Taize

Motivation:

We don’t normally do singing in these reflective services. Partially because they’re small and singing can be hard, secondly because I’ve got a preference for other forms of worship generally, and thirdly because we don’t really have good singing leaders at our disposal within those who regularly attend.

So we decided to ensure that we weren’t isolating those who appreciated the value of singing in worship and have a service which used the music of Taize to allow us both to ’sing’ and ‘reflect’.

(As a side note, we discussed later how Taize services were only a few years ago quite common and well attended locally – Now many of them have died out. Not sure why, but it is a shame, and perhaps something worth reviving if the interest is there)

Resources:

A beautiful side-effect of planning what was a relatively simple service was stumbling upon some wonderful resources: The Selah Service, which also kindly puts their material online. Many thanks to them for that useful resource.

Environment:

While a fairly normal setup, we did take advantage of this form of service to make it darker than usual (since no reading was required) and took advantage of a recent piece of art which has arrived at the church’s gallery to provide a focal point.

Service:

Song: Nada te Turbe (while people arrive)

Opening prayer

Eternal God, we come to you with hungry hearts, waiting to be filled:

Waiting to be filled with a sense of your presence; Waiting to be filled

with the touch of your spirit; Waiting to be filled with new energy for

service;

We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and

we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

Gracious God, we confess what seems always with us: broken things

within us that seem never to mend, empty places within us that seem

always to ache, things like buds within us that seem never to flower.

O God of love and grace, help us to accept ourselves; lead us to do

those good and true things that are not compromised by anything

within us. As much as can be, mend us, fill us, make us bloom.

Have mercy upon us. Come to us, we pray. Be with us this day. Touch

us. Heal us. Empower us as your people, that we might worship you in

all we do, and act in the world for Jesus’ sake.

Everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this

day; grant that this day we fall into no sin, straying not from the way

of love and justice, and protect us with thy peace which has power

over all adversity.

Let us pray for those who weep, and for those who cause their

weeping

Hear our prayer, O God.

Reading/Introduction

Singing is one of the most essential elements of worship. Short songs, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character. Using just a few words they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being. Meditative singing thus becomes a way of listening to God. It allows everyone to take part in a time of prayer together and to remain together in attentive waiting on God, without having to fix the length of time too exactly.

To open the gates of trust in God, nothing can replace the beauty of human voices united in song. This beauty can give us a glimpse of “heaven’s joy on earth,” as Eastern Christians put it. And an inner life begins to blossom within us.

These songs also sustain personal prayer. Through them, little by little, our being finds an inner unity in God. They can continue in the silence of our hearts when we are at work, speaking with others or resting. In this way prayer and daily life are united. They allow us to keep on praying even when we are unaware of it, in the silence of our hearts.

From Clouds & Glory: Prayers for the Church Year
(Morehouse Publishing)

Eternal God and Father,
we thirst for your love,
we long for your presence,
we yearn for your peace.
Come, Lord, restore us that we may live to your glory;
through him who gives us the water of life,
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Song: O Lord Hear my Prayer

Song: Stay with Us

Song: Within our Darkest Night

Song: Wait for the Lord

Song: Stay With me

Instrumental music to allow time for private prayer.

Prayer

From Celtic Benediction: Morning & Night Prayer
(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)

I watch this morning
for the light that the darkness has not overcome.
I watch for the fire that was in the beginning
and that burns still in the brilliance of the rising sun.
I watch for the glow of life that gleams in the growing earth
and glistens in sea and sky.
I watch for your light, O God,
in the eyes of every living creature
and in the ever-living flame of my own soul.
If the grace of seeing were mine this day
I would glimpse you in all that lives.
Grant me the grace of seeing this day.
Grant me the grace of seeing.

Song: Bless the Lord

Song: Jesus Remember me

Song: My soul is at rest

Song: In the Lord

Closing Prayer

I lie down this night with God,
And God will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with Christ,
And Christ will lie down with me;
I lie down this night with the Spirit,
And the Spirit will lie down with me;
God and Christ and the Spirit
Be lying down with me.

Amen.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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