George Stuart has written at least one hymn for each Sunday of Lent, for each year of the Common Revised Lectionary. Using familiar tunes, he incorporates words that are straightforward, understandable and faithful. And they match musically so the songs are easy to sing. If you go directly to George’s website, you will find printable lyrics and music, […]
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If we’re honest, compassion does not come easy to us, God; We see others who struggle; those without homes, or food; those dying from curable diseases, simply because they can’t get access to the medicine they need; those who have lost loved ones through death or circumstance, and long for human companionship; those who are […]
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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 centers 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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O dear One whose name is more than a name whose power I cannot tame O dear One I look into the sky, brushed with streaks of pink and orange at the dawn And am reduced to babytalk — ohhhh, wow…. I gaze at mountain ranges, parapets of stone And remember how puny is my […]
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Inspired by Psalm 48 Pentecost 7, Year B Our God, we come to you in longing. We have a deep desire for justice: in our international policies, in our local politics, and in our personal relationships. We long for leaders with vision, leaders who place common good above political gain, who look beyond the next […]
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Benedictions, words of commissioning, blessing, dismissal, sending forth… What transitional words do we use to move from corporate worship into the world? Newest related posts . . . (images link to posts) Alphabetical archive of all ‘Sending forth’ resources . . .
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Originally written for Reign of Christ Sunday*, the last Sunday of the Church Year. To be read responsively or by a single voice. Holy is the Creator of the heavens and the earth Of sunlight and starlight, forest and ocean. Holy is the composer of birdsong and thunderstorm. Let all creation sing praise! Holy is […]
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Matthew 11:16-30 5th Sunday of Pentecost, Year A Almighty, creator God, we have gathered to praise you, giving thanks that you have given us life and breath, that you do daily attend us with goodness and mercy.* May this time together in worship strengthen us that we might transcend our current state of social isolation […]
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Come to the mountaintop. What will we find? Jesus, the disciples’ teacher. The prophets who have gone before. God’s voice. We want to worship. We want to hide. Instead, give us the courage to rest in the mystery, To reach toward the thin places Where the in-breaking of the divine shakes us to the core. […]
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An Opening Prayer (might be used as the basis of a vestry prayer) Open our eyes, ever-present God, To see you here and now in this place and in one another. Open our ears, Word of Life, To hear you speaking in the words we hear and say and sing and in the silence. Open […]
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Friends, come in peace for all things are now ready. After or as the bread is distributed… The bread of life shared with you. After or as the juice is distributed… The power of God shared with you. After meal is shared… We give thanks to you, Source of all life, that you have refreshed […]
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Inspired by Psalm 97 Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C The Eternal One cares for all creation as a wise and just ruler cares for a realm. Let the earth celebrate this truth. Light dawns for the virtuous, and joy for the upright in heart. Delight in the Eternal One, you who are just and […]
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What words express the anguish, the grief, the horror? What words connect us today to eye witnesses, to friends, to family? What words explain the collision of earth and divine? Worship Words resources for Cross (Good) Friday:
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Matthew 26:17-75 Mark 14:12-72 Luke 22:7-65 John 13:1 – 18:27 Worship Words resources for Maundy Thursday (alphabetical order):
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Theme: Pentecost (Whitsunday) A complete worship service weaving together scripture, drama, reflection, conversation and communion Compiled & written by Ana Gobledale for Open Table (with a grant from the United Reformed Church in Great Britain) This service is designed for a congregation gathered around tables. It can easily be adapted for a more traditional setting. The Leader’s […]
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Inspired by Psalm 147 Epiphany 5, Year B Read responsively or with two voices, with enthusiasm! There are two versions, one shorter and the other longer. Inspired by the words of Psalm 147, we lift our voices in praise. Shorter version: Celebrate God’s grace! How comforting it is to know God always accompanies us. Approach […]
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Prayer of confession and assurance of pardon written for Second Sunday of Epiphany, Year B 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 […]
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A reflection for Advent Luke 1:11-15a But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son… . I can commiserate with Zechariah. I’m doing my work at the temple and a strange being comes and says don’t be afraid. […]
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You bring alive what once seemed dead Your word becomes as real as bread Your love we taste in sips of wine Your meal reveals the life divine Jim Burklo, Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, writes regularly for the ProgressiveChristianity.org liturgy project. Many of his liturgical materials can […]
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Based on Genesis 1:1-2:4, The Message by Eugene Peterson -Arranged by Scott Ward, USA Lectionary: Trinity Sunday Year A, Epiphany Year B (Genesis 1:1-5), Easter Vigil Years A,B,C Downloads: full scripts, ready-to-print: (horizontal versions are easy for readers to hold) Heaven and Earth Choral Reading, Scott Ward WORD Heaven and Earth Choral Reading, Scott Ward PDF Heaven […]
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Praise the Divine Gardener! Inspired by Psalm 148 Praise the Eternal One, the Divine Gardener. Who plants the sun, the moon, the stars in the heavens. Who creates earth, the amazing garden upon which we live. Who loosens rocks into teeming, incubating soil. Who spreads the seeds of life in the seas, land, and skies […]
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This ready-to-use Café Church Harvest worship service weaves together scripture, drama, reflection, conversation & communion. It has been designed for worship around tables, but is easily adaptable to a more traditional setting. This service includes everything you need — an Order of Service to handout, leader script sheets, reader printouts, song suggestions, a list of […]
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A dramatic litany for Easter morning At the Tomb — A litany for 5+ voices 1st voice: Woman, why are you weeping? 1st woman: We mourn these dark days of death and denial. Abandoned, betrayed, forsaken. Left alone. Jesus gone. Where have they laid him? 1st voice: Woman, why are you weeping? 2nd woman: We […]
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Ezekiel 37:1-14 Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly thine, until this earthly part of me, glows with thy fire divine. Breath of Life, can these bones live? Valleys of dry bones confront us, threatening to separate us from you. Each day, our newspapers highlight the numerous and extensive dry-bone-valleys […]
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This prayer can be used in conjunction with the Palm Sunday drama, Sunday Morning Live. Pray with me. God of Promise, we are taken by surprise at each Palm Sunday parade. We so want Jesus to be powerful, a ruler who will smite the world of all evil, and make all things good and easy […]
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The first king was on horseback. The second a pillion rider. The third came by plane. Where was the god-child? He was in the manger with the beasts, all looking the other way where fourth was a slow dawning because wisdom must come on foot. R. S. Thomas, Counterpoint (1990) Shared by Sarum College, […]
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A prayer for our church, community and world, originally written for Trinity Sunday Spirit of Unity, hear our prayer. We pray for your Church in all its many forms and manifestations: for the churches in our neighbourhood; For [church name], [church name] and our own church, [church name], We pray for those […]
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Renewing God, we pray for a new spirit of care to branch out across the earth, that all nations might act for your creation in silencing the roar of the chainsaw in extinguishing the burning of the forests in purging the pollution of the air in conserving valuable energy in stemming the tide of pollution […]
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Written in 1986 for a Maundy Thursday evening service at Mfanefile United Congregational Church, Zululand, South Africa, where we (Ana & Tod) lived illegally (in a ‘Black Spot’ during apartheid) and ministered at the time. With no electricity, the church was lit by a few candles. In the days of apartheid, the world felt very […]
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This active website for worship planning “from a progressive perspective” is chalk-a-block full of ready-to-use resources! Focusing on the Revised Common Lectionary, this”resource website for worship planning” for Adelaide’s Pilgrim United Church in the City provides “a compilation of resources from various sources, as well as resources written by Pilgrim worship planners.” One ready-to-use item […]
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When our liturgy is truly liberated it will no longer bend to the tyranny of tradition nor the rule of church law. Neither will it bend to the tyranny of change-for-change’s-sake nor weaken due to a perceived ‘need’ for change. Liberated Liturgy will reflect a freedom to use authentic, grounded and progressive words whether they […]
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