP
Hymn of the Month
“Gather the Spirit” (Tune: ‘Gather the spirit’, 9 9 9 10/Refrain) 347 SLT
Gather the spirit, harvest the power.
Our sep'rate fires will kindle one flame.
Witness the mystery of this hour.
Our trials in this light appear all the same.
Refrain:
Gather in peace, gather in thanks.
Gather in sympathy now and then.
Gather in hope, compassion and strength.
Gather to celebrate once again.
Gather the spirit of heart and mind.
Seeds for the sowing are laid in store.
Nurtured in love, and conscience refined,
with body and spirit united once more
Refrain:
Gather the spirit growing in all,
drawn by the moon and fed by the sun.
Winter to spring, and summer to fall,
the chorus of life resounding as one.
Refrain: Jim Scott
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
We are grateful that these gifts enable us
to share in the lives of others.
May we be empowered by the Spirit,
to share more deeply in both sorrows and joys.
People sit
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 the Lord's Prayer in your original language, as that is appropriate
All Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and for ever. Amen.
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“Celebrate each difference” (Tune: ‘Intercessor’, 11 10 11 10. 587 TiS)
We cannot make an easy, safe distinction,
all people are our neighbours, none denied.
The voices of all nations heard beside us:
all sisters, brothers, none we should deride.
The wall between the peoples has been broken.
In love of God divisions disappear.
As seen in Christ, we recognise our neighbours.
We greet unusual faces without fear.
We celebrate each difference God has given.
Each nation, black and white, both straight and gay,
the able and the challenged, God has offered,
that we might share together, learn and pray
Remain standing
Baptismal candle
A lighted candle is given
Ryan, may this candle remind you throughout your life,
of Jesus, who opened peoples’ minds and hearts
to see the ‘light’ of God’s presence within them.
Alexis and Robert use this candle to help you tell Ryan the story of his baptism,
as you light it each year to remember this day.
Parents return to their seats
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 community candle is extinguished
You are wayfarers, following roads to the end of the earth,
pilgrims on your way to the end of the age.
All We are travellers on the road to freedom,
a community of grace, with good news for all we meet.
Travel lightly, travel together, learn as you go:
you are disciples, the mission is urgent, the journey is long.
All We will take heart.
When the way is uncertain,
shadows are sinister and dangers threaten,
All we will not be afraid.
For we are in God and God is in us.
Blessing words
Go in peace.
And may the Holy God surprise you on the way,
Christ Jesus be your company,
and the Spirit lift up your life.
All Amen!
Hymn (Cont) “Celebrate each difference” (Tune: ‘Intercessor’, 11 10 11 10. 587 TiS)
We meet with those who paint a different picture,
who value God in words not yet our own.
In dialogue we offer one another
a vision we could never find alone.
This God we seek is greater than each difference;
the source and ground of all variety,
the centre and the soul of all creation,
erasing hate with love, to set us free. Andrew Pratt/ea
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.
Duncan, G. (ed). 2005. Entertaining angels. A worship anthology on sharing Christ’s hospitality. Gt. Britain: Norwich. The Canterbury Press.
Inclusive readings. Year A. 2004. Qld: Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. Scotland: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Prewer, B. D. 2000. Australian psalms. Revised and expanded. SA: Adelaide. OpenBook Publishers.
Singing the living tradition. 1993. MA: Boston. UUA.
Together in song. Australian hymn book 2. 1999. NSW: Sydney. HarperCollins Religious.
Wiig, R., D. McKenzie. 1998. Baptism liturgy. "God's love, like a..." In private circulation from the authors.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA.
Michael Morwood. Baptism ceremony. www.greatnewstory.com