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
13 May 2007. Easter 6C. (White).
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
Music
Entry into worship
The gong is sounded three times
In the Spirit of God who shares divinity with us,
In the Spirit of God who shares humanity with us,
In the Spirit of God who unsettles and inspires us…
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life
in the presentness of this God.
Lighting of community candle
The candle is lit
Blessed is the fire that burns deep within us.
It is the flame of the human spirit touched into being by the mystery of life.
It is the fire of love burning deep in the human heart.
The divine glow in every life. (Adapted/E Heller-Wagner)
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“The universe in God” (Tune: “Praise my soul”, 87 87 87. 179 TiS) 13 SNS
All creation sings a story
Of great splendours to declare.
When we contemplate its beauty
We are called forth into prayer.
We, enchanted, stand in silence;
God discovered everywhere.
When we stumble on new knowledge,
When new insights help us grow,
We are quick to re-discover
Just how much we do not know.
But the Universe smiles gently,
As our theories come and go.
Outer space and inner being
Both have secrets they conceal.
Galaxies so grimly awesome,
Deep emotions that we feel –
All in God are judged as sacred;
It is God they all reveal.
Ageless mysteries still excite us;
Time and space we must explore.
God the 'Presence' and 'Surrounding',
God the ever wondrous 'More'
Is not found by science labours,
But in praise when we adore. George Stuart
Remain standing
Opening sentences
Be in love with life
and so become friends and partners of God.
All Now is the time to live a new life
in balance with Life and with the Earth.
Prayer
We pray:
Spirit of Life, we gather grateful for
the companionship of hearts and minds
seeking to speak the truth in love.
We gather grateful for our heritage, for the women and men before us
whose prophetic words and deeds make possible our dreams and our insight.
And we gather grateful for the gift of life itself,
mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is
and to insist on what it can become. M S Milner
Amen.
Hymn "Called as partners in Christ's service" (Tune: ‘Abbot’s Leigh’, 87 87D. 446 TiS)
Called as partners in Christ's service,
Called to ministries of grace,
We respond with deep commitment
Fresh new lines of faith to trace.
May we learn the art of sharing,
Side by side and friend with friend,
Equal partners in our caring
To fulfil God's chosen end.
Christ's example, Christ's inspiring,
Christ's clear call to work and worth,
Let us follow, never faltering,
Reconciling folk on earth.
Men and women, richer, poorer,
All God's people, young and old,
Blending human skills together
Gracious gifts from God unfold.
Thus new patterns for Christ's mission,
In a small or global sense,
Help us bear each other's burdens,
Breaking down each wall or fence.
Words of comfort, words of vision,
Words of challenge, said with care,
Bring new power and strength for action,
Make us colleagues, free and fair.
So God grant us for tomorrow
Ways to order human life
That surround each person's sorrow
With a calm that conquers strife.
Make us partners in our living,
Our compassion to increase,
Messengers of faith, this giving
Hope and confidence and peace. © J Parker Huber/LicenSing
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.
Music of celebration
EXPLORING
Readings from our religious tradition
Let us now listen to some stories from our religious tradition.
Early church:
Acts 16:9-15 (NRSV)
During the night Paul had a vision:
there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over
to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us
to proclaim the good news to them.
We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace,
the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi,
which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.
We remained in this city for some days.
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river,
where we supposed there was a place of prayer;
and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.
A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us;
she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth.
The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.
When she and her household were baptised, she urged us, saying,
“If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.”
And she prevailed upon us.
Gospel:
John 5:1-3, 5-9 (NRSV)
Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Jews.
Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool,
called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes.
In these lay many invalids - blind, lame, and paralysed.
One man was there who had been ill for 38 years.
When Jesus saw the man lying there
and knew he had been there a long time, Jesus said,
“Do you want to be made well?”
The sick man answered him,
“I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up;
and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.”
Jesus said, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”
At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was the sabbath.
Contemporary word
Silence for personal reflection
AFFIRMING
Litany for Women on Mother’s Day
v1 Today is Mother’s Day.
The story of the modern celebration of Mother’s Day goes back to Ann Marie Jarvis who, in America, founded a group called ‘Mother’s Day Work Clubs’
after their civil war.
The group worked to bring healing to all.
In the spirit of that care and healing let us share this special Litany for Women…
v3 Mother God, Spirit-filled Woman, Source of all living things
All it was you who breathed life into us.
In your likeness we were formed.
The darkness of your sacred womb
enwraps us in the silence of the Holy One.
v4 Your creative energy pulsates through every fibre of my being.
Wm You birth forth life within me.
Your abundant breasts continue to sustain my very being.
You carry me close to your heart and sing your song of love to me.
v5 You hold me close to your heart and sing your song of love to me.
Wm You hold me close to you and comfort me.
Cradled in your arms, I am at peace.
v6 You bathe me with life-giving waters of your giftedness.
Wm Reflected in your eyes is my dignity as woman.
You nurture me and guide me to proclaim
my sacredness as woman of God.
v2 You call me forth to image your compassion, love and joy to a broken world.
Mn Together we dance life’s passionate song. Mary Kemen/w
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.
Hymn of the Month
“Come and find the quiet centre” (Tune: ‘Sanctum/Jullian Bray) 10 FFS
Come and find the quiet centre
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be.
Silence is a friend who claims us,
cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us,
knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking,
lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we're shrinking,
finding scope for faith begun.
In the Spirit let us travel,
open to each other's pain,
let our lives and fears unravel,
celebrate the space we gain:
there's a place for deepest dreaming,
there's a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit's lively scheming
there is always room to spare! Shirley Murray
CELEBRATING
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 offerings are brought forward
We pray:
We give these gifts as an act of celebration.
And we celebrate our own new life, and the worldwide proclamation
of the good news to all people, everywhere.
Amen.
Offerings placed on the table.
Care candle
We are people of all ages who enter this space bringing our joys and concerns.
Joys and concerns shared.
The Care candle is lit
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 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. (Lala Winkley/cw)
Stewardship renewal: “Unexplored tomorrows”
Stewardship hymn
“God of unexplored tomorrows” (Tune: ‘Marching’, 87 87. 165 TiS) 27 FFS
God of unexplored tomorrows,
of today and yesterday,
God of rock and flowing river,
be our refuge, be our way.
Guardian rock above, before us,
strong foundation where we build,
landmark through the haze of doubting,
shelter where our fears are stilled,
Be the cleansing, quenching water,
irrigate, disturb and move,
stir us from our easy shallows,
current of refreshing love.
God of rock and flowing river
now and ever with us stand,
to transform our land of promise
into each one's promised land. Beverley Jones
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)
SCATTERING
Hymn The people stand as they are able, to sing
“I dream of a church”
I dream of a church that
Joins in with God’s laughing
As she rocks in her rapture
Enjoying her art.
She’s glad of her world
In its risking and growing
‘tis the child she has borne
And holds close to her heart.
I dream of a church that
Joins in with God’s weeping
As she crouches, weighed
Down by the sorrow she sees.
She cries for the hostile
the cold and no-hoping
For she bears in herself
Our despair and disease.
I dream of a church that
Joins in with God’s dancing
As she moves like the wind
And the wave and the fire.
A church that can pick up
Its skirts, pirouetting
With the steps that can signal
God’s deepest desire.
A celebration of women
As we prepare to leave this sacred place,
let us continue to celebrate the role of women
in this place
in our biblical tradition, and
in society…
The colour purple is God's gift to us all.
Purple for the dignity of women…
of biblical women,
of women in history.
We stand up for and commit ourselves to the dignity of women.
All We light this purple candle for the dignity of women.
The candle is lit
The colour white is God's gift to us all.
White for the singlemindedness of women…
of contemporary women in the community, in parliament, in the church.
We stand up for and commit ourselves to the singlemindedness of women.
All We light this white candle for the singlemindedness of women.
The candle is lit
The colour green is God's gift to us all.
Green for the hope of the women's movement…
biblical women and women in history who dared to stand tall.
We stand up for and commit ourselves to the hope of the women’s movement.
All We light this green candle for the hope of all women.
The candle is lit (Coralie Ling/adapted)
Blessing words
The blessing of the God of Sarah and Hagar, as of Abraham…
the blessing of the Son, born of the woman Mary…
the blessing of the Holy Spirit who broods over us as a mother, her children,
be with you all. Lois Wilson/cw
All Amen.
Hymn (Cont.) “I dream of a church”
I dream of a church that can
Join in God’s loving
As she bends to embrace
the unlovely and lost.
A church that can free
By its sharing and daring
The imprisoned and poor
And then shoulder the cost.
God, make us a church that
Joins in with your living
As you cherish and challenge
Rein in and release.
A church that is winsome
Impassioned, inspiring
Lioness of your justice
And lamb of your peace. Kate Compston/dtd
The people sit after the hymn
'This week' at St James
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.
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:
Ahlers, J; R Broughton, C. Koch. (ed) (date). Womenpsalms. MN: Winona. St Mary’s Press/Christian Brothers Publications.
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.
Ellem, E. W. (ed). 1990. The church made whole. National conference on Women in the Uniting Church in Australia. VIC: Melbourne. David Lovell.
Faith forever singing. Songs for a new day. 2000. NZ: Raumati. New Zealand Hymnbook Trust.
Holy Bible. NRSV. 1989. Ten: Nashville. Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Iona Community. 2001. Iona abbey worship book. Scotland: Glasgow. Wild Goose Publications.
Stuart, G. 2006. Singing a new song. Traditional hymn tunes with new century lyrics. Second edition. NSW: Sydney. CPRT Sydney.
The St Hilda Community. 1996. The new women included. A book of services and prayers. Gt. Britain: London. SPCK.
Ward, H.; J. Wild, J Morley. (ed). 1995. Celebrating women. New edition. Gt. Britain: London. SPCK.
Web sites:
UUA Worship Web. MA: Boston. UUA.