By Liturgical Element
Invocation for Annual Meeting
Here is a prayer of invocation I wrote and delivered for a plenary session of the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Vermont Conference, UCC. The theme was: “Diving In: The Living Waters of the Vermont Conference” which accounts for the water imagery in the prayer. It could be adapted for use in a variety of settings. God…your life-giving water is everywhere. It flows from our faucets…it streams through our backyards… …it falls from the sky…it pools in our lakes…and it covers most of our world. Our bodies…God…are saturated with...
read moreBe the Church
In 2016, The United Church of Christ has a lively new call to action, listing nine ways we are called to “BE THE CHURCH.” You can get banners and other materials to promote this vision of faith made visible in the world at www.uccresources.com. I explored the theme in a five part worship series, and these are the materials I wrote for the series. I have included the scriptures used, some of which are referenced in the worship materials. Martha Peck #1 – Be the Church: Care for the Poor (John 21:1-19, Acts 9:1-9) (NOTE: For this first...
read moreBass Drop
First things first. WHAT’S A BASS DROP? Well, it’s an EDM (electronic dance music term) used to describe a moment in a song when the bass line rhythm suddenly “drops” or changes. They are sonic intrusions into the natural flow of a song. Bass drops, besides being intrusions, also add structure to a song, mark transitions, build anticipation and excitement, reinforce musical themes, and often evoke an emotional/visceral response that lead to people saying things like: “ah, man, that bass drop is sick.”...
read moreMaple Syrup and Donuts: An invitation to Holy Communion (based on John 21)
We are the Church….the body of Christ made manifest in this world. We are ordinary disciples, doubters and sinners, strangers and friends, family members, we are from “away” and we are natives. We are immigrants and refugees. We are similar but not the same. We are striving to be God’s faithful people and here we are….at the table where everyone…all of us, are welcome. This morning we heard Jesus say “feed my sheep”. These directives are not just about caring for those around us but about those we do not know, it is about those...
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