Epiphany Bonfires and more!

Bob's churches do an Epiphany bonfire each year. People bring their Christmas trees to fuel the flames. He sent me the liturgy but it won't post directly into the blog. If anyone would like a copy, let me know, and I'll be glad to send it along. It looks like a creative and fun way to reinforce the symbolism of light. He even got some press coverage one year, so it's good media material as well!

On another topic, Jon wants to know if anyone tapes or films their worship services and, if so, what kind of equipment you use. He wants to know what you do with obsolescence and also what you thoughts are on getting the tapes out to home bound people. Comment directly to the blog or send your thoughts in an e-mail, and I'll post them.

In our church, we audiotape the service but don't have the equipment to videotape with any regularity. Sometimes our deacons take the tape when they take communion to home bound people. Sometimes someone in the congregation volunteers to take the tape if the home bound person is a friend of theirs.

More Christmas Eve Thoughts

At the end of the service during the singing of Silent Night, I have the ushers turn the lights down except on the chancel. As the congregation sings, a couple with a little baby walks slowly forward, (they are in costume) and when they reach the front of the church, turn and face the congregation for a moment then walk out a side door. The lights come up, the final blessing is said, and Joy to the World, ends the service. You just have to get lucky with the timing if there are not a lot of babies in your congregation. (from Bob)

Another idea is to do "Silent Night" with guitar rather than organ - since it was originally written for guitar! I know of one minister who invited anyone who played guitar to bring their instrument to the service. When "Silent Night" was sung at the end with candlelight, the guitarists spread out around the congregation and played. It was really nice to be literally surrounded by the music as it was originally meant to be played. (from Nancy)

More Ideas for Christmas Eve Worship

Here's what others have said about their Christmas Eve traditions:

At our church we walk the line between those who want a very quiet almost somber service and those with children who need something that engages the kids. A couple of things we have done include have live tableaus with lots of carols and the scriptures read as a choral type reading. I have also handed out different parts of the ceramic Nativity set out to children as they come in to the service and have the family bring that piece up and put it in the set at the time those scripture passages are read and carols and choir music are woven into all of that. Letting the kids put the the nativity scene throughout the service and including them in the communion service at the end seems to keep them engaged and also to address the need to have a quieter service. (from JoAnn)

Our service is late afternoon (5 pm) and the focus is on the kids. The content is a bit different each year. I keep the kids with me as much as possible through the service - use a call and response style reading of the gospel to keep them tuned in - and then the "sermon" is a story or activity with all the kids involved. Different years have had different story or activity - one year, paper cutouts of the characters so the kids could choose who they wished to be as we acted out the story together; one year Santa arrived with his bag full of Christmas items that have Christian explanations (from Sharon)

Christmas Eve will be mostly candle light, favourite hymns, and scripture. This year I intend to portray the arrival and birth of Jesus from the character of the Innkeeper. (from Jim)

I've done Christmas Eve services that have included different (short) readings interspersed with Christmas Hymns. My favourite was the last few lines of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, when he realizes "maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store, maybe Christmas means just a little bit more"...I've done a Birthday Party for Jesus as an early Christmas Eve service. (from Katharine)

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is such a wonderful time in all of our churches! As worship leaders, we have an opportunity to tell the ancient story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem in ways that might reflect the time-honored traditions of our congregations or in ways that present the timeless story in a new way.

We have two services in our church. One is a late afternoon service especially for families, and the other is a communion service at 11:00 P.M. Both services have a candlelight component.

I see my task at the early service as keeping the kids from exclusively watching out the sanctuary windows for Santa and his sleigh (inevitable, I think) and helping them to focus for just a little while on the birth of Jesus. Since there are a lot of families who don't generally come to church regularly, I usually have a small felt stocking with a little candy cane for the children when they arrive.

One year I arranged the front of the sanctuary like a living room with a rocking chair and lamp and read several Christmas stories, including "Santa's Favorite Story" (beautiful story and illustrations) to the children. I'd be glad to share any of those resources with anyone. In that service, one of the kids also added the baby Jesus to complete the creche.

I have also lit the Advent wreath throughout the service interspersed with reading "Why the Chimes Rang" - another wonderful children's Christmas story.

In recent years I have done a traditional pageant where the kids have created a nativity scene over the course of the service. There is always lots of candlelight, and several of the older youth have sung solos and duets. Two college aged kids home for the holiday are the prophets who tell the story. They are the only ones with lines to say.

This has worked out well. Last year a small child in the congregation came up to the manger after the service, wanting to see the baby Jesus - so I guess we did OK.

At the late service, I have done a traditional lessons and carols but prefer to do more contemporary readings and carols. I have used poetry by Ann Weems and readings from several Iona Community sources (!). I try to work in themes of social justice as much as possible while at the same time providing a quiet meditative experience for people.

I found a video that I'm thinking of using this year at the late service. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POm7_WBMJTI. It's called "Awaiting the Christ Child" and was done by Christine Sine.

I'd love to hear what others are doing!

Starting Down the Rabbit Hole....

I wrote this for my church newsletter - and should have posted it here a couple of weeks ago. However, I think my thoughts hold true even a couple of weeks into the month.....

I’ve always thought of November as an empty, in between sort of month - at least until Thanksgiving. I always have this sense of stillness when I take the dogs out first thing in the morning on November 1st, All-Saints Day. All is quiet. The earth seems to be taking a long and deep breath.

Early November seems like it is the end of something and not quite the beginning of something else. There are always a few stray candy wrappers on the lawn, which has been mowed for the last time until next Spring - perhaps the small remnant of a costume, more likely that crazy spray neon-colored stringy stuff in the road. The jack-o-lantern is beginning to mold on its inside and will soon be headed for the compost heap where it will winter over and maybe even be gone by June. The trees are mostly bare of leaves, their empty branches silhouetted against the sky. The wind brings only cold thoughts of winter and snow.

The first part of November is like a no man’s land. You can’t go back to summer - even Indian summer. And you are really not sure that you are ready to go forward to what will come next.

The world seldom stops but it does in November at least for a little while until the stubby candles in the shape of Pilgrims come out of hiding and the kitchen begins to smell of molasses and cinnamon, of fruitcakes and plum puddings, until the guests arrive with their pumpkin pies and oyster casseroles, until the candles are in the windows and the carols begin to play and Santa Claus arrives on a fire truck and the children go crazy with excitement and anticipation and we remember the joys and sorrows of holidays past and we decorate the tree in the living room and we bake and we wrap and we mail and we search the malls until we find the perfect gift for everyone including the guinea pig and the dogs and we lament over spending too much money for yet another year and we fall like Alice down something like a rabbit hole that doesn't let us out until Christmas.

In early November, take a breath like the earth does. When life gets too frazzled and you can’t find God or a reason for the craziness, go outside, and let the cold winds of winter chill your face. Look at the barren branches on the trees. Breath and remember the quiet and stillness of that long ago first day in November, of that even longer ago family in a stable in Bethlehem. Then smile and say a prayer of gratitude for life with all its glitz and glitter, for all its holiday hoopla, for all that Thanksgiving and Christmas are meant to be.

Thoughts for Thanksgiving

Though it’s only a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving – and many of us may already have worship plans in place - I thought I would share a Thanksgiving worship tradition in my church.

I have always felt that it is important to spend some time with this particular holiday since in the stores (if your towns and cities are anything like those around me) are now on a direct course sweeping us rapidly along to Christmas. The Halloween candy is no sooner discounted and then removed from the shelves than all the Christmas paraphernalia takes its place. From orange and black to red and green – and Thanksgiving is completely bypassed and marginalized. So much for my little bit of ranting…..

On Thanksgiving Sunday, the congregation together creates a filled cornucopia on the altar. In advance of the service, people are asked to bring fresh fall produce – fruits and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, squash, pumpkins, gourds, onions, etc. In addition, I leave potatoes, carrots, etc. here and there on the pews – in case people forget, are visitors, etc. There is a large, empty cornucopia on the altar.

I don’t generally preach on Thanksgiving but have a number of readings – scriptural and non – interspersed with times that people are invited to come forward with different types of produce and lay it on the altar. That is, at one point everyone with squash and pumpkins come forward, later on everyone with potatoes and onions, etc. One year, when the worship theme was “Count your Blessings, I also included a leaf shaped cut out in the bulletin and asked people to write down something they were thankful for and bring that to the altar along with their produce.

By the end of the worship service, the cornucopia on the altar is overflowing with produce and makes a strong visual statement.

When the service is over, the produce is used in the 50+ Thanksgiving dinner baskets we make for people in the community who need some help with food for the holiday – and beyond.

I’m curious about what others do for Thanksgiving. Please feel free to share……

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP

JoAnn is asking - "I am leading a workshop on Worship In the Small Church. I would like to provide them with a resource sheet of web sites or books or music books (choir or small groups) that people have found to be especially good. Do any of you have some you would recommend?"