What words do we use to celebrate years of worship together? What words do we use when we are an aging congregation? What words signify the hope of new life in our church? Songs for Church Anniversaries: Prayers and worship resources for Church Anniversaries:
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Note: before using the ‘Digital Manifesto’ in full, consider the congregation. What are local concerns and worries about digital usage? Perhaps a selection from the Manifesto might suffice. Perhaps there are other concerns to be added or inserted. May this act of faith be meaningful. Worship offers us space in which to reflect on our […]
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‘Commitment for Life’ is the global mission support and advocacy group within the United Reformed Church in Great Britain. It’s name might be replaced in this prayer by the mission arm of another church or faith group. Also, include relevant specific ‘mission partners’, again making necessary alterations to the text. Creator God, you pour your […]
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O Holy Spirit of Fire, life in the life of all life, holy are you, enlivening all thing. Holy are you, a healing balm to the broken. Holy are you, washing blistered wounds O Holy Breath O Fire of Life, O Sweetness in my breast infusing my heart with the fine scent of truth. O […]
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Text to read before the message: John 13:31a, 33-35 Prepared as a Children’s Message, but usable with all ages. To learn the tune: Todah, La El, Hallelujah – YouTube ( start at 1:12; not great, but the best example I can find) Good morning. My name is ____________. What are your names? How does God […]
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Adapted from Psalm 50:1-7 Might be read as a responsive reading with the congregation or by two readers From the rising of the sun to where it sets God almighty speaks, calling to all the earth. God shines forth. God is coming! In all power and might, A fire before, a storm raging all around. […]
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Shared at the Armenian Genocide Remembrance service held 24 April, 2019, at Christ Church, Dublin, Ireland, (slightly adapted for Worship Words). Each section to be read by a different reader. We remember the descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian, Greek and Chaldean, people scarred by the violence over a century ago and pray for the healing […]
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‘Whoever you are, and wherever you are on life’s journey you are welcome here at Christ’s table.’* You can bring your problems, you can bring your doubts. You can bring your body with its aches and pains, its stretchmarks and scars. You can come in your ‘Sunday best’ or your scruffiest scuffed-up sneakers. You can […]
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inspired by Psalm 106 To be read responsively Praise the Eternal One! We give thanks for God’s steadfast love. Praise God’s mighty acts of creation and the wonders of the universe. We give thanks for beauty and goodness. Praise the Holy One that hope is not extinguished by evil. We give thanks for God’s promise […]
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Matthew 18:21-35 To forgive you will pass through the sea. You will leave much behind: what is owed, obligations, the heavy chains of your master anger. Just leave them. You will be tempted to turn back and fight but that is the slavery you are escaping, the lie of superior and inferior, the cruel economy […]
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The Armenian Genocide began on April 24, 1915. ‘This was the first genocide of the 20th century, perpetrated by the Ottoman Government against members of their own nation. The genocide erased approximately 75% of the world’s Armenian population—approximately 1.5 million people.’ (source: VA News) ‘The wide-scale extermination and subsequent lack of accountability inspired Polish lawyer […]
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Tune: Christ the Lord is Risen Today – Easter Hymn 7.7.7.7. At the dawn new life surprises, Alleluia From the darkness light arises, Alleluia See the stone is rolled away, Alleluia On this resurrection day, Alleluia Over death God’s love prevails, Alleluia Over all of our travails, Alleluia By no cross is it restrained, Alleluia […]
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What words express the mystery of the unknowable? the beliefs that defy the rules of nature? our faith? our doubt? What words enable the wordless to speak? the deaf to understand? Dare we speak truth into this mystery? exasperation? doubt? solid faith? Explore these Worship Words resources to find words for your worship experience on […]
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A Grief Interrupted — an Easter Pondering, Plea, and Prayer Loving God, is it true That grief must always win Bearing down heavy In weight of what was Sucking out life’s breath At every turn of memory? Must the upper hand always Be given to grief’s will and way Bringing tender tears In relentless […]
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Open Table Worship Using inclusive language and imagery for intimate worship settings at which everyone is welcome and valued Theme: Stand firm in our faith A complete worship service weaving together scripture, drama, reflection, conversation & communion Compiled & written by Ana Gobledale for Open Table This service is designed for a congregation gathered around […]
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This morning we celebrate that hope lives, that new life pushes up though the soil, green and strong, that warmth and light return with the sun as a new day dawns. This morning we celebrate that there is no darkness that love cannot reach, no tomb that love cannot break open, no depths from which […]
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Who are we? We are God’s beloved. Where are we going? To lunch, to the park, to our homes, to work and to school: out into God’s world. With what do we venture forth? With the illumination of hope, with the strength of community, with the love of Christ. With whom will we share it? […]
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Surprising Risings -An Ongoing Easter Prayer Resurrecting God, Continue Your surprising Rising against all odds Of everything that cages Or resists Your power To bear beauty and hope Resilience and relief. Let yesterday’s awe At Your amazing arrival Give way to the new bud Of today’s beginnings Ready to burst forth In something yet unseen By […]
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Reflection for Easter Eve, ‘Holy’ Saturday The worst has happened. The disciples have fled. The cross stands bare. The tomb is sealed. Mary, dazed and exhausted by sorrow, fuggy with tears, makes her way to the grave. She doesn’t know what else to do with herself. Such is the restlessness of grief; when the wound […]
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it’s a short ride to Hades no stopping no coming back it’s not much of a place but better than no life at all Jesus went there descendit ad inferos he didn’t stay long less than forty hours he said Hades wasn’t the end of the line he said the last stop was New Jerusalem […]
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As we look back over the days we have lived May our hearts be filled with gratitude. We give thanks for each person and each moment that shaped our journey. Each brought us gifts; albeit some more welcome than others. We, too, have shaped the lives of others, in ways we may never know We […]
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This litany of remembrance and confession arises from an Armenian Genocide Remembrance Service in Dublin, Ireland. Each year, sadly, current cases of ethnic or racial cleansing and other atrocities are added. In our Modern Time…is it forgotten? Will the horrors of human devastation ever lead to peace? We persist in remembering, lest we forget. We […]
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Sing a joyful noise! Hymnists sharing their music through Worship Words, are committed to inclusive language and progressive theology. Their work is copyright-free and available for free use in worship. Please acknowledge the artist. Photo: Music Tree tapestry by Karen Ingleton, UK
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Luke 24:36-38 (a version for today) While the disciples discuss the resurrection news, Jesus stands among them and says, ‘Peace be with you.’ Startled and terrified, they think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus asks, ‘Why are you frightened and, why do doubts arise in your hearts?’ We join fearful Peter now to listen to […]
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Arising from Matthew 26: 6-13, Mark 14: 3-9, Luke 7: 36-50, John 12: 1-8 At a party, when a woman, without giving notice, anoints Jesus with perfumed oil, his fellow guests object to its expense, which could have been put to use serving the poor. But in that extravagant act, Jesus is made Christ, the […]
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‘Shout as loud as you can’, says God. ‘Remind my people about their sins! Every day they come to worship, eager for my ways, wanting to follow my laws. It gives them pleasure, so they say. But then they complain, asking why they should fast when it produces no favours, as though I am ignoring […]
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Meditation of Mary Magdalene By Tod& Ana Gobledale Those men, those disciples, they are not going to listen, I can tell you that now. They have always been suspicious of me. Right from the start, they wonder what Jesus thinks, getting mixed up with someone like me. I know what they will say, mark my […]
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For a single voice or responsive reading The heavens are telling us about God’s glory! the whole universe shows us God’s handiwork. One day tells it to another, and night by night repeats it to the next and this without using words or signs or the sound of any voice. Yet their message has gone […]
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Prepared by Washington Park United Church of Christ, Denver, Colorado Background “The Good Friday Vigil Against Gun Violence emerged out of what Denver experienced as the Summer of Violence in 1993, when there was a high incidence of gun deaths in the metro region. The staff of Washington Park United Church of Christ thought it […]
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For Lent: Feast on simple pleasures, and fast from all that gets our bodies and souls out of balance. Feast on kindness, and fast from sarcasm. Feast on compassion, and fast from holding grudges. Feast on patience, and fast from anxiety. Feast on peace, and fast from stirring up needless conflict. Feast on acceptance, and […]
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World Day of Prayer is a global, ecumenical movement of Christian women joined together to observe a common day of prayer each year on the first Friday of March. There will be an in-person service near you. 2024 Theme: I Beg You…Bear with One Another in Love, written by Palestinian Christian women. The resources include […]
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‘Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness….” Genesis 1.26 Lesson: Looking at skin colour to learn more about God. What colour are you? Listen to this poem by Kathleen McGinnis, and see if you can find a colour that matches your skin. Some people are black like ebony wood. […]
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The Africa Union combined Wangari Maathai Day and Africa Environment Day, in 2012. Wangari Maathai Day ‘recognises the work and life of the late Professor Wangari Maathai who dedicated her life to promoting environmental conservation and sustainable development in Africa and was the first African Woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2004), ‘for […]
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Our bodies are so fragile Our time here is so brief Our lives are but a single drop in the ocean of eternity And yet… We are known We are loved We are held May our fears about our death be transformed And may all our suffering be transfigured. May we discover, within ourselves, a […]
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To be read by a single voice or responsively If you are seeking to honour our God, bring your praise! Rejoice wherever you gather together, and as God’s children, show your appreciation. For God does not ignore the humble or push the downtrodden to one side. God sees how things are for them and answers […]
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Come, people of God, Let us journey together! Through the uncertainty of the wilderness, Through the uncertainty of our questions, God goes with us: Around us, among us, and within us. Come, people of God: With our doubts, With our questions, With your apprehension and fears. Come, people of God! Let us seek, not a […]
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What words do we use to lift up the history of oppression, current struggles and future hopes? How is our language in worship shaped by race? What colours do we see as we speak the words of our faith? Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. -Psalm […]
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O Holy One, Lengthen Your love In these Lenten days Increasing Your Light In every evolution Of the human heart In its daily discovery Of a gravitational pull To You who centres Everything and everyone Even as You radiate Into spaces cosmic And otherwise unknown Except by You. Let it illumine Every hidden corner Longingly […]
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Twixt twelve and thirty years, who was Jesus, we ask? The Bible says nothing worth taking to task. A square or a rounder? – we’re all left to wonder How hearty he partied, how much did he blunder? ‘Twas the night before forty long days and dark nights When Jesus went wandering way out of […]
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Racial Justice Sunday UK is observed on the second Sunday of February. What is God’s dream? What is our dream today? What is God’s hope? What is our hope? What are we willing to change in our lives to make these dreams and hopes come true? How hard are we willing to persist and push […]
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