Details on the availability of my books, supporting progressive religious thought, HERE
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”
7 May 2023. Easter 5A. (White).
Pluralism Sunday
Celebrating Community the Tradition of the Meal
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
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 Film/Slides
Gathering Music
Entry into the Celebration
The gong is sounded three times
We gather here to celebrate life's beauty and find healing for its pain;
to honour our kinship with each other
and with the earth,
and to be inspired to create a more compassionate world,
beginning with ourselves. (Gary Kowalski/adapt)
So let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life.
Lighting of the Community Candle
The Community Candle is lit
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) Some specific resources on Terrorism HERE
(iv) On Wonder, Awe, and Nature HERE
Hymn/Song The people stand as they are able, to sing
“Progressive Hymn” (Tune: 'Marching', 87.87)
When life juggles with our learning,
with the things we thought secure,
then it seems the artist’s palette
spins and faith becomes obscure.
In the wash of different colours,
as we seek for shape and form,
others paint their faith by numbers
forcing God to fit some norm.
But when life has torn the canvas,
when the numbers twist and slip;
then we need to find an image
that will help our hope to grip:
holding us, when we're past holding,
grounding when we're insecure,
till we find a faith, not drifting,
still dynamic, free, yet sure. (© Andrew Pratt 28/5/2010)
OR
“Celebrate All Human Beauty” (Tune: Nettleton’, 87.87D)
Celebrate all human beauty
caught in colour, form and face,
celebrate the human body
made to move with speed and grace.
Celebrate the human spirit
leaping high to reach a goal,
celebrate our Maker's wisdom
crafting body, mind and soul.
Celebrate our own endeavours
to achieve and to arrive
over handicap and hurdle
when against ourselves we strive,
iron will and summoned courage
sweeping obstacles aside,
sweating out our inner conflict
to acquit ourselves with pride.
Sport and faith both speak a language
universal, sensed and known;
where there's shared exhilaration,
new community is grown,
friendship found in common focus,
effort turned to common goal,
honouring our maker's purpose,
health in body, mind and soul. (Shirley Erena Murray/sco)
Remain standing
Opening Sentences
To celebrate life is to stand in awe under a heaven of stars,
before a flower, a leaf in sunlight
or a grain of sand.
All To celebrate life is to sing
with the singing beauty of the earth.
To pause, to be silent... and receptive. (JTrapp/adapted)
Words of Awareness
Marvel at life!
Strive to know its ways!
Seek wisdom and truth,
the gateways
to life’s mysteries!
Wondrous indeed is life! (Adapt. Rabbi Rami M Shapiro/ep)
OR
We pray:
Divine Creativity, Ground and Source of All Being:
Look upon your planet Earth divided.
Help us to know that we are all your children,
that all nations belong to one great family,
and all of our religions lead to you.
Multiply our prayers in every land until the whole Earth
becomes your congregation, united in your love.
Sustain our vision of a peaceful future
and give us strength to work unceasingly to make that vision real.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn/Song “Flower of Compassion” (Words & Music by Bret Hesla)
Flower of Compassion,
bloom in every heart,
bloom in every heart,
bloom in every heart.
Blossom of Love,
draw us all together,
draw us all together,
draw us all together.
Gentle Fragrance,
drift over all borders,
drift over all borders,
drift over all borders.
OR
"He Came Singing Love" (Tune: ‘Singing Love’) 59 AA
He came singing love
and he lived singing love;
he died singing love.
He arose in silence.
For the love to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing faith
and he lived singing faith;
he died singing faith.
He arose in silence.
For the faith to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing hope
and he lived singing hope;
he died singing hope.
He arose in silence.
For the hope to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers.
He came singing peace
and he lived singing peace;
he died singing peace.
He arose in silence.
For the peace to go on
we must make it our song:
you and I be the singers. (Colin Gibson)
The people sit after the hymn/song
Welcome
In your own words
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are gathering 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
Meditation with Many Voices
"The Gift”
By Zam Walker. Timeless Prayers for Peace/114.
v1 God grant us the gift of dreaming:
v2 The dream of a world enjoying its extraordinary colour and beauty;
not viewing life through tunnel-vision, grey-tinted spectacles.
v3 The dream of breadth and variety in glorious harmony;
not definition through division, prejudice and ignorance.
v4 The dream of acceptance and inclusion;
not judgement and exclusion.
v5 The dream of your love and humour;
not our idolatry and self-righteousness.
v6 The dream of 'we might'; not 'we can not’.
(Silence)
v1 May we have the vision and imagination
to dream
and enable us to make the dream a reality.
OR
Breathe with me
Breathe with me—the breath of life
Inhale, Inspire, Inspiration,
Ruacḥ, Pneuma, Spiritus, the Holy Spirit
the many names for breath.
Breathe with me.
Know that with each breath we take
in molecules of air
that were breathed
by every person that ever lived.
Breathe with me,
and breathe the breath of Jesus,
of Moses,
of Mohammed, of the Buddha.
Breathe with me,
and know that we are all interdependent,
that the spirit of life
flows through us all.
Breathe with me,
as we come together to do the holy work
of interconnection and relationship,
that our work here may be blessed. (Matt Alspaugh/uua-ww)
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
Come now into the silence of this place.
Come with gratitude for this day.
(Silence)
In our coming and in our going
may we be strengthened
in our bonds of love and peace.
(Silence)
Music of Reflection
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: Into this day will break moments of awareness,
tiny shards of light that illumine
the whole reality of existence.
All May these readings be such a moment
and may we be blessed by their gift. (Gretta Vosper/ab)
• "Soul... and Imagination”
John O'Donohue. Anam Cara/183
The soul... is the place where the imagination lives.
The imagination is the creative forces in the individual.
It always negotiates different thresholds and
releases possibilities
of recognition and creativity
which the linear, controlling, external mind
will never even glimpse.
The imagination works on the threshold that runs between
light and dark,
visible and invisible,
quest and question,
possibility and fact.
The imagination is the great friend of possibility.
Where the imagination is awake and alive
fact never hardens or closes but remains open,
inviting you to new thresholds of possibility and creativity.
• "Divine Dancing”
Rumi, Sufi mystic
When you dance the whole universe dances.
The world dances around the Sun.
The morning light breaks,
Spinning up with delight.
How could anyone
Touched by your love
Not dance like a weeping willow?
Today I spin wildly
throughout the city;
I am the cup-bearer,
My head is the cup.
Perhaps a scholar will see me
and drop his books.
Perhaps the world will see me
and forget all its sorrows.
Hymn/Song In solidarity with those for whom standing is not easy or possible we will remain seated to sing…
“Children of the Human Race” (Tune: ‘Aberystwyth’, 77.77D) 302 SLT
Children of the human race,
off-spring of our Mother Earth,
not alone in endless space
has our planet given birth.
Far across the cosmic skies
countless suns in glory blaze,
and from untold planets rise
endless canticles of praise.
Should some sign of others reach
this, our lonely planet Earth,
differences of form and speech
must not hide our common worth.
When at length our minds are free,
and the clouds of fear disperse,
then at last we’ll learn to be
Children of the Universe. (John Storey)
OR
“When Evenings Shorten” (Tune: ‘Cavell Street’) 147 HoS
When evenings shorten and grow cool,
as grapes turn purple on the vine,
as golden grain is safely stored,
we see again our Easter sign.
As daisies fade along the hill,
and bush birds come to us for food,
in rain, or mist or bitter chill
we see again our Easter sign.
As trees grow bare, we see the trace
of life’s new buds along the bough.
We do not need to wait for spring;
we see again our Easter sign.
So let the southern Church rejoice!
As colour flames from hill and plain
so let us sing with hearts of joy:
we see again our Easter sign. (Shirley Smith/adapted)
OR
From an earlier era:
“The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” (Tune: ‘Bourdillon’, 75 85 Irreg.) 164 HCL
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying sun.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of the whole life dies
When love is done. (Francis William Bourdillon, 1890)
• “To Risk”
Anonymous. Singing the Living Tradition/658
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk
exposing our true self.
To place our ideas - our dreams -
before the crowd is to risk loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
To live is to risk dying
OR
• John 13: 31-35
Jesus said, “Now is the Human One glorified and God is glorified as well.
If God has been glorified, God will in turn glorify the Human One and will do so very soon.
My little children, I won’t be with you much longer.
You’ll look for me, but what I said to the religious authorities,
I say to you: where I am going, you cannot come.
I give you a new commandment: Love one another.
And you are to love one another the way I have loved you.
This is how all will know that you’re my disciples: that you truly love one another.”
Contemporary Exploration
Silence for Personal Reflection
AFFIRMING
A Litany: ‘Sometimes We Wonder’ (Optional)
The people stand as they are able
v1 The creation is alive with the glory of God,
yet sometimes we wonder.
All After the music has died away and
we are faced with the challenges of a new day –
sometimes we wonder…
v1 Wonder whether we have the heart to keep going.
All The way ahead seems unclear
and so much is changing around and within us…
v2 Sometimes we wonder whether we have
the imagination to keep hoping.
All When the pain and struggles of our hurting world
catch at our throats and draw us into despair…
Wm Then into our weariness new life is breathed.
Mn Into our helplessness fresh dreams are poured.
All And we rise upon wings like eagles.
We run and no longer feel tired. (Unknown and adapted)
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
“God of Diversity” (Tune: ‘Margaret’. By Colin Gibson) 40 HoS
God of diversity, vibrant creation
is bursting with signs of extravagant joy.
In riot of blossom, in species unnumbered
we see that all difference is ours to enjoy.
God of diversity, nations and cultures
tell of the richness life offers to all.
In language and symbol, in story and doctrine
we clothe our experience, respond to your call.
God of diversity, humans embody
the interdependence of ear, eye and hand;
we struggle to learn, in this globe-become-village,
our need of each other in every land.
God of diversity, help us to honour
our different perspectives on things that are true,
as, knowing more deeply the God in Christ Jesus,
we learn how to worship with all who love you. (Margaret Bond)
OR
“O Beauty Ever Ancient” (Tune: ‘Manor Place’, Colin Gibson) 107 HoS
O beauty ever ancient,
O beauty ever new,
divine and Holy Presence
my being sings to you
Refrain:
in gratitude,
in worship,
my being sings to you!
O beauty in creation,
in world of sound and sight,
O beauty in the silence,
in darkness as in light,
Refrain:
O beauty that is movement
in liquid line of grace,
O beauty that is stillness
in love form or face,
Refrain:
O beauty of the Spirit
where love is shining through,
O beauty ever ancient,
O beauty ever new,
Refrain: (Shirley Erena Murray)
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:
In the light and beauty of day
All We give thanks in awe and wonder.
In the dark and stillness of night
All We dream of healing and hope. (Gretta Vosper/wwg)
And so we take a flame and light our special Care Candle…
The Care Candle is lit
For ourselves, for those named or remembered,
and in solidarity with those
who have not the freedom
to express their concern or celebration
for fear of discrimination or condemnation.
In all our joys and in all our concerns,
may we be ever mindful
of the presentness of the sacred among us,
and to see the new possibilities of the now.
The 'Abba' Prayer: (Optional)
You are invited to pray in the spirit of the Abba/Lord's Prayer, and in your original language, as that is appropriate
All Most compassionate Life-giver,
may we honour and praise you:
may we work with you to establish
your new order of
justice, peace and love.
Give us what we need for growth,
and help us, through forgiving others,
to accept forgiveness.
Strengthen us in the time of testing,
that we may resist all evil.
For all the tenderness,
strength and love are yours, now and forever.
Amen. (William L. Wallace)
CELEBRATING
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY IN THE TRADITION OF THE MEAL
Welcome to the Table
v1 At this table we give thanks for
justice, love, peace and freedom.
Mn At this table we give thanks for friends and strangers
together in community in this safe place.
Wm At this table we welcome old and young.
v2 A place at the table. And all are invited.
Offerings
Presentation
In hope and thanksgiving we offer these gifts of money, bread and wine.
May they be the necessary nutrients of
a new creation,
an Easter re-formation.
Introduction
Members of the Jesus movements regularly ate a meal together
when they met as a community.
It was a characteristic that they had in common
with virtually every other social group in their world.
It was considered primary to the early developments
in the movements’ meal liturgy.
These meal traditions were not about personal salvation or payment for sin.
Instead, they were about actions and offering hospitality, social identity,
and being in solidarity with those around us.
The liturgical movements centred on celebration, presence, and joy.
I invite you into the spirit of those meals…
Thanksgiving
We give thanks for the unfolding of matter,
mind,
intelligence,
and life
that has brought us to this moment in time.
All We celebrate our common origin with everything that exists.
v1 We celebrate the mystery we experience and address as ‘God’,
ground and sustainer of everything that exists,
in whom we live and move and have our being.
v2 And we acknowledge this mystery
embodied
in every human person,
a
ware that each one of us
gives God
unique and personal expression.
All God is everywhere present.
In grace-filled moments of sharing.
In carefully created communities of loving solidarity.
v1 We are one with everything, living and nonliving, on this planet.
Connected.
Interrelated.
Interdependent.
v2. Webs of life within a web of life!
The Story
We remember the stories from our tradition...
How on many occasions, Yeshu’a the Jew,
would share a meal with friends.
Bread and fish and wine shared in community.
v2 For everyone born, a place at the table...
How the bread would be taken,
a blessing offered, and then shared between them.
And all of them ate.
v1 How some wine would be poured out,
a blessing offered, and then passed between them.
And all of them drank.
v2 The bread and the wine symbolised human lives
interconnected with other human lives,
and the power of giving and receiving.
v1 May the passion for life as seen in Jesus,
and in the lives and struggles
of many other
committed and faithful people then and now,
enable us to dare and to dream and to risk…
All Together may we re-imagine the world.
v2 Together may we work to make all things new.
All Together may we celebrate the possibilities and hope
we each have and are called to share.
v2 For everyone born, a place at the table...
Bread and White Wine
Bread is broken after each response OR at each 'We break...'
We break the bread for the broken earth,
ravaged and plundered for greed.
All May there be healing of our beautiful blue and green planet.
We break this bread for our broken humanity,
for the powerful and the powerless
trapped by exploitation and oppression.
All May there be the healing of humanity.
We break this bread for those who follow other paths:
for those who follow the noble path of the Buddha,
the yogic path of the Hindus;
the way of the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs;
and for the children of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar,
the Jews, and the Muslims.
All May there be healing where there is pain and woundedness.
We break this bread
for the unhealed hurts and wounds
t
hat lie within us all.
All May we be healed.
White Wine is poured into the cup
This is the cup of peace and of new life for all.
A sign of love for the community of hope.
All A reminder of the call
to live fully,
to love wastefully, and
to be all that we can be.
Communion
To eat and drink together reminds us
of the deeper aspects of human fellowship,
for from time immemorial
the sharing of bread and wine
has been the most universal of all symbols of community.
People invited to move to the four corners of the space where the Bread and Wine will be served
(This liturgy for Communion has been shaped from resources created by and adapted from: Carter Heyward, L Bruce Miller, Michael Morwood, Shirley Erena Murray, David Bumbaugh, John S Spong, Rex Hunt, the Iona Community, and was first celebrated some years ago at The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Canberra ACT, Australia.)
PARTING
Hymn/Song People stand as they are able
“O Source of Many Cultures” (Tune: ‘King’s Lynn’ or ‘Aurelia’, 76.76D) 62(v1) WNC
O Source of many cultures,
of lives, beliefs and faith;
you brought us all together
to share one world in space;
Now show us how to honour
each vision of your way,
to live within the tension
of difference you display.
OR
"People Are God's Language" (Tune: 'Ellers', 10.10.10.10.10) 71(1-2) SNS2
People are language through whom God can speak;
Heard by the list'ners, found by those who seek;
Heard in a whisper, never in a roar;
Heard in compassion, not through formal law.
People are language through whom God can care
With words of comfort when we see despair;
Spoken in kindness, yet with certainty;
Heard with delight when calming misery.
OR
“Embrace This Life" (Tune: ‘Sine Nomine’, 10.10.10 with hallelujahs)
Embrace this life and all its wondrous days,
let go of fear that in our heart betrays
the joy of life, the beauty and the praise.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
When truth becomes the gospel that we spread,
it lifts the shadows of our deepest dread;
with honest words our hearts are richly fed.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Remain standing
Parting Words
Let us embrace the wonder of this week
with expectation and imagination…
The Community Candle is extinguished
With hope and wisdom
All Living God, inspire us.
With compassion and involvement
All Living God, inspire us.
With openness and love
All Living God, inspire us.
With courage to face the reality and complexity of life
All Living God, inspire us. (Richard Watson/cl)
Words of Blessing
May the freshness of the dawn enliven our spirits
May the rising of the sun enlighten our minds
May the noon-tide of the day warm our hearts
May the sunset clothe us with restfulness. (William L. Wallace/wb)
All Amen! May it be so!
Hymn/Song (cont) “O Source of Many Cultures” (Tune: ‘King’s Lynn’ or ‘Aurelia’, 76.76D) 62(v2) WNC
The colour and the culture,
that kept us both apart,
are gifts that we can offer,
a means for us to start
a journey with each other,
till hand in hand we show,
through mutual understanding,
respect and love can grow. (Andrew Pratt. © 2000 Stainer & Bell Ltd)
OR
"People Are God's Language" (Tune: 'Ellers', 10.10.10.10.10). 71(v3-4) SNS2
People are language through whom God can plead
For peace and mercy, for the ones in need;
Spoken in strength, with poise and dignity,
Calling for justice and for liberty.
Sharing of love with acts of gentleness,
Sharing the load with deeds of thoughtfulness,
We can ensure the message can be heard;
For we are language of God's living word. (George Stuart).
OR
“Embrace This Life" (Tune: ‘Sine Nomine’, 10.10.10 with hallelujahs)
The strength of truth creates a warming light
of peace and freedom, born when things are right;
an honest heart expands our inward sight.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Give thanks for truth that opens ways to care,
to ease the struggles and the pain we bear;
the way of truth improves the lives we share.
Hallelujah, hallelujah. (© Peggy McDonagh, 2004. All Rights Reserved)
The people sit after the hymn
'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:
(AA) Alleluia Aotearoa. Hymns and Songs for all Churches. Raumati: New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, 1993.
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, 2001.
Duncan, G. (ed). Timeless Prayers for Peace. Voices Together from Around the World. Norwich. The Canterbury Press, 2003.
Duncan, G. (ed). Seeing Christ in Others. An Anthology for Worship, Mediation and Mission. Norwich. The Canterbury Press, 1998.
Duncan, G. (ed). Courage to Love. An Anthology of Inclusive Worship Material. Norwich: The Canterbury Press, 2002.
(HoS) Hope Is Our Song. New Hymns and Songs from Aotearoa New Zealand. Palmerston North: New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, 2009.
(HCL) Hymns for the Celebration of Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964.
Inclusive Readings. Year A. Brisbane. Inclusive Language Project. In private circulation, 2004.
(
WNC) Pratt, A. Whatever Name or Creed. Hymns and Songs. London. Stainer & Bell Ltd., 2002
(SNS2) Stuart, G. Singing a New Song. Traditional Hymn Tunes with New Century Lyrics. Volume 2. NSW: Toronto. G Stuart, 2009.
"Divine Dancing" By Rumi, in M. Fox. One Rive, Many Wells. Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2000.
O'Donohue, J. Anam Cara. Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World. London: Bantam, 1997.
Roberts, E. & E. Amidon. Earth Prayers from Around the World. 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring the Earth. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
(SLT) Singing the Living Tradition. Boston: UUA, 1993.
Vosper, G. With or Without God. Why the way we Live is more Important than What we Believe. Canada: Toronto. HarperCollins, 2008.
Vosper, G. Another Breath. Prayers for Celebration and Reflection. Brisbane: The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought Brisbane, 2009/2010.
Web sites/Other:
Alspaugh, Kowalski, Trapp, UUA Worship Web. Boston. www.uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/
“Progressive Hymn”, Andrew Pratt blog site site: <hymnsandbooks blog>
“Flower of Compassion” in Nelson-Pallmeyer, J. & B. Hesle. Worship in the Spirit of Jesus. Theology, Liturgy, and Songs without Violence. Cleveland. The Pilgrim Press, 2005.
“Embrace This Life”, Peggy McDonagh. One of several non-theistic resources found at: St Stephen’s Non-Theistic Project https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ststephens/publication-photos/ssc-ntlr-winter-2018.pdf
David Galston. Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy. http://www.questcentre.ca/