sustain:if:able kiwi

this table remakes us: a creationary communion introduction

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

We find ourselves today gathered in a circle
equal
in a flow of love

We find in our centre a table
circular

And a loaf of bread
round

And a cup
circular

This table has remade us
changed the way we sit
changed the way we relate
as equals, in a flow of love

Explanatory note: On Wednesday at chapel, I had been asked to lead the communion part. As I entered the room, I noted that the usual seating had been rearranged. Instead of rows and a front, there was a small table, with a white tablecloth, upon which was the bread and cup. And the chairs had been placed in a circle. The change of architecture intrigued me and on the spot I thought it warranted changing (remaking) of my communion introduction. I note it here in honour of the role that space plays in our experience of worship.

lenten creativity: clay for the wilderness

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

This is a fantastically creative Lenten activity. Methodist minister, Ric Stott, has made 40 clay figures (link with Ash Wednesday) and located them in and around Sheffield (into the wilderness) for 40 days (one for each day of Lent) to see what happens as they interact with the world. Ric blogs here

This gets towards the heart of what I am trying to explore with this project, when I finally gather up all that remains (which may well be very little) we will be able to see what effect the world has had on these fragile figures. Some will be worn down by rain, wind and time, some will have been swept away by street sweepers or stolen, or crushed underfoot. One remains in a church where, I suspect, it will stay safe and unchanged.

I remember when my first child was born – he was so fragile and perfect, untouched by the rigours of life. I was aware as soon as we stepped out of the sterile hospital into the cloud of smokers congregating at the entrance that moving out into the world meant becoming polluted, becoming dirty and damaged. But what kind of life is spent in a sterile space? It’s when we start to get dirty that we change, grow and become more human.

Each has a note inviting those who find them to take a photo and email it. It’s tactile, it’s public, it’s potentially interactive, it’s curiousity rousing. Good stuff.

Hat tip Jonny.

creationary: God in change, Matthew 6, parable of sower

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

I led a service (worship and preaching) on Sunday at my local faith community. The request was to focus on all generations, starting with children and to do it in a way that enabled people to sit around tables and have time to eat breakfast together. A fun request, which made for a very hectic weekend, but did give me enjoyment in putting some pieces together.

The starting point was two Biblical texts, the lectionary reading for the day, which included Matthew 6:25-34. Which seemed in my head to link with the parable of the sower, in Matthew 13:1-9. Plus I had been sitting during the week with a poem from The Essence of Julian: A Paraphrase of Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love. Plus I’d had a dream while on holiday about being in a shop full of bric a brac and taking a phone call, which demanded I provide an order of service at that very moment. As I surveyed the shop I saw seeds, soil, sun shelters, plant markers and so the service emerged in and around those tactile objects.

For those looking for examples of interactive, multi-sensory, all-age worship, here is what I did: (more…)

creationary: the journey of the magi

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

Yes, I know. Lectionary wise the journey of the Magi in Matthew 2 occurs after Christmas. But they must have been travelling before Christmas, and thus they can provide a focus in Advent.

Some creationary ideas on the theme of Magi:

• Question on large screen for people to consider as they arrive: Ponder this … To get to church today, did you travel from the North or South, East or West.

• Sing O Come O Come emmanuel and use different languages for the first line of each verse. We used English, Korean, Tagalog and Maori. Make a verbal link to the Magi story, people who no doubt spoke a different language in their “coming” to Jesus.

• Make stars in four different colours. Display again the opening question (Ponder this … To get to church today, did you travel from the North or South, East or West). Get the kids to give out the stars, a different colour for each direction. It takes a bit of time, but the kids love it.

• Invite people to write on the stars something that might distract them from their journey toward Jesus this Christmas.

• Place four Christmas trees at the compass points around the church. Have an appropriate coloured star on each one to help people’s direction finder. Invite people to place their stars on the tree in the direction of which they are heading home after church, as a way of asking for God’s people to stay focused on the Christ-star during this Christmas. Sing some carols while people do this. This allows space for lots of people to mingle and move.

• If you have a younger, more culturally aware crowd, then U2’s new song, North star would work well.

• For the benediction, invite people to face “their” tree as they are blessed into their week of journeying toward Christmas.

For a potential sermon that might be woven in among these ideas, check out my recent advent reflection: are you travelling well?

Note: Some of these ideas emerge from an interactive all-age service done at Opawa in 2005.

leading worship, in 6 minutes, with communion

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

One of my tasks today is to lead worship. I have been allocated 6 minutes and this includes communion. Can’t be done right? Well watch this video.

A few months ago Maggi Dawn blogged about this. I thought it was a fabulous idea. I loved the mission dimension created by being outdoors; I loved the end, when the passerby pausing with coffee, attracted by the sound of singing.

I thought it would be a great resource for my church, ministry, sacraments class. Often those new in ministry can get worried about getting the words right, and so they tend to get quite slavish when it comes to words. So showing a church service that in 6 minutes that has all the major liturgical moments could be a good way to encourage freedom to focus on the essentials.

I mentioned this in the staff meeting and was met by some disbelieving looks. 6 minutes!

So when it came time to plan our end of year staff day, which will include some team building at local wineries, someone suggested we end with communion. And the request was made – Steve, what about the 6 minute communion.

So that is my task today. To lead worship, in about 6 minutes, including communion. Updated: It was timed at 6 minutes, 20 seconds and that included Bible reading, preaching, prayer, confession, passing the peace, communion, Lords Prayer and singing . For those interested, here is my run sheet/transcription of the 6 minute communion. I have slightly adapted it to include the lectionary text for today (being 9 December 2010). (more…)

ordination sermon: creationary re John the Baptist

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

I had the privilege of being asked to preach at the Uniting Church ordination of five folk today. For those interested, here is the sermon. A story, some theology and integration with U2’s Stand up comedy. (Since it is also based on the lectionary text for the day (Matthew 3:1-12), John the Baptist, I’ve added it to the creationary). (more…)

creationary: communion as call and response

I am placing on the blog two communion prayers. Both are based on a call and response, where the essential telling of the story is done by the congregation, not by the presider/leader.

I have found this pattern of enormous help in recent times. It is an echo of the Hebrew Passover pattern, in which the child asks questions and the answers tell the story. It is an echo of Baptist communion theology in which the gathered community are the site for naming sacramentality (for where two or three are gathered, there is Christ). It is a way of inviting the community to do liturgy – the work of the people. It is a chance to deepen understanding, for as people say words, they are more likely to be engaged and thoughtful in and around those words.

One of these “call and response” prayers comes from the church in Kenya. The other comes from colleague Craig Mitchell (more…)

creationary: Luke 19 and Zacchaues as babe in womb

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

I’ve been pondering this art image through the week, from the so visually helpful, Imaging the Word: An Arts and Lectionary Resource (which offers art in relation to the Lectionary readings) in relation to the Zacchaues story. It suddenly struck me how “fetus like” is Zacchaues. Not sure it’s the artists intent, but the linking between Zacchaues and that sense of being born again got me thinking …

Zacchaeus
like a baby in womb
nestling
waiting

Held by tree cleft
Like needle eye
rich baby this one

Hand
like umbilical cord
stretching toward

Toward heartbeat
pulsing
with life
of the Christ

I see you, little babe
I’ll grow you, little babe

Toddler step down
Teenager make meal

Challenge us
Sorry in cash
and half my retirement
So boldly brash
little babe to man

creationary: Zacchaeus story in Luke 19

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

The lectionary text this week is the Zacchaues story in Luke 19. It’s such a familiar story. In preparation, I have been finding this poem helpful, Martin Wallace, City Prayers, Canterbury Press, 1994

As you and I walk down this terraced street
Where all the houses seem to be from a common mould
And each door looks the same,
It would be easy to be mistaken
And assume that those inside each house
Are from a common mould.
You and I know, Lord,
That each household has a different story
Of happiness, heartache, and health,

wealth, weariness, and worry,
sadness, solitude, and sickness,
energy, encouragement, and excitement.

I see pictures of biblical villages,
With square white houses all the same,
When the same assumption could be made.
Yet you cut through all of that
And treated everyone differently:

‘Follow …’; ‘Return …’; ‘Give away …’;
‘Be reborn …’; ‘Tell everyone …’; ‘Keep silent …’.

Keep me alive, Lord,
To the special uniqueness
Behind each door.

creationary: worship as a journey on Sunday October 17

A map from Cheryl Lawrie sparked my thinking as I engaged the lectionary texts for this week. She had made up maps, using a 1896 Scottish Geographical Magazine, which was then photoshopped to remove names.

Which sparked for me, because the Revised Common Lectionary Bible readings for this Sunday, October 17, involve journey and travel and movement – Psalm 121 is a pilgrimage psalm, Genesis 32:22-31 is the narrative of a faith encounter by a man on a journey. I am speaking to Uniting churches from the Yorke Peninsula over the weekend. They too are on a journey, inviting me to explore with them their mission future.

So the map is an apt metaphor for them and invites a conversation with the Biblical texts. Having an actual physical map would work as a gathering point. Shorn of detail, it is more likely to allow a focus on the Biblical text.

So for those interested, here’s a potential participative framework that includes thanksgiving, confession, hearing, prayers for others (more…)

creationary: lost coins, lost sheep

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

With the lectionary text for Sunday being Luke 15:1-10 or Luke 15:1-32, here are some resources I’ve used previously, buried in my blog archives, that might be useful.

First, here is a missional pondering on Luke 15, in which I tease out some of the potentially unhelpful mission and ministry images that might be at play.

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t she leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until she finds it? And when she finds it, she joyfully sits down. Then she calls the friends and neighbors of the lost sheep together. And as this moment, as a new missional congregation is planted, the shepherd and existing congregation burst out ‘Rejoice; the lost sheep is found.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Second, a gender in ministry reflection emerging from the lost coin parable on Jesus as the good woman. Here’s an excerpt:

Luke 15:1-7 presents Jesus as like a good shepherd, searching for a lost sheep. Luke 15:8-10 presents Jesus as like a good woman, searching for a lost coin. The church has been very happy to tell me about the first, Jesus as good shepherd. But why has the church been strangely silent about the second, Jesus as a good woman? As Kenneth Bailey, Finding the Lost, notes, Jesus is remarkable for the way he affirms both women and men as “full and equal participants in the kingdom of God.” Surely this pairing has something to say about women in ministry.

Third, some potential worship stations.

Sheep station – with a metal fencing and gate, and the invitation to

Look: at the fence and the gates.

Act: by sitting inside the sheep pen.

Reflect: How would you feel if you were ninety-nine? Pray for us at Opawa, and for what your feelings mean for the future of the church.

Art station – an invitation to

Look: at the art image, Woman Sweeping, by Jean Vuillard; which portrays God as an ordinary house-keeper in everyday life.

Reflect: on the following poem
I was passionate,
filled with longing,
I searched
far and wide
But the day
that the Truthful One
found me,
I was at home.
by Lal Ded

Coin station: – with a whole lot of coins scattered around

Act: by holding a coin. On one side of the coin is a name of a child in our community. Pray that they will be found.

The other side of the coin is blank. It might be your name. What does it mean for you to know that God, like the woman, searching is for you? It might be someone you know. You might want to pray for them by writing their name (permanent marker supplied).

Whatever you do, take the coin with you into your week.

For more go here.

Finally, for those who need a bit of a light relief, here is the true story of what happened one Sunday in worship (ending with a reflection on leadership). Like all good Kiwi stories, it started with a sheep. (more…)

party meals with Jesus

Sitting with Luke 14 over the last few days has reminded me of a creationary-type resource that is offered in my The Out of Bounds Church?: Learning to Create a Community of Faith in a Culture of Change book. On page 106, as part of chapter of mission and community, an invitation to a spiritual experience of eating your way through Luke.

Levi’s banquet (Luke 5) :: bean and meat casserole

Disciples eating corn (Luke 6) :: corn, roasted, and served with mustard-infused butter.

Son of man, eating and drinking (Luke 7) :: stuffed quail

Feeding 5000 (Luke 9) :: fish fried in dill

Parable of Rich Fool (Luke 12) :: deep fried locust in minted yogurt dip

Parable of Great banquet (Luke 14) :: Jewish vintage

Zaccheus’ house (Luke 19) :: roasted chick peas

Last Supper (Luke 22) :: baking Jewish bread

Emmaus Road (Luke 24) :: leeks sauteed in saffron

It is sort of playful, but also quite serious! Christianity is a domestic faith.

resources used in hospitality for mission weekend

This post also might be useful for those working on Luke 14 lectionary text ie the Banquet Parables.

Pre-engagement
In order to create curiosity and pre-engagement with the your place or mine? hospitality as mission theme, I invited people to send in cell phone pictures of their tables. During the weekend I made this into a Quicktime movie which looped. It was very useful in terms of reminding us of the diversity of tables we dwell at, in which our “hospitality as mission” takes shape.

Luke 10 talk – theme hospitality as mission at their place

• The story of Brendan and it’s link to mission came via Mark Berry’s Safe Space community and the words for the soundtrack being played are available here.
• Boats, on which to write the name of your church and the “word of mission” for you, are here.
• Lots and lots more information about the story and development of Opawa and espresso can be found here – start at the end and work forward!

Luke 14 talk – theme banquets as mission, their place and ours

• Quiz was taken from a book about meals from around the world
• The images of “church at table” were from Steve Collins website, particularly here.
• The Benched video, which was used as a way of reflecting on hospitality in shared community projects.

Benched from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

• The list of 4 hospitality practices which we used to evaluate the video (and thus our congregational life and hopes in general) was a summary of a chapter from Soul Banquets: How Meals Become Mission in the Local Congregation. This also has the (fantastic) story of the response of a New York church to 9/11. The specific practices (as I reworded them) are as follows:
1. Practice: serving graciously by finding ways to encourage eye contact and genuine conversation.
2. Practice: setting tables in ways and places that reflect God’s abundance and creativity.
3. Practice: seek role reversals by finding ways for all to contribute (a diversity of gifts, each has its corresponding service.)
4. Practice: committing to a long-term, intentional project.

Luke 19 talk – theme the gospel at their place

• For more about Richard Passmore go here, with the Abs and Flow story (which is one of the best example of Western contextualisation I have seen) here
• The cartoons were from Dave Walker, in particular here

Wrap up summary
Information about Lumina Domestica, God’s light potentially transforming the ordinary and everyday of our hospitality, here.

Two books I’ve found most helpful have been Amos Yong’sHospitality and the Other: Pentecost, Christian Practices, and the Neighbor and Soul Banquets: How Meals Become Mission in the Local Congregation

Posted by steve at 04:36 PM

creationary: happy meals with Jesus/banquet parables in Luke 14

A creationary: a space to be creative with the lectionary. For more resources go here.

Personally I think the lectionary butchers the readings from Luke 14. In my support I quote Robert Tannehill, Abingdon New Testament Commentary – Luke who suggests two frames. First an inner frame from verse 15 on, in which the focus is God as generous host. Second an outer frame starting from verse 12 (just when the lectionary reading is starting to stop), in which the focus is how those with wealth might live as Jesus followers.

So as I read Luke, 14 I am thinking tables and meals.

I’d spread recipe books around. As people arrived, invite them to search the recipe books for something delicious. As part of the gathering, as thanksgiving, get people to share their favourite, followed by a refrain, “Thanks be to God.”

In relation to confession, I’d invite everyone is invited to bring a can from their pantry. As part of confesssion (or intercession), get them in 2’s around some questions like

• Share your can with the person beside you
• What is the country of origin?
• What do you know about the issues the country faces?
• What hands made have been involved in the preparation?
• Was it fairly traded? If you don’t know, where could you go to find out?

Then I’d use the Good Samaritan in a CNN world prayer I wrote last week.

As an act of intercession, I’d find some “family table” stories. Here are two that are on my computer, stories from Australian tables (source unknown, sorry. Happy to add the link if I am made aware).

“What is dinnertime like in your home?” “I usually eat by myself. My parents are either not at home or they are upstairs playing on the computer. So obviously I rarely talk during dinner. But I like it that way.” (Matthew, an Aussie, aged 14)

“What is dinnertime like in your home?” “We never eat together. I eat about 5pm, always something different from what the rest of the family eats, because I am picky and hate a lot of stuff. While I’m eating I talk to my mum. Usually our conversation turns into an argument, which then fades and we watch the Simpsons. My mother and brother eat at about 6.30pm and watch Neighbours. Finally, my dad comes home at about 8.30 and eats whatever mum made and tells me about his day.” (Sasha, an Aussie, aged 14)

Read them, then invite prayer for these, and other families.

By way of benediction, I’d offer some “grace for meals” option: like Saint Brigids, or the Grace from New Hebrides or the Madeline grace or the Strangers blessing.