And God Creates…

I created this video for use in St. Andrew’s worship on September 6, the first Sunday of Creation season. It is based on the first story of creation in Genesis 1:1-2:2.

The story was followed by wondering questions which included:

• I wonder what God had in mind at the beginning.
• I wonder what was before the beginning.
• I wonder what God saw when light appeared.
• I wonder what the first creatures thought and felt as they were called into being.
• I wonder if there is any part of the creation that is unnecessary.
• I wonder if the creation turned out at all like God was expecting.

See At the Beginning of God’s Creation for the reflection that goes with this video.

Sharing and Service

This year we are trying a different way of engaging all ages in the mission of the church. Once a month on a Saturday morning, all ages are invited to gather to work participate in a project that connects with the ministry of the congregation. In October, twelve people gathered to make dried soup mixes for the food shelf. Two hundred ziplocks filled with lentils, rice, pasta and all the seasonings were packed and will be given to anyone who comes to the church looking for food.

In November, the project was to create Christmas Angels that were attached to the poinsettias and fruitcakes which the congregation gives to bereaved and shut-ins early in December.

The January gathering will be used to make a meal to feed the construction work crew from Whitespruce Training Correctional Centre that is building a Habitat for Humanity home. St. Andrew’s will be offering a meal once a week in January. Other churches and groups will be taking other months.

Another idea is to create greeting cards that can be taken along when members of the congregation visit at the hospital and care homes on our behalf.

These gatherings provide opportunity for learning about challenges in our community and offering practical support to assist people in challenging situations.

 

Engage Worship

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This fall, as part of the exploration of intergenerational church, I’ve been experimenting with worship planning. In October, people of all ages were invited to a day of planning for the November worship services. It ended up being just the planning folks who attended (three of us in total!)

We divided four hours into sessions focussed on each Sunday. Each session began with hearing the scripture for that week and having some conversation about the scripture and any unusual words–anything that might be more challenging for younger or less churched folks. We moved to the piano where one of our musicians helped us choose music that connected with scripture. We had a list of possibilities to work from but in some cases, another piece of music we hadn’t thought of spoke to one of us.

One member of our group is a librarian who had all sorts of amazing ideas for children’s literature that could be incorporated into worship. On several Sundays, she shared these stories in worship. We thought about ways of engaging people in the scripture stories that were interactive and creative.

Finally, for each Sunday, there were a series of questions that encouraged us to reflect on how the scripture connected to our lives and world. The words and phrases from this process were incorporated into prayers and communion liturgy. The planners were invited to participate in leading various parts of the service.

We did a similar process in November to plan for Advent and Christmas services. This time there was a group of five planners including one child. The process needs refining as it feels rushed to work through all the services. The services feel very powerful as the words from people in the congregation come to life and a variety of people use their voice in worship.

 

Dreaming Together

This is the fourth worship in a series focussed on intergenerationality from St. Andrew’s United Church. Before worship, I placed clipboards with paper and baskets of art supplies around the sanctuary.

The focus scripture reading was Joel 2:23-29. I offered this reflection on the reading:

In the reading from Joel, a swarm of locusts devastated the land and caused famine. Then there was a drought. The Hebrew people thought their world was ending. They could see the writing on the wall—that they would disappear off the face of the earth. They saw the locusts, famine and drought as God’s wrath. It seemed like a hopeless situation. We hear this passage and might assume it is talking about the end of the world. It is talking about the end of the world as we know it. It sees an end to the invading armies, the locusts, the drought the famine. It creates hope for the world after these things. It invites all the people to dream about what the world would look like if they truly lived as God’s people.

The prophet, Joel, is the one who is called to guide the people into this new vision. Prophets are not like fortune tellers. The role of the prophet is to see what is going on in the world and then call the people to a faithful response. Joel calls the entire community back to their roots in faith. In order to imagine and dream about God’s future, Joel calls them to participate in fasting, praying and worshipping together.

Deuteronomy 29 describes the covenant made between God and all the Hebrew people. It also specifically identifies children and adults as being present when the covenant is made and being a part of the covenant. Anytime there was a crisis among the ancient Hebrews, the whole community from oldest to youngest, from most important to least important gathered to participate in the rituals of the community. This pattern happens over and over again. Joel’s moment in time is no exception.

As we look around the world, we might feel like the world is ending—with climate change, violence and wars, the threat of war, poverty, increasing animosity between people and nations—it can feel pretty hopeless at times. But we have prophets even in our time—Gretta Thunberg, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Desmund Tutu, Malala, Thich Nhat Hanh. These people call us back to ourselves, our communities, our world, our God. They remind us of what’s really important for life. Our moment in time is no exception to the gathering of all God’s people. We need the voices of old and young together. We cannot dismiss people because they are too old or too young. Both have wisdom to share.

These modern prophets and the prophet Joel call us back to our faith, to return to prayer, to faithful living—all of us together.

Your sons and your daughters will speak as prophets.
The elderly among you will dream dreams,
and the young will see visions.
In those days, I will even pour out my Spirit
upon men and women whose rights no one cares about.              (Joel 2:28-29)

May our community be a place where the dreams and visions of many come together. May our community be a place where the prophets speak and their words are heard.

After this reflection, I asked people to break into groups of four or five making sure there was at least one person from a different generation in each group. They were asked to imagine a world where God is fully present and talk about these questions:

• What words describe this vision?
• How would people live together?
• How would people live with the earth?
• What would need to change to bring about this vision?

They were reminded not to get bogged down in the reality of what might or might not happen or what seems realistic or feasible. Dream Big. See the vision of what God is doing.

They were invited to use the provided art supplies to create a piece of art the reflects their conversation and vision.

The art was hung on the wall in main entrance of the church building.

Offering Invitation:

As we dream of what God’s world could be, we offer ourselves and our gifts towards compassion and hope for all creation. We give thanks for ministries in this community of faith and around the world through Mission and Service.

Offering Prayer:

Holy One among us, We dream dreams and see visions. We imagine a world where all are included, where all have enough, where the earth and all its creatures are cared for. We trust that these gifts will help enliven that vision and make your love a reality in all the hurting places of the world. Amen.

 

Sharing Faith Across Generations

Photo by Life Of Pix on Pexels.com

The third worship service focussed on Intergenerationality at St. Andrew’s United Church had 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 as the theme. This happened to be a baptism Sunday so talking about people who nurture us in faith seemed like a good fit.

We heard the Laughing Bird paraphrase which comes from Australia and often uses some different images that can be jarring but helpful in hearing the scripture in different ways. I  followed this with some reflections on the passage.

Reflection:

This passage from Timothy reminds us that our faith grows in community. Timothy has faith because his mother and grandmother taught him. What he learned from them is trustworthy because they are trustworthy. Scripture on its own isn’t enough for us to learn the faith. Even though scripture is inspired by God (the translation is God-breathed), on its own it is an intellectual exercise. It isn’t until the scripture and faith come together in our relationships with others that they become embodied in us.

Our faith communities should be one of the places where we embody the words of scripture and where we practise living our faith so that it becomes a part of our lives outside this building. With Timothy, it was his mother and grandmother who taught him. He received the faith from other generations. We also receive the faith from other generations. Sometimes our elders need to teach children. They have life experience, have faced challenges, and celebrated God presence. Sometimes our children need to teach our seniors as the world they are living in is very different. We help each other find our way.

Following the reflection, I asked people to get into groups. In the previous two weeks, we had been with people of similar ages and generations. This week, I asked people to find someone from a different generation to chat with.

Groups were asked to share stories of people who had lived their faith. How would you describe that person? What made them faithful? What impact did that person have on your life?

The conversation was lively with most people participating. A couple people didn’t get into groups because of hearing challenges. That will be something to think about for future conversation times. We rounded out the service by celebrating baptism. As is often the case, children from the congregation poured the water.

Offering Invitation:

God invites us to share in abundant love and so we offer our gifts to one another and to God. These gifts support ministry in this community of faith and city, across Canada and around the world through Mission and Service.

Offering Prayer:

Holy One of Generations,
We give thanks that we have the ability to pass faith and love from one generation to the next. We know that these gifts are used in this community of faith and around the world to spread that love far and wide. May these gifts strengthen faith, enrich community, heal body, mind and spirit. Amen.

Gifts of Generations

This is the second intergenerational worship in a series of four at St. Andrew’s United Church in Yorkton. This happened to be Thanksgiving Sunday Sunday so the focus was on gratitude for the gifts of various generations.

This week, I invited people to sit in generational groups (builders, boomers, gen-x, millennials, screeners). I invited people to look at a list of generational characteristics and talk about how they resonate with these attributes. With these characteristics in mind, each group was asked to identify and share with the congregation gifts that they bring to our community of faith. I worked with the youngest group to help interpret and pull out their responses.

Each group was given a basket of lego containing only one type of lego block. I asked them to build everything they needed for a healthy community using only the lego they had been given.

The scripture reading was Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7

Reflection:

This passage comes from a time when the people had been exiled. When the Babylonians conquered the Hebrew people, they took all the wealthy people, the leaders, the craftspeople, the artists… anyone who had power or skill so they could be put to use in the empire. They left behind anyone who was poor, unskilled, uneducated or had a disability. These people were left to fend for themselves and without the leadership and organizational skills to form an uprising. Both groups were miserable and unhappy. Their communities were ripped apart and incomplete because groups of people were missing.

Jeremiah’s advice to the people in exile was to settle in and build a new life. Carry on as if life were normal. Find joy and happiness.

When you were building your Lego communities this morning, how easy was it to build everything you needed in a city? When we separate generations, it is like being in exile. Part of who we need to thrive is missing. Churches have a history of separating generations. We have programs for children and different groups for adults. Sometimes it is important to gather with other people of a similar age and stage of life but if we only interact with people in our age group, we are incomplete, and our community doesn’t function the way it should. We miss the gifts that each of the generations brings.

Sometimes it feels more comfortable to only spend time with people our own age. But there’s a whole bunch of research that shows that the generations need each other. Seniors that have relationships with children live longer and healthier, they are able to remain independent longer, they have better mental and physical health, they might find new purpose in life. Children that have relationships with adults do better at school, develop better social and leadership skills, have less anxiety. Being with a different generation might feel a bit foreign. If you are a child, how do you talk to an adult about life? If you are a senior, how do you connect with a teenager? Building these connections can feel like being in a foreign land. Jeremiah is telling the people to pray for the community in which they find themselves. Pray that they will do well and be healthy. It might seem counter-intuitive for the exiles to pray for their enemies and captors but that is what Jeremiah is telling them to do.

He’s telling them to do everything they can to ensure that the people around them thrive. We also need to ensure that all the people in our faith community thrive—not just those in our own generation. Our children need to make sure that our seniors are loved and cared for. Our adults need to make sure that our children know they are loved and feel supported as they navigate a world that seems strange to us.

But in order for this to happen, we need to know each other.

I  talked about opportunities that are coming up in our community of faith in the next few weeks that allow us to build relationships across generations. One of these was the ham and meatball supper where adults were challenged to buddy up with a young person to help serve the meal. I had some children help me run the elevator. I’m not sure that anyone else took me up on the challenge.  Other opportunities are more intentional and include LOGOS meals, Egnage worship, and Sharing and Service. I’ll be writing about these in future posts as they unfold.

Building a New Community: I asked the groups how it was to build a community using a single type of lego. It was challenging. Some groups were more inventive than others. Now I asked them to get up and move around and work with the other groups to build what we need for a healthy community.

The parts were all put on the communion table together. The parts included areas for recreation, gathering and parks.

Offering Invitation:

We gather as God’s faithful generations in this community. We recognize that each of us has something to offer. We share generously of our time, talents, energy and money for the ministry of this community of faith and your wider ministry through Mission and Service.

Offering Prayer:

God of life, We give thanks for the ways we experience your love through many generations of people. We give thanks that your love has been passed to us so we can share it with others. We give thanks for this community of that serves others. May these gifts be part of your service, here and around the world. Amen.

 

Radio and Generational Culture

Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

I’m creating a series of four services to engage communities of faith in a conversation about intergenerationality. The folks at St. Andrew’s participated in this service on October 6, 2019. Before worship, I put signs up around the sanctuary for each decade that people might have been born in. Along with each sign was a picture of a radio that would have been in common use when they were in their teens or twenties.

As people arrived for worship they were invited to find other folks of their generation and sit together in the area designated for their decade of birth. Of a congregation of about eighty, only one couple remained in their comfortable pew. I also planned a bit for people with mobility challenges so they would not have to move.

I began by asking them to talk in their groups about the radios they had as young adults. What did they listen to? How many stations did they have? When I asked for responses in the large group, our youngest folks asked, “What’s a radio?” which was a perfect segue into a conversation about how technology has changed. It comes and goes.

The reflection was broken into several pieces.

A few minutes ago, I asked you to talk about your experiences of the radio. Radios are one example of technology that has changed over time. But it isn’t just the technology that changed. The number of choices we have has increased. Radio was a communal activity. Now you pop headphones in and several people in the same place can be listening to something different. You take whatever you want to listen to anywhere. You don’t have to hear the news when it comes on. You can watch or listen any time. These changes, among many others, have changed the way people interact in the world. One way isn’t better or worse–just different. If you grew up in one era and are now trying to function in a world that has changed it can be very challenging. If you are younger and try to function in an organization that hasn’t changed, that can also be very challenging.

We often think of generations as simply different ages or stages of life but our generations are actually different cultures. Our generational cultures are shaped by the things that happened in the world when we were teenagers and young adults. For example, I was a teenager in the late 80’s early, 90’s. Three things that stand out for me and shape who I have become are the United Church of Canada’s decision around sexual orientation and ministry, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the First Gulf War. These events shaped my commitments to inclusivity, human rights and peace.

Talking in groups:

• What do you remember?
• What events shaped you as a person?

The scripture reading was Psalm 137:1-6. The second part of the reflection connected the Psalm reading with generational cultures.

Psalm 137 comes from a time when the Hebrew people were exiled. They had been taken to another land and had to live among the foreigners. They were told to sing and be happy but how could they sing and be happy when nothing was familiar, and they were surrounded by another culture that threatened their own culture?

They remembered the good old days—when they had a home and a place to worship. They remembered a time when the community was cohesive. We might also remember the Good Old Days… I asked them to tell me about the good old days. Here’s a list to get you started…

• • Nothing was open and nothing except church happened on a Sunday
  • When everyone was expected to go to church and it felt like the whole community was Christian and had shared values
  • When Sunday school was booming
  • When there was senior choir and junior choir
  • When families ate together every night
  • When people volunteered more

These statements may or may not be true but for many of us who are older and have spent our lives around churches it might seem that we are missing the good old days. We might ask, how can we praise God when we sing new and different songs? How can we praise God when our children and grandchildren are not worshiping with us? How can we praise God when it feels like our faith is no longer the centre of our wider culture?

The Hebrew people spent 70 years in exile. When they were finally able to return, many chose not to because they didn’t remember the homeland that the grandparents were talking about. They had nothing to return to because they had grown up in a different place, in a different culture and the stories of the good old days meant nothing to them. They had made their home in a new place and created a new culture.

As the world changes, our communities of faith create new cultures because the people who make up our congregations come from different generational cultures. We need to share bits of culture from all generations so that our life together reflects all the people and ages that are present. Churches are unique because they are one of the few places where there are multiple generations interacting in meaningful ways. This is both a gift and a challenge. Intergenerationality seeks to bring out the best in each generation.

Offering Invitation

As we gather in this particular place we remember that Christ’s ministry spreads beyond the boundaries of this community of faith. We offer gifts of time, energy, cash and PAR to heal the world beyond our doors: this city, across Canada and around the world through Mission and Service.

Offering Prayer:

O holy one, of all time and space,
We give thanks that you continue to call people into your service across generations and across the world. We offer these gifts trusting that they will empower your people to love and serve one another. Amen.

We closed our time together by celebrating World Communion. The liturgy that I wrote includes references to the multiple generations that make up our communities of faith and our connections with other people of faith around the world.

Generations World Communion Liturgy

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I wrote this communion liturgy for World Communion. We were also beginning a series on intergenerationality so this liturgy picks up on the gifts of generations. It uses the Kingsfold Communion Set for sung responses. This may be found in More Voices (United Church of Canada) # 203-205.

One:      We gather around this table as Christ’s people in this place. From oldest to youngest, you are welcome. We join with brothers and sisters around the world to celebrate Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Celebrate and Give thanks.

All:          We give thanks to God for life.

One:      For our life, for the life of humans we will never meet, for the creatures that share the planet, for plants, for water and air, for sun and moon and sky.

All:          We give thanks for generations that have gone before. We give thanks for the ways in which the story of your love has been expressed to us. May we hold that story deep within us and share your love widely with compassion and hope.

One:      We give thanks for the many expressions of Christian faith throughout the earth. We pray for the many brothers and sisters whose faith is under threat. We pray for those who cannot worship and share their faith openly. We pray for Christians living in the midst of violence and struggle.

All:         We give thanks that you are a God who seeks unity while celebrating our diversity. You call us to live in harmony and peace with each other and the creation.

One:      We celebrate the love made known to us in the person of Jesus. We celebrate his love which drew out the gifts and strengths of each of the disciples and at the same time created unity in your spirit. We sing and celebrate with all creation:

Sing:      MV 203

One:      We remember Jesus’ life. We remember Jesus speaking with children and women as his equal. We remember Jesus touching the foreigner. We remember Jesus healing and restoring people to full community. We remember Jesus challenging the injustice of poverty and violence. Because he crossed boundaries and loved unconditionally, Jesus was killed.

We remember Jesus gathering his friends around a meal. He blessed the meal and broke the bread: “Take, eat my broken body.” We recognize this brokenness in the body of Christ around the world. Today as we celebrate World Communion, we pray for our brothers and sisters around the world and a spirit of unity within the world church. We remember Jesus blessing the wine and pouring it: “Take, drink this is my blood poured out.” We remember all those who live with suffering and broken relationships. May the meal nourish us as the bread of life and cup of blessing.

Sing:      MV 204

Sharing the Feast

Sing:      MV 205

 

Cosmos Sunday

September 22 was Cosmos Sunday at St. Andrew’s.  Again, the Whitespruce Work crew was instrumental in pulling this off. In various nooks and crannies of the church, there were cardboard stars of various sizes left from previous projects. These were covered in glitter, a string was strung across the front of the sanctuary and the stars suspended from it.

The call to worship found here inspired me to think about dancing. I found Spirit Blowing Through Creation by Marty Haugen which celebrates the creation and holds in tension the need for a new relationship with the creation. Two of our children who take ballet agreed to dance this piece of music. Another child was around when the practicing was taking place so we ended up with three children offering liturgical dance.

I invited people to turn to someone nearby and finish this sentence based on Psalm 136. “Give thanks to God for God is….” They were invited to talk about what they find most amazing in the whole universe. It could be something tiny or something big.

As people arrived for worship they were given a small ball of galaxy dough. One of the guys from the work crew spent several hours mixing this dough as it was very sticky and goopy. Cornstarch finally, firmed it up enough to be used. Each person was asked to use their galaxy dough to create some part of creation.

Psalm 136 from The Message was read responsively.

The Minute for Mission featured a Two-Spirit Pow-wow in Saskatoon which continued the theme of all creation dancing.

Reflection:

Psalm 136 that we are experiencing today, describes the wonder and awe of a cosmos we are only a tiny part of. The cosmos is bigger than we can fathom and it is in the tiniest cell of our body. We are a part of that cosmos that is within us and beyond us. We are called to participate in the great dance of life. We celebrate and give thanks to God. But if you’ve been watching the news over the summer, you know that the Amazon is burning and destroying the earth’s capacity to provide the oxygen we need to survive. We watched the destruction in the Bahamas. I met deaconess from the Caribbean this summer. They said there is no longer a hurricane season. There are hurricanes year-round and many more than what we hear in the news. There are wildfires in Australia and California, flooding in India, typhoons in China and the list goes on….

We might say that’s just part of the weather. There have always been bad storms, tornados, hurricanes and fires and while this is true, it doesn’t account for the intensity or the frequency of the storms. We see the vastness of space which gives us a sense of awe and reminds us of how tiny we are in God’s grand scheme of the universe. Yet humans are instrumental in changing how the universe functions for good and bad. We have learned to cure certain diseases and adapt to certain medical conditions so we live longer with a better quality of life. We have learned how to change the DNA of plants to grow more food. With this knowledge we change the world and create unexpected consequences: people live longer, genes mutate, cancer appears with more frequency. We are one speck in the web of life and yet humanity’s impact is felt across creation.

We get to choose: Will our presence be one that creates and sustains life or one that deadens and destroys life?

Offering Prayer:

Holy One of galaxies and sky, of molecules and specks of dust: We share our gifts trusting that you are a God of both big and small. May these gifts remind us of our place in the universe and be used in healing your creation. Amen

 

Interactive Worship for Storm Sunday

On September 15, we celebrated Storm Sunday as the second Sunday of Season of Creation. As people arrived for worship they were given a raindrop made out of wax crayon melted between wax paper. Instructions can be found here. The Whitespruce work crew helped us out again by making all these raindrops and putting a sting on each one. They created some larger raindrops which were hung on the walls for decoration. I had pinwheels and large garden flower spinner stuck in pots and a fan lined up just right to make them spin.

We used this Call to Worship from Beth Barnett based on Psalm 29. The reading parts were arranged ahead of time with a mix of children and adults. Other people were invited to choose one of the instruments. I sat in the front pew and directed the instruments and read the leader’s part with everyone else on the chancel.

To get us thinking about storms I used a clip of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.  After the clip, I invited people to hold their raindrop and think about a storm they had experienced. How did they feel during the storm? What did they do during the storm? They were then invited to write  (using permanent marker) a word on the raindrop that described the storm. The children collected the raindrops. One of the older children supervised tying all the raindrops together to make a mobile. Later in the service, we hung the mobile on a shepherd’s hook stuck in a bucket of sand.

Psalm 29 was read from Laughing Bird. This an Australian paraphrase that uses Australian idiom and images and modern, casual language. I like the way the describe storms.

The Minute for Mission: A Health Crisis describes the aftermath of a tsunami in India which damaged a nuclear powerplant and continues to create health challenges for people in the region.

Reflection:

The version of the Psalm that was read today is a paraphrase that comes from Australia. It uses images that are familiar to the people. If we were going to describe a storm what images might we use to describe a prairie storm? How would you describe the wind and the clouds, the hail, the snow of winter?

On the one hand, storms can be very scary. They have so much power behind them and we know they can be dangerous and have the potential to destroy. The landscape can be totally changed by a tornado, wildfire or flood. We also know that climate change is causing storms to intensify. As we heard in the Minute for Mission, one storm had devastating and unexpected consequences years later. When we see the destruction a storm can cause, how do we find God?

I believe as Sally McFague describes in her book The Body of God, that the earth is God’s body. The storms, while a natural phenomenon, are also a bit like an illness. They are a symptom that something is out of balance. We all have bacteria in us and most of the time it doesn’t cause harm but when it is out of balance, we become ill. If the earth is God’s body, and the earth is ill, then God is ill. It might seem strange to think of God in this way. Human bodies have an amazing ability to heal throughout our lifetime…our immune systems should kick to heal. The parts work together to find balance again.

God’s body, the earth, also has the ability to heal. We are part of the earth’s creation—not separate from it. We need to actively involved in healing the earth which is not only our home but God’s incarnated being.

The thing about storms is that even though they can be powerful and destroy, I love watching lightning out the window or hearing the thunder. I love seeing the snow sculpted by the wind. The key here is knowing that (unless it’s a tornado) I’m probably safe in my home. The psalm gives assurance that God is with us in both the fear and the awe of storms.

We’ve been talking today about the weather but these storms might also be storms in life. The same principle applies. They can be scary and destructive but the also have the power to transform our lives. It isn’t always a pleasant experience but if we stay in the storm, we find God’s presence in both the fearfulness and the awe of the experience.

Invitation to offering:

We recognize the storms of the world and make offerings through cash, PAR, time and talents to support people and creation in weathering the storms of life. These gifts support ministry in this congregation and community and around the world through Mission and Service.

Offering Prayer:

God of the storm, be present with us through everything life offers. May these gifts be used to bring healing of body, mind, spirit throughout the earth. May we be a reflection of you as we seek healing for your body. Through your spirit, Amen.

Happy Storm Sunday! I hope this sparks your creativity for worship.