Confession (Anastasia)

God, there are times we act
As if we belong only to ourselves,
Forgetting who we are, and whose we are.

Forgive us for the times
We have used others for our own ends,
Directing them toward our preferred path,
Rather than seeking to discern with them
Which path will lead them towards you.

Forgive us for the times
We have come to believe
That there is no hope.

Help us find the melody of holiness
That will make our souls dance again;
The notes which will remind us of
what we almost lost.

Keep us grounded in your heart.
Call us back to one another.
Call us back to you.

Amen.

Prayer of Confession,
God on Broadway Series:
Anastasia

Communion Prayer for Our Whole Lives Sunday

Written for a Sunday on which we celebrated the completion of a faith and sexuality series.*

Great and gracious God, creator of all good things,
You gave us grain and grape. You gave us hands and minds.
You set us in a garden to make good of what surrounded us.
When the path we chose led to brokenness, you did not abandon us.
You sent us prophets and teachers. When we did not listen to them,
You came to us yourself in the person of Christ Jesus.
And when the world rejected his witness of wholeness,
Calling it criminal and putting him to death,
You did not let that be an end.

For the gift of Resurrection we give you all thanks and praise.
Strangely grateful for the disruptive gift of the Holy Spirit,
and the challenge of participating in your New Creation,
we sing with the church on earth and in heaven,
Holy, Holy, Holy.

Let your Spirit be at this table where earthy and heavenly meet.
Let it rest on bread and cup and within us. Through this holy meal,
make us one with you and each other.   Amen.


*Want more information?  Our Whole Lives is an award-winning, comprehensive faith and sexuality curriculum written by members United Church of Christ (UCC) and Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), with a range of options for learning across the human lifespan.

Into God's Time

        For this hour, we step away
From clock time, and into God time.

Forgive our obsession with
concrete metrics. So often,
it is how we are measured.
But as an investment and
an experiment in your realm,

we will stop measuring
timeliness and productivity
just for this one hour-ish, though
        it does not come naturally.

In this pocket of God-time and God-space,
carved out from the everyday,
        our hearts say let your kingdom come.
Amen.


For the 2nd Sunday in Lent (Narrative Lectionary text Matthew 20:1-16)

Words of Assurance for Annual Meeting Sunday

God’s work among us, and within each one of us,
Doesn’t (just) make us better than we are alone.
It makes us different.
Divinely commissioned oddballs, if you will:
Beloved, blessed, forgiven, called,
To shine our light for Christ’s sake.
Amen?  Amen.

Words of Assurance, for those who love the stage

Hear and remember:
Christ is waiting in the wings
To meddle with your assumptions.
No matter how far off script you have gone,
No matter how convoluted the plot,
There is always a new way through,
A divine gift, offered freely for you.
(Thank the heavens. Thank God.)

Amen?

Developed for a God on Broadway worship series,
Used on the Sunday when we took our theme from the show 'Pippin.'

May the Fourth Be With You

We are proud geeks.  Well, my child and I are.  The cats refuse to admit they know us.  Star Wars Day  (May the Fourth....get it?) fell on a Sunday this year.   I was baptizing 3 children from a family of geeks.  I had every excuse.   Thus, the 3rd Sunday of Easter this year became Star Wars Sunday.  I am, as ever, grateful to serve in a setting where the congregation is willing to embrace a playful spirit.   I'm happy to share some snippets of liturgy in case you want to plan your own Star Wars service - although it'll be a while before May 4th falls on a Sunday again.  Free use, with credit.

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Easter Season Call to Worship

One:      It is so good to remember...
Many:    To remember the sacred stories together, and connect them with the everyday.

One:       It is good to remember the Easter message,  A saga spanning generations -
              From death to life.  From despair to A New Hope!
Many:    We have this hope because Mary said, “I have seen the Lord!”
              and a roomful of once-frightened disciples said, “We have seen the Lord!”

One:      The Good News is a powerful Force! It has continued to this day,
             Because one person told another, Master to Apprentice, Teacher to student,
             Until it came to us: Christ is Risen!
Many:   Christ is Risen indeed!

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A Prayer of Confession

Holy One, risen from the dead --
In dark places, we find ourselves,
with just a little knowledge to light the way.
You see more of our faults than we would like.

Forgive our fear, our anger and hate.
Forgive all that we do that leads to suffering.
When we enter the murky swamps of the human heart,
we find a disturbing lack of faith in your power,
a disturbing reliance on our own power.

We have tried our own way.
We know that Your way leads us through the suffering,
and on the other side, returns us to life.

Teach us to claim this new hope,
based upon your resurrection --
to live in love and harmony
with the whole of your universe.
Amen.

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Focus Scripture  

Acts 9:1-19.   Our accompanist played the Imperial Death March as the theme for Saul.  :)

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Sacrament of Communion

Invitation to the Table 
Perhaps you’ve heard about the Great Feast of Rejoicing. All people welcomed to the table, enough and more than enough. A feast where the power of life reigns. This is Christ’s table, and whether you have kept close, or come from a galaxy far, far away…you are welcome here!

Eucharistic Prayer
Ruler of the Stars and Planets, Spinner of Universes,
Creative impulse who gave shape to all things,
We give thanks for all your good gifts:

For the unfolding of tremendous diversity,
Species and songs and stories that each tell a tale of your handiwork.
For breathing life into us and calling us good,
even when we struggle to live into our promise.

When we turned from your way
and Embraced the Dark Side,
You did not forget us.

You came to us as Jesus, our Master and Teacher.
You journeyed with us into an abyss of betrayal and despair.
Threatened by agents of destruction, your dearest ones abandoned you,
but all was not lost. Even the blueprints of death are not hidden from you.

From the terror of the cross, you launched a sneak attack on Death
and set your sights on an impossible future, cracking open the tomb.

For all these things we give you thanks and praise,
singing with the faithful of all times and places, Holy, Holy, Holy.

[Continue with the consecration of the elements, 
Words of Institution and sharing the bread and cup
in the way your community is accustomed.]

Prayer of Thanksgiving 
Risen Christ, we give thanks for this holy meal.
We reach for the stars and walk the good earth,
sustained by this Bread and Cup.
We prepare to leave this place, your Easter people,
overflowing with rejoicing and the power of Life! Amen!

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Again, you are welcome to use these materials in your own setting.  
Please attribute per the Creative Commons License you'll find in the footer.

Psalm 139 - a responsive paraphrase for my first confirmation class.

One:                God, you have searched me out.

Many:             You know what I hide in the deepest parts of me.

One:                You are familiar with all my ways.

Many:             You know me completely, and still you love me, Lord.

One:                You go before me, and behind me; you wrap me in your protection.

Many:             Such knowledge is almost too wonderful,

                        it is almost too difficult to grasp.

One:                Where can I hide from you?

Many:             If I sing out with glory and praise, there you are;

                        If I lie down, despairing and fit to die, you are there too.

One:                When I soar on the wings of dawn,

                        When I settle with the twilight breeze,

Many:             You guide me and hold me.

 One:                I need not hide from you, morning or evening, or anywhere in between;

Many:             You are the one who created me.                                                                        

One:                I praise you, for the wonderful way you made me.

Many:             I was woven together, with love and blessings,

                        Before the world ever knew me.

One:                You wrote me into your book of wonders.

Many:             Your love and care for me is written there for all to see!

Written for Confirmation Sunday at McFarland UCC, 12/2/2012

An Advent Prayer

Holy One,

You who creep in among us on a starlit night,

An unlikely blessing in an unlikely place,

Hear our prayer. 

We offer you our sorrows, and our joys.

We offer you our questions and our doubts.

We offer you the best and worst of ourselves.

We trust that you know what to do with it –

Celebrate, transform, redeem, forgive.

Teach us to be vulnerable, as you were.

Teach us to accept love, as you did.

Teach us to make a home for you.

Inspire us to be for you,

a light that shines in the darkness,

Let our words, and our actions, and

our hearts testify to your light.

Amen.