Special Sundays/Services
Easter Dinner Devotional
A Simple Order for an Easter Devotional Around the Table Call to the Table One: A tomb sealed with a stone is now empty! A people in darkness are bathed in light. A moment of violence has been transformed by Love, with love, for the love of everyone forever. Hallelujah!! Lighting of the Candle Scripture Reading (select one or both): Isaiah 25:6-9 Luke 24:13-49 Easter Dinner Grace (choose one): This table is set with good things. Feed us so that we may feed others! AMEN. Risen Christ, for our wounds and sores, make us resilient. For our...
read moreEaster Sunrise @ Home
All of us in VT are under a stay-at-home order due to COVID-19 through at least April 15th, 2020. Here is a liturgy that individuals, families and those living under the same roof can use for an at-home sunrise service. AT SUNRISE Lord’s Prayer Our (Mother) Father (Creator) who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom,...
read moreWorship while Distancing
Soon after COVID-19 came to Vermont (week of 3/8/2020), many worship leaders I spoke with: 1) recognized how critically important worship is in a time like this, and 2) wondered how to worship together while keeping physically distant? When my church chose to suspend services in our sanctuary on Sunday mornings for a time, we immediately looked to technology to allow us to worship while distancing. Here’s what we planned: Our two pastors will hold a live-broadcast worship service on Sunday mornings at our regular time. Zoom and...
read moreAshes & Oil: 2020
The Ash Wednesday liturgy below is simple and traditional. After the imposition of ashes, though, we have added a time for congregants to come forward and share their need for healing with our pastors and deacons before being anointed with oil. This theme of healing and oil could be carried into Lent, used in other services leading up to Holy Week and also within Holy Week. Gathering Music Congregational Chant: “Come Bring Your Burdens” (S. Afr. Trad.; arr. Bell) Interrupting Word: Joel 2″1-12 & 12-17 Call to Confession Silent...
read moreSimple Afternoon Taizé Service
Description & Overview Our main sanctuary was painted recently and our fellowship hall became our Sunday morning worship space for a few weeks. Since our regular attendance is bigger than our fellowship hall can hold, we decided to offer our regular Sunday morning service and an afternoon (4pm) Taizé style service to give our congregation some worship options. Below is a simple liturgy for our afternoon service with Taizé chants, silence, Scripture readings and Holy Communion. After the service we pushed chairs into a circle and shared...
read moreX-mas Eve Reading: Darkness/Light
Here is a dramatic reading for a Christmas Eve service of worship inspired by John 1. A cantor and three readers (Darkness 1, Darkness 2 & Light) are needed. Hymn tune for cantor part is the traditional, “Coventry Carol” The reading is in two parts: 1) Darkness, 2) Light. The first part could be used as a Call to Worship or a “cold opening” before a prelude. The 2nd part is meant to be read towards the end of the service (e.g. perhaps as the last of the lessons and carols). Darkness/Light: Darkness...
read morePassport to Advent
For many congregations, Advent is a season filled with special signs, programs and wonders!! Advent wreaths, Christmas trees and lights, special concerts, pageants…to name a few. Those who are familiar with your church may know what to expect, but visitors don’t. In addition, newcomers and oldcomers alike may not know the significance behind what you are doing in your worship services and programs. What is Advent again? Why light an Advent Wreath? To let people know what your congregation is offering, and what visitors can...
read moreWorld Communion Sunday 2019
SERVICE PRAYERS Call to Worship Women/Girls: We worship our God in Christ this morning, mindful that we’re not alone. Men/Boys: Old and young, near and far, different and the same, gather like this to sing, pray, listen, and commune. Left-Side: God of unity and diversity, join us. Right-Side: Christ of unity and diversity, love us. Pastor: Spirit, of unity and diversity, inspire us. Widening Prayer Provincial. Sectarian. Narrow and small. We confess these words are part of our stories, part of our behaviors, part of us. ...
read moreRe-Gathering
During the summer months in our church, like so many others churches, our people attend worship less frequently. Vacations, visitors, calls from the mountains to go hiking, nice weather, or one of 1000 other things keep people out of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. In early September though, as the school year begins and our program year starts anew, more people attend worship more often. To visibly mark this change of seasons and the regathering of our community, we have developed a ritual using our leftover dried palms from the previous...
read moreRefugee Awareness
In response to the UN’s World Refugee Day (6/20), mindful that 1 in 110 people in the world is currently displaced for one reason or another, and in conversation with Scripture, our church held Refugee Awareness Sunday on 6/23/2019. Here is an outline of our liturgy to inspire you and to be adapted for your setting. Words for Contemplation: “As far as I could tell, the world was not going to stop producing refugees. The plain, irreducible fact of good people being made nomad by the millions through all the kinds of horrors this...
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