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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
