Suggestion: ’Refresh’ each page before reading to make sure to get my latest edition
‘The Other Lectionary’ is 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
“We are thoroughly nature. To claim otherwise is to attempt to place human beings and everything we do
in some rare unimaginable realm beyond the universe,
thus rendering the power of our origins lost and our obligations vague”
5 May 2024 Pluralism Sunday
Celebrating Community: Sacrament of Holy Communion
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 is called “Uluru Statement from the Heart”
A Response from Common Dreams5 Conference of Religious Progressives,
Australia/South Pacific 2019
Both found in Affirmations/Manifestoes
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 gather 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/Video
Gathering Music
Entry into the Celebration
The gong is sounded three times
Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of life.
Hymn/Song People stand as they are able, to sing
"O God of Stars and Sunlight" (Tune: 'Munich', 76.76D) 11 SLT
O God of stars and sunlight,
whose wind lifts up a bird,
in marching wave and leaf-fall
we hear your patient word.
The colour of your seasons
goes gold across the land:
by green upon the tree-tops
we know your moving hand.
O God of cloud and mountain,
whose rain on rock is art,
your plan and care and meaning
renew the head and heart.
Your word and colour spoken,
your summer noons and showers
by these and by your day-shine,
we know your world is ours.
O God of root and shading,
of boughs above our head,
we breathe in your breathing,
our spirit spirited.
We walk beneath your blessing,
your seasons and our way,
O God of stars and sunlight,
O God of night and day. (John Holmes/Adapted)
OR
“Rainbow Colours” (Tune: ‘Halton Holgate’, 87.87) 112 MTH
Help us trace your rainbow colours
through these days of change and choice,
holding firmly to your promise:
all the world can praise, rejoice.
In a world of contradictions
let your justice change our ways,
then with mercy fire compassion,
let no bias mar our praise.
Let us nurture fresh expressions,
different ways of being church,
sharing love and understanding,
joining people in their search.
Let us go with common purpose,
though distinctive from our birth;
welcome all to share our vision,
go as one to all the earth.
Through diversity and difference,
rainbow colours of our race,
let us share without distinction
God’s demanding, loving grace. (AndrewPratt. © Stainer & Bell)
Remain standing
Opening Sentences
Among us the spirit of Creativity God conceives new life
All And we feel the life within us.
In our history Jesus the Sage makes gentle entry
All And we see the light before us.
Within our dreams the truth of our God is revealed
All We await the hope of the world.
OR
Out of a community of diverse heritage and belief,
All we come together to share our hope,
and to create good in the world.
The teachers of all traditions and times
have taught that we are called to mercy, generosity,
and mutual care
All and that to be good is to serve.
We know that there can be no enduring happiness for humanity
so long as suffering and want go unrelieved;
All until all may be sheltered, none of us is truly at home.
May the power of our various faiths
sustain us in this work, that we may be
the hands of holy creativity and justice;
All and together build a better world. (Adapted.Kendyl Gibbons)
Words of Awareness
We stand before our sisters and brothers,
the named and the unnamed,
the known and the unknown,
with thanksgiving for all the bounties of the human world:
for the arts,
for the sciences,
for mercies shown and given. (Adapt.Kenneth Patton/sscol)
OR
We pray:
Be with us, O God, in
our thinking,
our feeling, and
our being.
Touch us where we need to feel your presence
and encourage us where we need your inspiration.
May it be so.
Lighting of the Community Candle
The Community Candle is lit
At times our own light goes out
and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us. (Albert Schweitzer)
Note: Check out 'Special Liturgies’ (this site) for the following:
(i) A suggested process for introducing new hymns is called Hymn of the Month
(ii) Additional Special Purpose Hymns cover major international events or themes. 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
(iv) On Wonder, Awe, and Nature
Hymn/Song “Progressive Hymn” (Tune: 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
“Our World Is One World” (Tune: ‘Chernobyl’, 58.86.4) 134 SLT
Our world is one world
what touches one affects us all:
the seas that wash us round about,
the clouds that cover us,
the rains that fall.
Our world is one world
the thoughts we think affects us all:
the way we build our attitudes,
with love or hate, we make,
a bridge or wall.
Our world is one world
it’s ways of wealth affects us all:
the way we spend, the way we share,
who are the rich or poor,
who stand or fall.
Our world is one world
just like a ship that bears us all:
where fear and greed make many holes,
but where our hearts can hear,
a different call. (Cecily Taylor)
Welcome
(Or in your own words)
A warm welcome is extended to all.
Especially those who are gatherping 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
Let us again listen to the silence of this sacred space.
A space made ready for us by willing hands.
(Silence)
Amid all the noise in our lives,
we take this moment to sit in silence:
to give thanks for another day;
to give thanks for all those in our lives who have brought us warmth and love;
to give thanks for the gift of life. (Tim Haley)
(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: We listen for truth, yet it is elusive - a thought here, a verse there.
All May we collect it all, write what is worthy on our hearts,
and let the rest spill past our consciousness
leaving us clear and whole. (Gretta Vosper/ab)
• Jewish Tradition:
"No Religion Is an Island”
By Abraham Joshua Heschel. I Asked for Wonder/96-97
... No religion is an island. We are all involved with one another.
Spiritual betrayal on the part of one of us affects the faith of all of us.
Views adopted in one community have an impact on other communities.
Today religious isolationism is a myth. For all the profound differences in perspective and substance,
Judaism is sooner or later affected by the intellectual, moral, and spiritual events
within the Christian society, and vice versa.
We fail to realize that while different exponents of faith in the world of religion continue to be wary of the ecumenical movement,
there is another ecumenical movement, worldwide in extent and influence: nihilism.
We must choose between interfaith and inter-nihilism.
Cynicism is not parochial.
Should religion insist upon the illusion of complete isolation?
Should we refuse to be on speaking terms with one another and hope for each other’s failure?
Or should we pray for each other’s health, and help one another in preserving ones respective legacy,
in preserving a common legacy?
• Hindu Scriptures:
"The Stream of Life"
Rabindranath Tagore
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world
and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy
through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked
in the ocean-cradle of birth and death,
in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious
by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages
dancing in my blood this moment.
Hymn/Song People stand as they are able, 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 A Storey)
People sit
• Christian Mysticism
Julian of Norwich (English mystic, late 14th century)
Just as God is truly our Father, so also is God our Mother…
The deep wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother.
In her we are all enclosed…
[God is] our true Mother in whom we are endlessly carried and out of whom we will never come.
God is the true Father and Mother of Nature,
and all natures that are made to flow out of God to work the divine will,
will be restored and brought again into God.
God feels great delight to be our Mother.
• Gospel of Jesus:
Selected from the writings of the storyteller we call Luke
The Reign of God is not coming as you hope to catch sight of it.
No one will say "Here it is" or "There it is"
for the Reign of God is now in your midst...
Look how the lilies neither spin nor weave,
and yet I tell you Solomon in all his grandeur
was never robed like one of them...
Where your treasure lies, your heart will lie there too...
No one lights a lamp to put it under a bowl, but on a stand,
so that those who come in can see the light...
Wisdom is vindicated by all her children...
Figs are not gathered from thorns,
and grapes are not picked from a bramble bush...
Do unto others as you would have them do to you…
• Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIX
O resplendent Night,
may you lead us sinless
to Dawn, from Dawn to day,
and from day back to you!
Contemporary Exploration
Silence for Personal Reflection
AFFIRMING
An Affirmation for Pluralism Sunday
The people stand as they are able
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)
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
"Arms Only for Embracing”
My child, I want a world for you
we have not had before
where people build community
and no-one thinks of war,
where people use their arms only for embracing.
My child, I see a world that's just
where all can dwell secure,
a world where need and hunger cease
'cause people help the poor,
and want to use their arms only for embracing.
My child, I wish you could grow up
untouched by greed and hate,
within a world community
that's whole and unafraid,
since people use their arms only for embracing.
My child, I want to rest assured
that after I am gone,
more generations fill the earth
and life continues on,
'cause people use their arms only for embracing.
We ought to use our arms only for embracing. (Ingrid Rogers/UUA)
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.
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
People sit
Conversation with the Children
Children gather on 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 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)
OR
A Sung Response
“Ours Be the Poems of all Tongues” (Tune: ‘Tallis’ Canon LM') 138 HCL
Ours be the poems of all tongues,
All things of loveliness and worth,
All arts, all ages, and all songs,
One life, one beauty on the earth. (Kenneth L Patton)
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 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 appropriate
Abba Householder
Yit-kaddas semak Hallowed your name
Taytay mal-kutak Come your reign
Lachman de-limchar Our bread for tomorrow
Hab lan yoma den Give us today
Usa-bok lan cho-benan Forgive our debts
Kadisa-baknan la-chaya-benan As we forgive our debtors
Wa-lata ay-leenan lanis-yon And keep us from falling at the test
CELEBRATING
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY IN THE TRADITION OF THE MEAL
Offerings
Presentation
Spirit of God, among the streets of business
and in places of healing and learning:
All May the face of the earth be renewed.
Among the budding orchards
and in the grassless paddocks:
All May the face of the earth be renewed.
Among the tired and broken families:
All May the face of the earth be renewed.
Among these people and with these gifts:
All May the face of the earth be renewed.
Introduction (Optional)
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…
Welcome to the Table
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.
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,
aware 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.
We are one with everything, living and nonliving, on this planet.
Connected.
Interrelated.
Interdependent.
The Story
We remember the various stories from our tradition...
How on many occasions Jesus would share a meal with friends.
Bread 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.
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.
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 several times
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 Rachel - 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
that lie within us all.
All May we be healed.
White wine is poured into the cup/s
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.
Sharing
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.
The Bread and White Wine served in four groups in each corner of the sacred space
SCATTERING
Hymn/Song People stand as they are able, to sing
“Great God of Many Names” (Tune: 66.84 + Chorus: 4.4.4) 39(v1-4) WNC
Great God of many names:
Jehovah, Allah, Lord,
Christ, Brahman, Spirit, Adonai;
We worship you.
Chorus:
Whatever name,
whichever face,
we worship you.
With pomp and pageantry
Beneath an onion dome,
Or in a bare and simple room,
we worship you.
Chorus:
In chapel, mosque or shrine
we wait to praise your name,
through icon, book or choir
we worship you.
Chorus:
With tabla or guitar,
or with a thousand lights,
through fasting, feasting, fellowship
we worship you.
Chorus:
Words of Blessing
As the kookaburra gently settles on the tree, receive the gift of peace.
As the sun rises with light and warmth, receive the gift of life.
As the wind moves and dances round the earth,
receive the gracious gift of the spirit. (Adapted.Dorothy Stewart/wb)
v2 May it be so.
All May we make it be so.
OR
May the freshness of the dawn enliven my spirit,
May the rising of the sun enlighten my mind,
May the noon-tide of the day warm my heart
May the benediction of sunset clothe my being with restfulness. (William L Wallace/wb)
May it be so.
All May it be so with us.
Hymn/Song (Cont). “Great God of Many Names” (Tune: 66.84 + Chorus: 4.4.4) 39 (v5-6) WNC
With formal dress or free,
we meditate or dance,
through pesach, hajj or nam simran
we worship you.
Chorus:
Whatever name,
whichever face,
we worship you.
Whatever name or creed,
enlightenment or book,
we seek you through our pilgrimage
and worship you.
Chorus: (Andrew Pratt)
'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, 2001
Duncan, G. (ed). A World of Blessing. Benedictions from every Continent and Many Cultures. Norwich. The Canterbury Press, 2000
Fox, M. One River, Many Wells.Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths. New York. Jeremy F. Tarcher/Penguin, 2000
Hseschel, A. J. I Asked for Wonder. A Spiritual Anthology. New York. A Crossroads Book, 1983/2018
(HCL) Hymns for the Celebration of Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964
(TEL) Murray, S. E. Touch the Earth Lightly. New Hymns written between 2003 & 2008. Carol Stream. Hope Publishing, 2008
Patton, K. L. Services and Songs for the Celebration of Life. New Resource Material. Boston. Beacon Press, 1967
(WNC) Pratt, A. Whatever Name or Creed. Hymns and Songs. London. Stainer & Bell Ltd, 2002
(MTH) Pratt, A. More Than Hymns. Words for a Lyrical Faith. London. Stainer & Bell, 2015
(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:
Haley. UUA Worship Web. Boston. < www.uua.org/spirituallife/worshipweb/>
Andrew Pratt. UK. "Progressive Hymn" Direct from the author.
The Liturgy, Celebrating Community: Sacrament of Holy Communion... Shaped from resources created by and adapted from: Carter Heyward, L Bruce Miller, Michael Morwood, Shirley E Murray, David Bumbaugh, John S Spong, Rex Hunt, the Iona Community.
David Galston. Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy. http://www.questcentre.ca/
Peggy McDonagh, St Stephen’s Non-Theistic Project https://cloudfront.ualberta.ca/-/media/ststephens/publication-photos/ssc-ntlr-winter-2018.pdf