a community creating for the relentless return of Sunday
Come together, everyone, and celebrate the worship feast!
Even me?
Come together, EVERYONE, and celebrate the worship feast!
Even him? Even her?
Come together ALL as ONE, and celebrate the worship feast!
Let us sing praise to God
who invites us here
and unites us here.
Submitted by Rev. Dan Mayes, First Christian Church of Spencer, IA.
we’re back!!! summer was nice and all, but it’s time to get back on the creative-liturgy-train. Are you back? Perhaps you’d like to flex your creative muscles–write a call to worship and send it to us! When your creative juices are flowing, send in a great invitation to offering or a prayer of dedication (stewardship season is nearly upon us, after all, we’re looking for those!). During election season we probably have plenty to confess–share a prayer of confession!
Send your submissions to liturgylink at gmail dot com. You don’t have to be a professional liturgy writer, or have something perfect, or even have the piece completed! Send it in and let the collaborative process work. One of the things we hope for in this space is the back-and-forth, the conversation where ideas flow and sparks fly and we get new ideas out of someone else’s half-formed sentence. So stop in to the comments and make conversation, send in your liturgy or ideas, and let the collaboration begin!
This week many of us are headed back to the lectionary after a summer series. Some of us are Rally-Day-ing, while others have already rallied. Some are working on the narrative lectionary this year rather than the RCL–we’d love to have your NL-related liturgy and ideas here too! Please share!
For those of us working on the RCL this week, we find the sassy Syrophonoecian woman calling out from the pages of Mark. How might she, or the response of Jesus, be a sighting of a “new year” or a call to be the church we can be?
We also find some advice for the beginning of the school year (and the Sunday School Year) in Proverbs. We have the classic call to action in James. And a prayer of trust in varying circumstances in the psalm.
We could perhaps find a theme in these readings, of faithful work within a power (or economic) differential. Or of action speaking louder than words. Or…many themes! What do you think?
Where are you headed this week? Put your ideas, thoughts, words or phrases, song suggestions, or anything else that might spark creativity in the rest of us into the comments! And send your liturgy in so we can create together!
It’s here! It’s here! The last of the “bread of life” weeks! After all that, the disciples are all “man, that’s difficult…but we’re not going anywhere Jesus, so you’ll have to keep putting up with us…”
Tired of the whole bread thing? How about armor?? The liturgy I can hear in the whole armor of god thing is incredible–I’m imagining calls to worship that invite us to move our bodies, confessions that remind us that the armor of god doesn’t come from the military-industrial-complex, prayers of dedication that offer up our whole selves, visuals of old suits of armor…but probably not armor-of-god-pajamas. 😉
If reclaiming the whole armor of God from the pajama people isn’t your calling for this week, perhaps you’ll want to spend some time praying with Solomon or the psalmist, contemplating the house of God to which the nations will stream and from which holiness and wonder emanates.
Whatever your direction, leave your ideas here so we can create the liturgy together!
You are—and we thank you.
You are holy, and powerful, and gracious, and forgiving.
You are love.
You are hope and peace.
You are the One who gives, and the One who calls.
And so we thank you, for your faithfulness, your persistence, your generosity.
Yet at the same time, gratitude may be simultaneously over and understatement…
for we do not understand.
We do not understand why some have more and some have less.
We do not understand why some have floods and others drought.
We do not understand why the earth shakes, or fires rage, or violence erupts.
We do not understand where you can possibly be when we are sick, or worried, or despairing.
And yet…you are.
You are here. You are there.
You are within and among and around.
You remind us that we cannot know everything,
that mystery is called so for a reason.
So we do what we can do—
we come. we listen. we speak our pain and our joy.
we offer ourselves to you,
broken and healed, hopeful and lost, wondering and frustrated.
We bring our hearts, our minds, our bodies,
and pray that you would make yourself known yet again.
May your image shine in each face we see,
and in our own.
May your kingdom be visible in our community.
May your love overflow through our love.
Make us people unafraid to speak truth, to confront injustice, to show compassion.
Draw us near to you, and make us ever more in your likeness,
that all the world may know your healing love.
We pray in the name of the most gracious, Jesus the Christ, who taught us how to pray:
Our Father…
Submitted by Rev. Teri Peterson, Ridgefield-Crystal Lake Presbyterian Church, Crystal Lake IL.
Unison: It is all too easy to forget that we are not in charge of this world. We create nations, build buildings, fight wars, and change landscapes. We are part of a culture that builds up people’s reputations and livelihoods only to tear them down. We use words as weapons in skirmishes that leave others wondering why they would want anything to do with us or You. We seem to be in battle with every enemy but the ones that matter. Empty us of our pride and fill us with your humility; replace our striving with your contentment, exchange our need to lead for a heart that follows only you. We give ourselves to you this day, knowing that only you can make us whole through Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Affirmation: Christ came to conquer death, driving out fear with his perfect love. A Prince of Peace in a world of strife, Jesus offers that same peace to hearts struggling to live in grace. Friends hear and believe the good news of the gospel. In Jesus Christ you are forgiven.
Submitted by Laura Viau.
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