Winter Solstice

Motivation

The date gave us the motivation, with the evening/night of this service being the winter solstice itself. On researching this, it was a fascinating discovery to see that this event is made much more of in the Northern Hemisphere, especially the US, with the existence of ‘Blue Christmas’ services, which use the opportunity of the solstice to understand and appreciate that not everyone is happy at Christmas and to look back on who we might have lost (or what we might have lost) in the past year. This service took some of those elements.

Environment

Simple, dark, candlelit. The aim was that at the centre of the service only the Christ candle would remain lit, symbolising the light of Christ pervading even the darkest night. But to do so required the extinguishing of every other source of illumination. Music used tonight was purely Taize. On examining the room, one participant described it as ‘beautiful and Catholic’, and in a very positive sense!

Service
The service was broken into three parts: Darkness, Light and Life.

Background music: Adoramus te Christe

Introduction
– Intro
– Reading (Gary Heard – http://gdh.customer.netspace.net.au/Reflections/solstice.html).

Darkness

Invitation during reflective prayer time in the middle of this spoken prayer, to come forward and extinguish a candle or more to

represent those things that we may have lost, may be mourning, may be sitting in sadness or grief with.
Prayer: (From  Ted Yoder, Guerrillas of Grace)
O God of all seasons and senses, grant us the sense of your timing

to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the seasons.
In this season of short days and long nights, of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of endings;
children growing,  friends leaving,
loved ones dying, grieving over,
grudges over, blaming over, excuses over.
O God, grant us a sense of your timing.
(Time for silent prayer) – Taize: Lord, Hear my Prayer
In this season of short days and long nights, of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth
what is ready to be born–
something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love–
in the fullness of your time.
O God, grant us the sense of your timing.

Light
Scripture reading
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was
with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him
was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has
not understood[a] it.

15″Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, along the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles
16the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[a]

(ensure all but the Christ candle has been extinguished. Other candles were extinguished during this reading)

Taize 1: The Lord is my light.
Taize 2: Within our Darkest night.

Life.
Reading (Dom Helder Camera, Its Midnight, Lord)

The Spirit is breathing.
All those with eyes to see,
women and men with ears for hearing
detect a coming dawn;
a reason to go on.
They seem small, these signs of dawn
perhaps ridiculous.

All those with eyes to see,
Women and men with ears for hearing
uncover in the night
a certain gleam of light;
they see the reason to go on.
As the next two songs are played we are encouraged to turn our eyes forward and look at the
growing light in the days ahead of us. And in doing so consider those thing which are yet to come.
Those things that we have to look forward to, the new places will be shown and taken to. And also
those things which we need. Let us not be afraid to at this time be bold before God and in this time
ask him for those things which we need in the days to come, so that we can experience the growing
light, and share that with others.
As we do this, one of the children will bring you a small lit candle. Tonight, let this burn, symbolising the light
of Christ which burns with us even on the darkest, longest night.
Jesus Christ is the light of the world,
the light no darkness can overcome.
Stay with us, Lord, for it is evening,
and the day is almost over.
Let your light scatter the darkness
and illuminate your people. (Source: http://www.reformedworship.org/magazine/article.cfm?article_id=1764)

Taize: Stay with Us

God of all creation
of bare forest and low skies
or paths unknown and never to be taken
of fern, moss, and damp, dark earth
We thank you for loss, for the breaking of the dimming year
we thank you for light, even in its seeming midwinter failing
we thank you for life, for its hope and resistance
like a seed dying and living.
Amen. (Iona Community)

Taize: Adoramus Te Domine

 

Speechless

Motivation:

This service was driven by the desire to do something other than ‘talk to/at/with people’ by going to the extreme of not talking at all. Additionally, it was an opportunity to examine worship from a purely visual perspective, allowing God to speak to us through visual images via the movie, Baraka (more on that later)

Environment:

As is often the case, the space was gently candle lit with a projector displaying the movie up the front.

Coffee was available up the back along with a space to chat if people wanted that opportunity. The movie goes for about an hour and a half, so it was made clear to participants that they could come late, or leave early if they needed to. Coffee continued to be made available to sustain people throughout.

Service:

A short small handout was produced, introducing the night and indicating how nothing would be said tonight, but that instead people were encouraged to sit and watch the movie, and ask God to speak to them. Reflect. Pray about what you see. Ask questions of yourself in relation to what you see.

Baraka is a ‘movie’ with no direct plot, no speech, no storyline, but instead a collection of images which allow a story to be constructed. Many of these are drawn from the world’s religions, nature, and other scenes of humanity.

That was essentially the entire service. When the movie finished, people were free to sit and leave when ready.

Debrief:

Despite having no plot per se, Baraka turned out to be more challenging and confronting and depressing than at first intended. It has quite a harsh position in regards to humanity, and this has the potential to cause some discomfort. Not that that’s a bad thing necessarily, but is something to be aware of, and people may want to debrief afterwards. A discussion probably wouldn’t hurt if time permitted, or questions to go away with, readings, etc.

Definitely ensure you watch the movie and see how you respond to it first before showing to the congregation.

 

Debriefing Easter

Motivation:

One week on from the crucifixion and resurrection, it’s reasonable to consider the disciples sitting down with Christ and ‘debriefing’ the whole event. Looking at what happened, what had changed, how things had turned out, and what the next steps were. Surprisingly, very little of that is found in Scripture, so with this service we played a little with the idea (using some rather cliched project management tools and concepts which I’ve recently been working with) to better understand with a new perspective how the Easter story has changed our lives forever.

Environment:

Since there was a fair bit of writing, and the service was not going to get too ‘moody’, the environment was kept fairly static. One candle, reasonable light, no background music.

Due to a convenient ‘clash’ with a gallery event however, we had the opportunity to give people coffee and something to eat on arrival. This turned out well, and is probably something that we will continue. It breaks up the anticipation, and makes it a much friendlier, more accepting environment, and puts people’s preconceptions or nerves to rest. We’ll probably continue this…

Service

Part 1 – Mission Objectives

• We start with Jesus’ ‘business case’ in a way. Where he started from.
• We’ll read some passages of scripture which talk about Jesus’ reason for coming to us. As we do so, you’re welcome to jot down words or phrases or thoughts which stand out to you as the reasons for Christ’s missions – his ‘objectives’ – on the big sheets of paper in front of us. Together that will create a collective understanding of Jesus’ objectives.
• Readings: Matthew 1:21, Mark 10:45, 1 John 4:9-10, Romans 3:23-26, Romans 5:9-11, Luke 4:17-21, John 17:3-4, Galatians 4:4-7.
• Following the readings (and writings!), people were invited to gather around, examine, and comment on what stood out to them.
• Closed in prayer as we stood around the ‘objectives’

Part 2 – Outcomes

• Turning our attention from objectives to outcomes.
• Fortunately for us, Jesus gave us a good summary of how he saw the outcomes of his mission in John’s gospel. As I read this chapter (Chapter 17), people are encouraged to close their eyes and attempt to put themselves in a place where they can consider these outcomes afresh. Rather than taking them for granted as a given, putting ourselves in the position of Christ at that time.
• After I finished reading, some quiet music was played for about 5 minutes whilst people wrote on post-it notes some thoughts on what the life and death of Christ has changed for them; what difference his mission makes to their life. How the Easter story changes how they see things after having experienced it.
• People then put these post it notes on the altar, and we gathered around, read, and then prayed together (with people being encouraged to speak their own prayers too)

Part 3 – Follow up activities

• Now to the ‘what next’, the ‘where to from here’… What does this mean for us and how are we called to respond to what we have experienced through Easter.
• As I read a few passages of scriipture from that space in between Christ’s resurrection and pentecost, people were encouraged to reflect on what 3 things (a good management rule not to create more than 3 tasks at a time!) they could do or change or act upon to take Christ’s mission objectives beyond this story and into our own lives. A sheet of paper was provided if it would help people to write them down.
• Readings: Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 24:44-49, John 20:19-23, 21:15-19, Acts 1:7-8, Mark 16:15-20.
• Closed in prayer.

 

Service for Bushfire victims

February 2009

Motivation

This was our first service for 2009. (I’m not sure why I didn’t post the last few services from 2008. My apologies)

The week prior to this event, Victoria experienced the worst bushfires in Australia’s history. Almost 200 dead. A week later still over 100 missing. 2000 homes destroyed. Several towns (of decent size) wiped off the map entirely. All in one day. The hottest day in our history. It’s probably the worst day we’ve ever had in this state, and definitely one that none of us have ever experienced to this magnitude. It threw the entire population into disarray, and we felt it was important to take the opportunity to give people a chance to group, grieve, and sit with God in their confusion and despair.

As such, we decided to keep it very simple. Anything too fancy would be a bit of an insult to the gravity of the situation.

The event was advertised both to the church and the local community.

Environment

We didn’t go too dark or too fancy. Simple. One candle lit on the altar, and a projector of images shown on the wall from the bushfires themselves (People were given the freedom not to watch them if they so wanted – We’d been bombarded with thousands of painful images throughout the week.

Welcome

Just over a week ago, we were all in a very different place – so tonight we come together to reflect and pray. To take some time to sit and kneel before God and let our thoughts, our grief, our anger, and our despair sit and kneel before him too. We don’t come here for answers, but to lay our questions and our lack of comprehension at this tragedy before God.
Tonight is a simple service, with some readings, rituals, and a time of prayer and silence.
We will have some images running on the wall – I know that for many of us we have seen enough and to have images of this tragedy before us again would be too much – But for some of us, it might help us to be reminded of the enormity of what has happened, and use these images are prompts to prayer.
So if you feel it might disturb you, or no longer wish to see them, feel free to come and sit on this side with your backs towards the screen.
We also have a collection plate here for the Bushfire Appeal. Again, only make use of that if it is helpful for your prayer and reflection. I appreciate that many of you have given separately already with great generosity.

First reading

At a moment like this, the first engagement of the Body of Christ is to engage in the ministry of grieving—grieving for the yet-uncounted individuals and families whose lives have been crushed or crumbled by this catastrophe. We weep with those who weep.
Holy grief, the practice of lament, is not a form of self-centered pity but the willingness to crouch with those forced to their knees in the face of devastation. The billowing grief rising from this trauma is very real and will not be disposed of with the power of positive thinking.  We have no quick answers or explanations—or even plans of action.
Among other things, the ministry of grieving is important because it implies that the community of faith has not lost touch with the pulse of God’s intent in creation, an intent confirmed in the rainbow promise of Genesis 6 (following the flood), ratified in the crucified career of Jesus and dramatically broadcast in Revelation promising the new heaven and the new earth, when all tears will be dried and death itself shall be defeated
Furthermore, the ministry of grieving reminds us that we are not engineers of the coming Reign of Peace, but witnesses, pointing to where this Promise is breaking out even in our midst, even in this last week.

Story

A story was then read which had appeared in a national newspaper in the past week.

It is currently available here.

Prayer/Silence

God of our hearts,
We are heavy with sadness at the tragedy that has befallen so many people….….
Our minds struggle to come to terms with the horror of these past few days……
Our hearts are like stones in our chests,
as we mourn the dead and stand in solidarity with the survivors…..……….
Lord, where is the joy, peace, hope and safety that you promised?
Have you forgotten us, Lord?
Let us know pause in silent prayer before God.
(Silence)

Responsive reading

For those who have lost loved ones. Families, friends, colleagues, neighbours.

Lord have Mercy

For those who have lost someone they depended on, for comfort, companionship, security and livelihood

Lord have Mercy

For those who have been forced to experience or witness the loss of children

Lord have Mercy

For those who have lost property, belongings, and the objects which created meaning for them and a sense of home and place

Lord have Mercy

For those who have survived unscathed or with little injury, and the guilt they may experience in regards to their neighbours who have lost everything

Lord have Mercy

For those who now have to live with memories and experiences that no one should ever have.

Lord have Mercy

For those who have experienced loss while having to continue working through their suffering – CFA members, nurses, doctors, police, and rescue workers.

Lord have Mercy

For those who still don’t know what has become of their loved ones or their homes.

Lord have Mercy

For those who are now struggling to put pieces of their lives back together through the chaos, living in tents or sleeping on couches, waiting for normality to return, one day.

Lord have Mercy

For those who are already suffering another disadvantage – illness, infirmity, disability, poverty.

Lord have Mercy

For those who live in fear, having lost the safety and security that they experienced just over a week ago.

Lord have Mercy

For the children who have survived this experience, and for how it will play out as they develop and mature.

Lord have Mercy

For those who face exhaustion from days of vigilance as they protect and prepare their properties in nearby areas.

Lord have Mercy

For the emergency personnel who continue to fight, not letting themselves stop from grief or despair.

Lord have Mercy

For those who have responsibility for the coordination of the rescue efforts, and the massive, unexpected job that has been placed upon their shoulders.

Lord have Mercy

For the land, and the years it will take to recover.

Lord have Mercy

For those who have lost jobs, farms, and future income and purpose.

Lord have Mercy

For the towns that are no more, and will never be able to be the same.

Lord have Mercy

For all of us who despair at the loss, and our inability to do enough to help.

Lord have Mercy

Lighting of candles/ritual action

We know invite you to come and light a candle, as an act of prayer and petition. For those who have died, for those who have lost much, and for all of us who survive in a changed world.

(Music)

(Change image/slideshow)

Closing prayer

Lord of the Resurrection.
Lord of new birth
Lord of growth and regrowth.

As hard as it seems now, as we look at the pictures of destruction shown to us, we know that very soon, life will return to the bush. Green shoots will emerge from the trees, and the blending of black trunks with green leaves will remind us that life cannot be entirely destroyed.

As the forests recover, so too Lord give those who have suffered much the support, strength and nourishment to grow again, in their own time. For those who cannot or will not return, give them new places to call home. Make them part of new communities and find solace and strength in the new lives you grant to them.

Amen.

 

Sense-ing Worship

September 2008

Motivation

This was an attempt to broaden our approach to worship somewhat. To examine some different ways of hearing from and interacting with God. Appreciating that people have different strengths and weaknesses, and might be more open to one approach or other. In addition, most worship tends to focus on 2, or at most 3 senses. Tonight, we wanted to focus on all 5 (with a 6th thrown in later!)

An idea was posed to use the different senses. This is a pretty common idea as it seems, as any search on ’sensory worship’ will reveal. A few books on the theme even. Although very little freely available material online.

It was also important in the planning that this not be ‘gimmicky’. It’s easy to design a service which engages the senses, but it was important that they lead us to an exploration of understanding how God might speak to us through this sense, or opening ourselves up to an understanding of God, faith and life that we might not otherwise have had.

Environment:

Very similar to the previous worship session – 5 stations set up around the front of the church. Not too dark.  Each station had some elements to respond to and interact with, and a short written reflection. In a new move (which I hope will become a regular tradition), coffee was available freely for people to grab and take with them and have throughout the service.

Audio:

Again, we used the same, reliable soundtrack from the previous month’s worship. Nice, unobtrusive…

Structure:

There were three parts to this service:

1. An introduction, including a short scripture reading(s) and prayer.

2. The body of the service, where people interacted with the stations at leisure.

3. A bringing together of the people for some final readings, a time of silent reflection (or what we called engaging with the sixth sense – “Spirit”, and a final prayer.

The Service

1. Introduction

Introduced people to the theme, and how we were going to run tonight. Then used a few scripture readings on the vague idea of ’senses’:

O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who trusts in him (Psalm 34:8)

How sweet are your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)

Whoever keeps my words shall never taste of death (John 8:52)

Jehovah smelled a sweet savor and said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind’ (Genesis 8:21)

He called the multitude and said to them, ‘Hear and understand’ (Matthew 15:10)

The people pressed upon him to hear the word of God (Luke 5:1)

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls them by name (John 10:3)

Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer (Psalm 4:1)

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8)

Behold, it is I myself; handle me and see (Luke 24:39)

Then, a short prayer to send people off on the stations…

2. Body of the Service

These were the stations that we had:

Sight

Three laptops running loops of different imagery. In this instance, we had some urban pictures (mainly architecture, signs, etc.), cloud photos, and a loop from a newspaper series including photos of natural disasters, political happenings, war, etc.

Where do you see God, present or at work in the world around us?

As you see these images, what do you see?

Do you see anything that shows you something about God?

Do you see anything that shows you an opportunity to be Christ?

What have you seen this last week that God has used, or could use, to speak to you. Change you. Grow you.

Scent

Some jars containing different ’smells’. Included some different essential oils, coffee, methylated spirits, and dirt (which didn’t smell nearly as much as hoped!)

Before you are a range of smells. Some will be familiar, some might not. Which is your favourite?

What would the overall ’scent’ of your life be? If God was to put you in a jar, your life, your passions, your interests, your hates, your loves – what would it smell like to Him. Would it be a pleasing fragrance to Him? How could you ask God to help you improve your ’scent’?

Hearing

5 CD players or MP3 players each containing a different type of music and some headphones. In our case, the tracks were:

- Be thou my Vision (old, traditional hymn)

- Taize music (chanting, reflective music)

- Hybrid’s Unfinished Symphony (techno – a personal favourite )

- Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

- Captivated, by Vicky Beeching (pop-Christian kind of stuff)

How does God speak to you?

As you listen to the different types of music, consider how God speaks to you…

What sounds are you open to? and which do you find difficult to hear through?

How might God be speaking to you in ways you might not be used to hearing?

Taste

A few different bowls of different tasting little items. In this case, it was wasabi peas, chocolate, pretzel sticks, and beef jerky.

Feel free to take from what is in front of you. As you taste each of these, focus on them carefully. Close your eyes and concentrate on nothing but the taste of these.

Consider those things that God has given us, has put in front of us. Things that we need, things that we want, things that we might be obliged to receive. How do these things add or take away to your life?

Think carefully. What do you want to receive from God?

Touch

A quiet corner with a soft blanket, and some stones on the floor.

Take a stone from the pile and rest it in on hand. With your other, grasp a corner of the blanket.

As you sit, with both experiences of hardness and softness in your hands, reflect on the things in your life that..

..are hard to you. Maybe they’re difficult. Maybe they risk hardening your heart or hardening relationships or patterns of doing things. Maybe they’re just painful…

…and those that are soft. The warmth of friendship and relationship. Those things that comfort you, bring you peace, support you softly and warmly.

…and consider how those two sit together. How does the hard and the soft in your life balance? How does one address the other? Where do you find the softness to deal with the hard things in your life?

3. Conclusion

We brought everyone back after 25 minutes or so, and had a few short readings – poached from the Swedenborgians…

In some traditions, each of the five external senses–touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight–has a correspondence with one of the internal senses. . . . The sense of touch, broadly speaking, corresponds to the love of goodness; the sense of taste to the love of knowing; the sense of smell to the love of perceiving; the sense of hearing to the love of learning, and also to obedience; and the sense of sight to the love of being intelligent and wise.

…the five senses are five ways in which love and wisdom are linked together. Touch is in all the other senses. When we taste, we touch the tongue with food and drink; when we smell, minute particles touch the membranes of the nose; we hear because sound waves impinge upon or touch the eardrum; and it can even be said that we see because light waves touch the sensitive receptors of the eye.

If touch is the universal sense, then love is universal too. Nothing can exist without love. Love is our life. Music, painting, literature–everything about them depends upon love. Science, political life, community relationships–these exist because there is a basic love behind them. Religion and the church, worldwide faiths, the understanding of God’s Word–all come from the universal love that is the very fabric of human existence. When Jesus healed, he touched. All healing depends upon the touch of love.

We then had a few minutes of silent prayer and reflection, to engage with God’s spirit, as the 6th sense – the way in which God can speak to us beyond the physical senses.

Then, a closing prayer:

Thank you, Creator God, for endowing us with the five blessings of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight, by which we experience so much pleasure and beauty. Grant us, we pray, the wisdom to use our senses well, not plunging into physical pleasures for their own sake, but elevating heart, mind, and body in the service of those higher, spiritual purposes for which you created us. Amen.

 

Prayer for loose ends.

July 2008

Motivation

Inspired by the influx of Catholics for World Youth Day (and a recent post by Kel), we took some motivation from the rich prayer traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. So, we’ve taken the concept of the rosary and created some prayer beads – The idea that the activity of creating the beads would be a guided reflection in itself, and then the beads themselves can act as a tool for prayer as we then go about our everyday lives.

Environment

The room wasn’t that dark, as people would need to read and thread beads. Around the space were 7 different prayer stations. In the middle was the Christ station, and the rest were scattered randomly, with a couple of chairs at each, giving enough room for some private reflection and prayer.

At each station was one of the reflective readings/writings written below, and a bowl of beads which symbolically represented that theme.

Audio

A reliable mixture of Hybrid and Biosphere. Very modern (drawing from a techno/dance tradition), but no lyrics or additional emotional themes to distract. Just simple, quiet, atmospheric but non-directive music. Anything like that would do…. Moby, classical, Enya, whatever works for you and your group.

Structure

After an introductory prayer, people had 30-40 minutes to move to each of these stations and spend some time reflecting on the ideas presented there. People were encouraged to take as much or as little time as you wish… And of course, if people wanted to just do a few stations, or none at all, they were free to do so.

As they moved around the stations, they were free to collect one or a number of beads from each station, and add them to the string provided. Through this, we will be ‘constructing our prayers’ in a very physical form, and one which we can revisit later. It didn’t just have to be one of each bead, but as few or many as they felt they needed.

When finishing visiting all of the stations, people were free to spend some time constructing the beads and their order, going back and getting more if required.

(Many of the word used in the reflections are not mine. I will be referencing them all as soon as possible, but I just don’t want to claim any credit for what is not my work)

The Service:

Introductory Prayer

Come now, turn aside for a while from your daily employment, escape for a moment from the tumult of your thoughts. Put aside your weighty cares, let your burdensome distractions wait, free yourself for a while for God and rest awhile in him. Enter the inner chamber of your soul, shut out everything except God and that which can help you in seeking him, and when you have shut the door, seek him. Now, my soul, say to God, ‘I seek your face; Lord it is your face that I seek.’ Amen.

The Station reflections:

Christ

What then must I do now?
I will go and sit before the Cross. I will attend to it. I will be
concentrated, and unhurried, and let it speak to me.
I take, O cross, thy shadow for my abiding place…
Yes, I must abide here. Here is cleansing, security, and
renewal. Here the past is dealt with, and the future secured,
and all the present – peace. Here I take strength for service,
patience in waiting, and healing for any wounds that come…
Saviour, hanging on the cross, declaring God’s love to us,
you are forgiveness. Beside you hangs a thief, beneath you
waits Mary the forgiven, and all around watch those many
people to whom you give new life and hope. To us you give
new life and hope. Forgiven sinners become your body and
your Church; may the reconciliation we share bring your
gospel to all the world.
Jesus, you know rejection and disappointment; help us if our
work seems distasteful; help us to decide what best to do,
what next to do, or what to do at all.
Give us courage and cheerfulness to go the second mile, and
all the miles ahead.
Amen.

Sin and forgiveness

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just
will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
Lord, your ‘need’ is to love, mine to be loved by you. Your
‘need’ expressed itself in my creation, my being made an
object of your love. Your love expressed itself ultimately in the
life of Jesus, and now in the life of Jesus-in-me.
Lord, when I think back on my sins, my feelings range
from sadness (for what might have been)
through regret (either that I was found out by others or found
out who I really was myself)
to anger (that I could have been so destructive and stupid).
Perhaps also fear: what will almighty God do to me for what
I’ve done? So out of my darkness, sorrow and night, Jesus, I
come to you. I receive your gift of forgiveness, and ask for
your help to live in the future a life of commitment to yourself
and obedience to your word.
I am not worthy to come to you, or belong to your eternal
family, Lord. But apparently that’s not the point: your invitation
is not conditional upon my goodness, but simply upon my
acceptance of it.
I accept…..

Self

Somewhere in this bowl are the letters that make up my
name. The name given to me to identify who I am in this
world of many beings.
Creator God, you created my inmost being
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well’
When you think of yourself what do you see?
Do you like the psalmist see someone that is ‘fearfully and
wonderfully made’?
Does what you see make you want to praise or cringe?
What do you think Jesus meant when he said to love others
as we love ourselves?
Stop to feel your pulse. Life is running through you. Life is a
gift of God
Feel your fingertips. Look at the pattern on them. Each is
unique. You are unique.
You are made in God’s image. You are loved by the Creator
who is proud of you, the created.
Ask God to show you the real you, the you without image, the
you that God sees

Friends

While each of us has a personal journey to complete, there is
no need for us to travel alone. If we travel together we are
able to encourage each other.
One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One
can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are
few… We can have a surfeit of treasures -an excess of shells,
where one or two would be significant.
Lord, I need friends…
to ease my loneliness; to speak peace to me when I am
distressed; to walk with me when I am unsure of the way; to
provide a safe place where I can discover my true self.
I need friends…
who will laugh with me as well as pray with me; who will
embrace me without wanting to possess me; who will explore
their truth with me as it is continually revealed.
I need friends…
who will reflect you, Lord, as you reflect your Father; who will
recognise and call forth the Christ in me as I do the same for
them, so that in mutual giving we may become the persons
you have always seen us to be.
Amen.

Others

According to the Bible, we are to love others as ourselves, and as
God loves us.
There is an intimate connection between our love for ourselves and
our love and esteem for God and others. When we fail to love
ourselves, all of our relationships suffer. We fail to love our mates,
our children, or our neighbors properly.
Think of your own life . Remember the last time you were feeling
miserable and were angry with yourself, discouraged, or depressed?
How did you relate to your mate, children, and friends at that time?
Were you loving, sensitive, and kind? When we are uptight about
ourselves, we are usually uptight with others. We take our
frustrations out on them.
Providing a free and empty space for others, we commit ourselves to
accepting the strangeness of strangers. Each brings a gift,
themselves. In our openness, we are challenged by each guest,
changed by them unpredictably… It is thus that we entertain angels
unawares, even Christ himself. We are most aware of his presence
when the Christ in others reaches through to and engages the Christ
in us.
Jesus, friend of sinners, you call us to love our enemies, to do good
to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, and pray for
those who treat us badly.
Jesus, reconciler, when someone slaps us on the cheek, you call us
to offer the other; when someone takes our coat, you bid us give our
shirt as well; when someone takes what is ours, we may not demand
it back.
Jesus, Son of God, our friend and brother, when we love our
enemies and do good we are children of God, who is kind to the
wicked and ungrateful.
Jesus, teacher without peer, you have turned the world upside down.

Facets of life

So many things make up our lives. Work. Study, Family,
Buying. Giving. Sleeping. Home. Holidays. Leisure. Boredom.
Chores. Hobbies…
Lord, in the many things that make up my life, make me an
instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred… let me sow love.
Where there is injury… pardon.
Where there is discord… unity.
Where there is doubt… faith.
Where there is error… truth.
Where there is despair… hope.
Where there is sadness… joy.
Where there is darkness… light.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek, To be
consoled… as to console. To be understood… as to
understand. To be loved… as to love.
For It is in giving, that we receive. It is in pardoning, that we
are pardoned. It is in dying, that we are born to eternal life.

World

Grant us a spirit of concern for the future of our environment;
Bring an end to the exploitation of the earth’s scarce resources;
Encourage us to be responsible stewards of your creation.
Lord, make us prophets of our time
Grant us a spirit of respect, recognising the value and integrity of each
person;
Encourage us to be accepting of ourselves and of others.
Lord, make us prophets of our time

Help us become advocates of peace, bringing an end to conflict and division;
Renew our commitment to challenging the causes of injustice.
Lord, make us prophets of our time

Grant us a spirit of openness to see God within and around us;
Help us rejoice in the good we have experienced as we move forward to the
future;
Help us use our senses to celebrate beauty and creativity in the world.
Lord, make us prophets of our time

Grant us a spirit of truth to recognise failings, which have hurt us, others and
the world;
Give us the humility to ask forgiveness for our part in any wrongdoing;
Lord, make us prophets of our time

Grant us a spirit of generosity to reach out in trust to those we encounter;
Help us to embody God’s love in our relationships with one another.
Lord, make us prophets of our time

Closing prayer

Lord God, you have heard our prayers, of that you have given us no doubt.
Now, symbolically, we bring together these prayers that we have shared with you, and connect them
together, end to end. Lord – you bring our lives together. You tie together the sorrows and the joys, the
sins and the blessings, the hard and the easy. Bring the loose ends of our lives together, today and
tomorrow, individually, and in community with others. Take all these things that we have brought to
you tonight, and which form these prayers that we now hold in our hands, and form them together
into a life of faith and love.
Go into the demands of the day released from inner strife and outer stress. After the quiet joy of
encounter in the stillness, may the Holy Spirit remain an inner resource in the dullest routine and the
greatest challenge.
Amen

 

Turning Point

June 2008

Motivation:

This service is as close as we’ll get to the middle of the year, so we took the opportunity to have a service which provided a ‘turning point’ – A space where one could reflect on the year that has passed, spend some time with God in a quiet, withdrawn space in the middle of the year, and then think about the rest of the future and move outwards back into the real world.

Environment: The usual. Pitch darkness with only candle light would have been ideal, but we made it as dark as possible. In the middle of the space were a few worship tools (candles, sand, water and stones, paper and pens) for use during the service.

Audio:

As explained later, it was all drawn from the Labyrinth.

The Service:

• Introduction: We introduced people to the motivation for tonight, and encouraged them to just sit, reflect, pray, and engage with the worship tools in the centre if/when they felt like it. No pressure tonight…
• For the rest of the service we used the station reflections from the Labyrinth. These were played over the audio, allowing people time to listen to the reflection, and have about 4-5 minutes at each of the 9 stations or so to think, pray, and interact if so desired. These stations help people put aside the things that might be keeping them from God, spend some time with God in prayer and reflection, and then begin to focus on the world around them as they re-engage and prepare to re-enter the world. (Normally these stations are used as part of the Labyrinth interactive prayer path, but they work well in this context as well).
• With each of the ‘inward’ stations, candles were steady blown out so that by the time the middle reflection, Holy Space, was reached there was only one main candle remaining. Following this, candles were steadily re-lit as the ‘outward’ stations were played.
• At the end, people were free to leave when ready as some ongoing reflective music was played.

Evaluation notes (for future facilitators) – in comments.

 

Fire

May 2008

Motivation:

It was getting colder in Melbourne, so warmth was becoming important. So a focus on fire was already sounding like a good idea. Fortunately, we also celebrated Pentecost the week prior, so it seemed too convenient not to use the idea of Fire as the focus of a service.

Environment:

‘The usual’ again. A few less candles this time. We intended to have a large overhead projection of a fireplace running, but due to some IT issues, we had to resort to running this on the laptop. Also had one large candle on the floor in the middle of the ring of chairs/pews, some paper and pens, spare tea-light candles, and a large metal (important!) bucket.

Audio:

Some general ambient for arrival and introductions. Then it was Taize all the way through.

The Service:

• Introduction: introduced people to the service, and informed them that tonight we would be ‘playing with fire’ Informed them that this was a very simple reflective service. A number of readings would be read out with a space for reflection after each one, during which an item of Taize music would be played. During that time people were free to engage and respond with the elements any way they liked. They could focus on the candles or the video fireplace; they could light their own tealight or light one as a prayer of others; they could write on the paper and then burn that as an act of letting go, or an act of sending a prayer to God… it was up to them.
• Readings: This was a mix of scripture which related to fire, and some excerpts from a Bible Study on ‘Fire in the Bible’,

1. The average Christian, as their first choice, would not associate the word “fire” with the Creator Himself. Our first thoughts would probably be Hell-fire, the Lake of Fire, or Sodom and Gomorra. It may be surprising to many Christians that the word “fire,” and its attributes of “light” and “heat,” speak more of the Creator and His goodness than of a destructive force against His enemies. Clearly, the writers of the Bible employed the use of fire in many different ways. However, when it came to the spiritual use of fire, they usually attributed fire to God. Yahweh manifested Himself in various forms of fire on many different occasions. We find some of these manifestations in the making of the Covenant with Abraham, the burning bush, and Yahweh answering by fire. Sacrifices and offerings (including incense which represented the prayers of the people) were to be made by fire. Fire often meant the acceptance of a sacrifice by Yahweh. The fire on the altar was to be continually burning. It is not surprising that fire plays such a significant role in the Bible. The Creator Himself is described as a “consuming fire.” Doesn’t it seem rather strange to our understanding to call the Creator a consuming fire? Rarely, if ever, do we associate fire with the creation process. We usually associate it with destruction. Fire has played perhaps one of the most significant roles in the advancement of civilization. Practically no manufacturing would be possible apart from the use of fire to break down and shape materials for our use. Our very lives depend upon the energy given by the biggest fire near the earth, the sun.
2. Malachi 3:1-4. 1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
3. Acts 2:1-4. 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled the
4. 1 Corinthians 3:5-15. 5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
5. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-23. 12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil. 23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6. Hebrews 12:22-24, 28-29. 22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our “God is a consuming fire.”
7. Christians who have allowed the fire of God to enter the very recesses of their lives will see His fire in a totally different light. Rather than being utterly destroyed by the fire, they are purified, corrected, cleansed. God’s fire within brings forth a love that desires to bring healing and restoration to all mankind. Fire is never static. It moves. It seeks to consume. This is true whether it be the hateful fire of man’s anger or the passion to bring healing, joy, and love to those around them. Fire always produces change. It will force one to act, to respond. Fire brings focus. “Fiery” trials often let us know which kind of fire is burning in our bosom. Those who believe in God will usually attribute the fire in their bosoms to their God. If they are angry and bitter inside, they will often attribute their anger to God’s righteous wrath against the wicked. Likewise, a truly compassionate, loving person will usually credit God for their qualities. They know God as their source of true love.

• Closing Prayer

 

Designer Worship 101

March 2008

Motivation:

This was a simple service designed to be a ’starting point’ to these services, and in doing so introduce people to the concepts of worship which emerges from one’s own experiences, preferences, hobbies, and spiritual ’style’.

Environment:

What I’ll call ‘the usual’: Small circle of chairs at the front of the church, and a fair few tealight candles scattered around. Mid-level of darkness. Running on the overhead projector we had about 30 images plucked from the alternative worship image library (www.smallfire.org – thanks Steve!) on a slideshow to provide inspiration and ideas.

Audio:

Background music throughout all of this service provided by a mixed playlist of Taize, Biosphere, Hybrid, Aim, Amon Tobin and Gustavo Santaolalla. Moody, emotional, reflective stuff.

The Service:

• Opening Prayer
• Welcome and Introduction: Introduced people not only to this service, but this new routine of evening, reflective services. We hoped that this will become a diverse range of worship experiences and styles. Tonight we are looking at worship itself – It’s a good place to start in any worship ’series’, but it also is a chance to explore some possible worship ideas that we can use further down the track.
• Reading: We read a small exerpt from the Prodigal Project talking about worship (Sorry, I’ve misplaced my copy so I’ll quote the text here when I find it)
• Activity: The reading led into an activity where we were going to ‘design our own worship service’. A worship service which we would design for ourselves. A worship service which was unashamedly ’selfish’ – suiting our tastes, preferences and desires. It could take any form, the planning could take any shape, it was really about capturing the essence of what’s important to us in worship and how we best engage with God. On a table in the middle of the space were hundreds of little slips of paper with various elements of worship written on them (eg. chants, baptism, discussion, cushions, food, candles, dance, bible, sermon, light, charity, coffee, teaching, incense, art, hymns… the list goes on) There were also blank slips for people to add their own elements (which is critically important. If people wanted to add ‘motorbikes’ or ‘bonsai’ then they needed to be free to do so!) People were then given 20 minutes and big sheets of paper, pens, etc. to create their own worship.
• Discussion: Following the design phase, everyone gathered and spoke to their own piece (if they wanted to) and some questions were asked, comments made about other pieces of work, etc. The differences in how people approached it was amazing, with people able to pull out critical things of importance to them.
• Closing Prayer.