Suggestion: ’Refresh’ each page before reading to make sure to get my latest edition
‘The Other Lectionary’ - a suggested ‘southern hemisphere’ Lectionary
(with a few Resources added) offered in parallel to, or even replacement of,
the RCL which is in standard use by many

A GATHERING LITURGY FOR THE
CELEBRATION OF LIFE

“Landscape is an incredible, mystical teacher, and when you begin
to tune into its sacred presence,
something shifts inside you”

30 April 2023  Easter 4A   (White)

Acknowledgement of Country/First Peoples
(An act towards reconciliation)

For thousands of years Indigenous people have walked
in this land, on their own country.
Their relationship with the land is at the centre of their lives.

We acknowledge the (NN) People of the (NN) Nation, past, present, emerging,
and their stewardship of this land throughout the ages.

First Peoples Statement to the Nation 2017 called “Uluru Statement from the Heart”  HERE
A Response from Common Dreams5 Conference of Religious Progressives,
Australia/South Pacific 2019  HERE

And we recognise and give thanks that we humans
are creatures of the Earth living in the ecosystem
—flowers, trees and insects; land, waters and mountain range—
that is unique to (NN).
May we honour one another and honour life itself.

(NN) is a safe place for all people to worship regardless of
race, creed, age, cultural background or sexual orientation

GATHERING

Gathering Music

Rich and Striking Visuals
“The function of beauty… is to make us aware of a reality which is richer and deeper and more marvellous than anything we can dream or conceive.” (Henry N. Wieman)

Artwork OR Floral/Symbols display (cloths, candles, stones, wood, leaves, flowers, earth, water) OR projection of Video

Entry into the Celebration
The gong is sounded three times

Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life.

Lighting of the Community Candle
The Community Candle is lit

We light this candle to call ourselves to a fresh start and a new beginning.

May its light draw us and turn us always toward better words and better ways.
May this light and all it symbolises inspire us 
to deeper courage and greater compassion.

In this light, may we see ourselves and our world in a new way 
– in a way that only today can bring.

It is not yesterday’s light and it is not yet tomorrow’s, it is all we have 
– it is this present moment.

Note: (i) A suggested process for introducing new hymns, called Hymn of the Month, can be found HERE
(ii) Additional Special Purpose Hymns that cover major international events or themes can be found HERE  They include these categories: 1. Bush (Brush) Fire, 2. Tsunami, Storms/Cyclones, 3. Earthquakes, 4. War/Remembrance, 5. Caregiving, 6. God as Mother, 7. Human Trafficking, 8. Disabled, 9. Migration/Refugees, 10. Terrorist Attacks, 11. Science/Cosmology
(iii) Specific resources on Terrorism HERE
(iv) On Wonder, Awe, and Nature HERE

Hymn/Song  People stand as they are able, to sing
“Creation Sings” (Tune: 11 10 11 10)                                                              29 HoS
Creation sings! And we are in the music,
the movement of God’s energy and art,
a liturgy that links our life to angels,
a litany that rise from the heart.

The Spirit sings! Through love and lamentation,
from Pentecost to joy of Easter Day
the universe is resonant with music,
the smallest creature dances to its play.

Creation groans at our discordant clashing:
the Spirit comes with music as our friend
to bring the harmony of peace and beauty,
to teach the textures of the way to blend.

O God, you draw the melody from silence,
you make of us the instruments of song!
We offer thanks in worship and in wonder
that such a gift to human souls belong. (Shirley Erena Murray)
Remain standing after the hymn/song

Opening Sentences
Life rises in our midst:
All sometimes hard-won life.

It surprises us when it blossoms forth at unexpected times:
All and in unexpected places.

It comes with power stronger than death:
All life born of faithfulness,
life born of courage,. (Adapt/D McRae-McMahon/plpm)

Words of Awareness
We receive fragments of holiness,
glimpses of eternity,
brief moments of insight.

Let us gather them up for the precious gifts that they are
and, renewed by their grace,
move boldly into the unknown. (Sara M Campbell/slt)

OR

Blossom of Love, give us courage and an open spirit
as we consider the life and teachings of Jesus.

May we feel an invitational embrace
beckoning us to fullness of life where we
celebrate beauty and
engage the causes of suffering.
May it be so.

Hymn/Song   “Faith of Metaphor and Mystery”
Music: Metaphor and Mystery © Amanda Udis-Kessler (2020) or ‘Regent Square’ by Henry Thomas Smart

Faith of metaphor and mystery
Christ of paradox and pun
Sure foundation, revelation
Many facets of the One
Sacred found in the familiar:
phase of moon, and blazing sun.

God of living, dying, rising
Goddess: maiden, mother, crone
Word of sages, rock of ages
Love transforming hearts of stone
Meaning made in the familiar:
spirit, body, breath and bone.

Passover and visitation
Parable and playful jest
Seeking, finding; losing, binding
Exodus and hero’s quest
Sacrament of the familiar:
open door and welcome guest

Life in all its many stages
Sense and senses, heart and head
Meditation, celebration
Hope new-risen from the dead
Meaning found in the familiar:
making peace and breaking bread. (Bronwyn White)

• Download the score (pdf) Faith of Metaphor and Mystery by Amanda Udis-Kessler
• Download the MP3 sung by Ken Janzen from Amanda’s website, Queer Sacred Music

People sit after the hymn/song

Welcome 
In your own words

A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are gathering here at (NN)
for the first time, or who have returned after an absence.

Your presence both enriches us
and this time of celebration together.
Refer to printed liturgy.
Fellowship hour following the Gathering .
Those visiting, please sign our Visitors book.

CENTERING

Centering Silence
Centering silence has its roots in the earliest of monastic traditions of the ‘desert Fathers (abbas)/Mothers (ammas)’ and the Christian mystic tradition… Relaxing into ‘quietness’ creates the space for deep listening and draws you into yourself

Meditation
“Words”
By John O’Donohue

Words may know the way to reach the dark
Where the wild sweetness of a hillside
Is distilled in a hive under grass.

Words may tell how the rhythm of tide
Can soften its salt-voice on the shore
Through music it steals when stone confides.

Words may capture how the ravens soar
In silk black selves far into the blue
To seek the nest of nights colour hoard.

Words may live under ground out of view
Holding a vanished world etched in scrolls
Under sands where streets lay and youth grew.

When the red vapour breathes through the soul
And pain closes down the ease of the day
Words stagger back to silence and fold.

Music of Reflection/Celebration

EXPLORING

Wisdom from the World/Religious Traditions
“Wisdom is not just special knowledge about something. Wisdom is a way of being, a way of inhabiting the world. The beauty of wisdom is harmony, belonging and illumination of thought, action, heart and mind.” (John O’Donohue)

Reader:  May we open ourselves to the seeds of wisdom
that lies dormant in this/these reading/s.
All And may our minds be fertile soil
in which it/they may grow strong and true.  (Gretta Vosper/ab)

• “No Human Life”
Dennis McCarty. Thoughts from a Gentle Atheist, #241

No human life is all of one piece.
Each of us carries a basket of bits:
a tender moment here,
a joyous memory there,
a parcel of love,
a parcel of grief.

When people gather to reflect and celebrate.
We gather to comfort and to be comforted,
to be challenge, to be confirmed.

• John 10:1-2, 7-10.  (Inclusive Text)

Jesus said,
'I tell you most solemnly,
anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate,
but gets in some another way is a thief and a brigand.

The one who enters through the gate
is the shepherd of the flock…

'I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold.
All others who come are thieves and brigands;
but the sheep took no notice of them.

'I am the gate.
Anyone who enters through me will be safe:
they will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture.

'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.'

Contemporary Exploration

Silence for Personal Reflection

AFFIRMING

A Celebration/Affirmation of Faith  (Optional)
The people stand as they are able

We believe in God, Holy One
All Creating and giving life to the world;
love indescribable and beyond our imagining
yet closer than our breathing. 

We believe in Jesus, Companion
All The truth of God, challenger of false values;
the life of God inviting us to new beginnings. 

We believe in the Spirit, Encourager,
All Breathing into us renewing power,
interpreting our longing for truth,
and probing with us,
the depths of God's wisdom. 

We believe in the company of God's people;
All Called to live as people of the way;
heirs to the promises of God,
which sustain us in what we know
and invites us to travel on in discovery and hope.  (Adapted from a New Zealand liturgy

OR

We affirm the unfailing renewal of life.
All  Rising from the earth, and reaching for the sun,
all living creatures shall fulfill themselves.

We affirm the steady growth of human companionship.
All  Rising from ancient cradles and reaching for the stars,
people the world over shall seek
the ways of understanding.

We affirm a continuing hope.
All  That out of every tragedy
the spirits of individuals shall rise
to build a better world.  (Leonard Mason/slt)

Sharing ‘The Peace’
Let us take a moment to celebrate each other.

May a heart of peace rest with you
All  And also with you.  (David Galston/q)
You are invited to share the peace with your neighbours.

OR

Namaste
Facing the person with right hand on your heart and a slight bow of the head…

The Divine in me honours the Divine in you.
OR

The Light in me recognises the Light in you.
OR

The spirit within me sees the spirit within you.

Hymn/Song  People stand as they are able, to sing
“In Every Life…” (Tune: ‘O Waly Waly 2’,  88 88)                                     92 RP
In every life there’s need for space,
a room to echo, full of love,
not close confined or limited
by earth beneath or sky above.

This space within or round ourselves
where God is found, where quietness dwells,
is where our source of peace resides,
from here all sense of comfort wells.

We feel around, within this place,
security, we ease our pace,
and while we pause to be renewed
we know God’s love, God’s healing grace (AndrewPratt)
People sit

CELEBRATING

Offerings

Presentation
We are called to make real
the sharing of the gifts God has given to us.

We offer what we have for the good of all.

Conversation with the Children
Children gather on the conversation mat

“Conversation”:

"Somewhere someone…:”

The kingdom of love is coming because:
All  somewhere someone is kind when others are unkind,
somewhere someone shares with another in need,
somewhere someone refuses to hate, while others hate,
somewhere someone is patient - and waits in love,
somewhere someone returns good for evil,
somewhere someone serves another, in love,
somewhere someone is calm in a storm,
somewhere someone is loving everybody.
Is that someone you?  (Binkley & McKeel/jke)

In Solidarity
Care Candle:
We are people of all ages who enter this safe space
bringing our joys and concerns.
Joys and Celebrations; Griefs and Concerns shared.

Focused Thoughts:

Listening Response:
Let each of us find a window
All To see beyond our own enclosures.

Let each of us find a door
All To open ourselves into new being.  (Adapt.Kenneth Patton/sscl)

And so we take this flame and light our special care candle…
The Care Candle is lit

When we are grieving or sad,
When we are challenged,
When we need help,
All This flame guides us out of the darkness.

When we are cheerful,
When we celebrate,
When we accomplish a great task,
When we return to a place that makes us happy,
All This flame reminds us to share our happiness with others.  (Adapt/APalmer)

The 'Abba' Prayer:  (Optional)
You are invited to pray in the spirit of the Abba/Lord’s Prayer, and in your original language, as appropriate

All  Our Mother, whose body is the Earth,
Sacred is thy being. Thy gardens grow.
Thy will be done in our cities,
as it is in nature.

Thanks be this day
for food, and air, and water.

Forgive us our sins against Earth,
as we are learning to forgive one another.
And surrender us not unto extinction,
but deliver us from our folly.

For thine is the beauty, and the power,
and all life, from birth to death,
from beginning to end. Amen.
So be it.
Forever.
Blessed be.  (Henry Horton/lp)

PARTING

Hymn/Song  People stand as they are able, to sing
“There Shall be Life and Love”  (Tune: ‘Taranaki’, Judith Thornley)                   134(v1-2) HoS
There shall be life and love,
there shall be joy and fun,
God’s beauty shall unfold,
God’s justice shall be done.
And the cross shall be the sign
of the death that brings new birth;
yes, the tomb shall host the life
that links us all to Earth.

There shall be tender care
healing the wounded soil,
there shall be rainbow peace
bringing us rest from toil.
For the cross shall be the sign
of the death that brings new birth
and compassion free the life
that greens the face of Earth.

OR

“We Are The Earth…” (Tune: ‘Ein’ Feste Burg’, 87.87.66.66.7)                       30(v1) SLT
We are the earth upright and proud;
in us the earth is knowing.
It’s winds are music in our mouths,
in us its rivers flowing.
The sun is our hearth-fire;
warm with the earth’s desire,
and with its purpose strong,
we sing earth’s pilgrim song;
in us the earth is growing.

Parting Words
As we prepare to leave this sacred space
where we have gathered together,
let us return to our work
enlivened and renewed...
The Community Candle is extinguished

And may we leave, seeking an uncharted
and freely chosen way to wholeness,
knowing we have companions along the way. (Bets Wienecke)

Words of Blessing
As the sun in its shining brings glory
As the stars in the night scatter dark
As the moon gives us hope in its radiance
fill your heart
and your mind
and your life.
All May it be so. Amen.

Hymn/Song  (Cont).
“There Shall be Life and Love”  (Tune: ‘Taranaki’, Judith Thornley)  134(v3) HoS
Love shall encircle all,
drawing us ever on,
sap shall arise within,
herald of Spring’s new dawn.
For the cross shall be the sign
of the death that brings new birth
and this Earth provide the womb
that gives all life its worth.  (William L Wallace).

OR

“We Are The Earth…” (Tune: ‘Ein’ Feste Burg’, 87.87.66.66.7)     30(v2) SLT
We lift our voices, fill the skies
with our exultant singing.
We dedicate our minds and hearts,
to order, beauty bringing.
Our labor is our strength;
our love will win at length;
our minds will find the ways 
to live in peace and praise.
Our day is just beginning.  (Kenneth L Patton)

The people sit

'This Week' at (NN)
Notices
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Significant Events
Journey Candles

Music

Fellowship
Morning tea is now served.
You are invited to share in this time of fellowship

You are invited to keep this copy of the liturgy and take it home with you

to share with another member of your family, or with a friend

Please include any reproduction of hymns/songs for local church use
on your Music Licence returns, as appropriate

Some of the Resources used in Shaping this Liturgy
Binkley, C. G. & J. M. McKeel. Jesus and his Kingdom of Equals. An International Curriculum on the Life and Teaching of Jesus. Santa Rosa: Polebridge Press, 2002.
(HoS) Hope Is Our Song. New Hymns and Songs from Aotearoa New Zealand. Palmerston North: New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, 2009.
Inclusive Readings. Year A. Brisbane: Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation, 2004.
McCarty, D. Thoughts from a Gentle Atheist. Religious Readings for the Skeptical. USA. Dennis McCarty, 2019
McRae-McMahon, D. 2001. Prayers for Life's Particular Moments. Thornbury. DesBooks.
Patton, K. Services and Songs for the Celebration of Life. Boston. Beacon Press, 1967.
(RP) Pratt, A. Reclaiming Praise. Hymns from a Spiritual Journey. London. Stainer & Bell Ltd., 2006.
(SLT) Singing The Living Tradition. Boston. UUA, 1993.
Vosper, G. Another Breath. Prayers for Celebration and Reflection. Brisbane. The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought Brisbane, 2009/2010.
White, B. A. You Who Delight Me. Words of Spirit and Faith. Wellington: Steele Roberts Publishers, 2012.

Other/Web sites:
David Galston. Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy. http://www.questcentre.ca