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. The World Day of Prayer motto, ‘Informed Prayer & Prayerful Action’ signifies that prayer and action are inseparable. While the language used in the annual liturgy […]
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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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In honour of LGBT+ History Month… The resources listed below have been written specifically for worshipping communities intentionally created to provide safe and meaningful worship for the LGBT+ community and friends. Editor’s Note: A primary purpose behind Worship Words is to provide worship resources usable by all people, providing inclusive language and religious imagery. My […]
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Written for Year B Epiphany 5 Mark 1.29-39 Tune: Melcombe For the lyrics, music and a power point, click here. In healing, Jesus did embrace An energy we cannot trace; His love revealed in every place The mystery of amazing grace. They came to Jesus to be blest – The sick and those who were […]
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Adapted from Psalm 147 Praise God! Hallelujah! What joy to sing praises to God. God is gracious. God heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds. God numbers the stars, giving each a name. Downtrodden, oppressed, rejected, ignored? God will lift you up even as your oppressors experience the natural consequences of their injustice. Let us […]
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A tool to use while walking through Lent: the Stations of the Cross, responding to 14 questions from Jesus Ideas for using this tool during Lent: Idea: engage with the questions by contemplating them as Stations of the Cross. Participants might be invited to write their reflections on papers and put them in baskets or […]
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adapted from various translations Praise the Eternal One! Hallelujah! I will give thanks to God with my whole heart. Right here as this gathered community, let us voice our praise. God is gracious and merciful, full of loving compassion. The works of God are faithful and just. God liberates humanity — indeed all creation! God […]
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…lest we forget Observances around the World Different countries observe Holocaust Memorial Day on different days. Many countries have adopted 27 January, the date designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Memorial Day. Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated by Soviet troops on 27 January in 1945. The UK has adopted this date, […]
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Sustaining God, we pray with urgency for the leaders of our species and those with concern for our common home. Give to those who make decisions a freedom from the burdens of a past which have pushed us to this cliff-edge. Give a dawning vision of your offer of healing greater than the blocked horizon […]
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God, who in Jesus, broke down all barriers, between people of different races rich and poor, male and female, Jew and Gentile, between heaven and earth, we worship you. God, at this time of heavy responsibility, as decisions about future relationships with our neighbouring nations are being taken, we pray for our leaders: that they […]
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While the reference to the Archer is masculine, it is easy to alter the text through omission and parallel word usage at the time of reading, informing the listeners of any changes. Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not […]
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God, keeper of the atoms and stars, you made us collaborators in creation, but we have pilfered the secrets of ordered existence and justified their immoral use in the name of ‘security’ and ‘peace.’ We could say then that we didn’t know the consequences. Now we do know, but we are complacent and silent. Have […]
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Confession and assurance God of love, you know us inside and out. With you there is no point in hiding or pretending. You invite us into your presence, and we come as we are. We confess that we often forget to listen for your voice. That moments of stillness are few. We hurry about with […]
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Daily Prayer, by Shantideva, Buddhist sage 700 A.D., India Prayer performed each morning by His Holiness the Dalai Lama May I be a guard for those who need protection A guide for those on the path A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood May I be a lamp […]
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Holy God We come to you as people who love and trust you. We come knowing that your love for the world includes all of us, regardless of our views and opinions. We thank you that we are loved as we are, and we are grateful that you love us too much to leave us […]
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Note: this piece may be attached to a copyright; apologies if this is the case. We are still the people walking. We are still people in the dark, and the darkness looms large around us, beset as we are by fear, anxiety, brutality, violence, loss — a dozen alienations that we cannot manage. We are […]
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Epiphany Evening When Mary was really cold, she gave an angry kick to the frankincense jar (flashy gift, but ultimately useless) and then she saw it – ‘Look what the magi really left us! I can start this fire with what fell behind the caravan’s two-toed feet. ‘Something ordinary is the only way to warm […]
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Let us proclaim that we have seen the glory of God believing that there is a light that shines in the darkness which the darkness shall not overcome. May the love of the Creator the joy of the Spirit and the peace of the Christ-child be with you this Christmas, and evermore.
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What words will we use to usher in a new year? What words express our hopes and visions, our fears and frights, as we look into the year ahead? What words can enable us to release the past year and leave it in peace even as we face our world of war and violence? Newest […]
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