Ordo for Lent 2 (4 March 2012)

Second Sunday in Lent

4 March 2012

The Gathering of the Community

The Opening Hymn

‘Take Up Your Cross, the Saviour Said’  Common Praise #431

The Introductory Responses

We cast our burdens upon you, O Lord,

and you will sustain us.

Create in us clean hearts, O God,

and renew a right spirit within us.

Cast us not away from your presence

and take not your Holy Spirit from us.

Give us the joy of your saving help again

and sustain us with your bountiful Spirit.

Blessed are you, O Lord, day by day,

the God of our salvation who bears our burdens.

The Hymn of Confession

‘Before I Take the Body of My Lord’  Common Praise #610

The Absolution

May the God of compassion,

who in Jesus Christ has made us a royal priesthood,

forgive you your sins,

open your eyes to God’s truth,

strengthen you to do God’s will

and give you the joy of eternal life,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The Collect of the Day

Let us pray

God of Sarah and Abraham,

long ago you embraced your people in covenant

and promised them your blessing.

Strengthen us in faith,

that, with your disciples of every age,

we may proclaim your deliverance in Jesus Christ

to generations yet unborn.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word of God

The First Reading

Genesis 17.1-7, 15-16

The Psalm of the Day

Psalm 22.23-31 in Songs for the Holy One

The Second Reading

Romans 4.13-25

The Gradual Hymn

‘Tree of Life and Awesome Mystery’  Common Praise #179 vv. 4, 5, 6c

The Gospel

Mark 8.31-38

The Sermon

The Apostles’ Creed

Let us confess the faith of our baptism.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.  Amen.

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

Commissioning of the Wardens and Church Committee

At the end of the Intercessions, Thanksgivings and Petitions, the newly-elected Wardens and Members of the Church Committee come forward.  The Presiding Celebrant says the following.

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

we are all baptized by the one Spirit into one body

and given gifts for a variety of ministries for the common good.

Let us now recognize and affirm the ministry

to which these persons have been called. 

They shall work among us as Wardens

and Members of the Church Committee

to share in the leadership of this Parish

and to nurture the life, order and vitality of our community

so that God’s love may grow here and in all the places

where we live, work and serve.

The Presider addresses the newly-elected as follows.

Will you, as long as you are engaged in the office to which you have been elected,

perform it with care, to the honour of God and the benefit of the church?

We will, with God’s help.

Will you be regular and constant in worship? 

We will, with God’s help.

Will you continue in the breaking of the bread and the prayers?

We will, with God’s help.

Will you study those things that may make you a more able minister of Christ?

We will, with God’s help.

May the Lord enable you and uphold you in this ministry.

May we find joy together in the service of Christ.

The Presider addresses the whole congregation.

Will you uphold these persons in the ministries to which they have been elected?

We will, with God’s help.

Let us pray.

O eternal God,

the foundation of all wisdom

and the source of all courage:

enlighten with your grace

the Wardens and Church Committee of this Parish,

and so rule their minds and guide their counsels

that in all things they may seek your glory

and promote the mission of your Church.

We ask this in the name of Christ

and in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The liturgy continues with the Exchange of the Peace.

Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of Christ which unites us in love be with you all.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

Offertory Hymn

‘Will You Come and Follow Me’  Common Praise #430

The Prayer over the Gifts

O God,

grant that all that we offer this day

may be your channel for new and abundant life

not only hope for, but worked for,

through faithful word and deed.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Great Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right to give you thanks and praise,

O Lord, our God, sustainer of the universe,

you are worthy of glory and praise.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

At your command all things came to be:

the vast expanse of interstellar space,

galaxies, sins, the planets in their courses

and this fragile earth, our island home;

by your will they were created and have their being.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

From the primal elements

you brought forth the human race

and blessed us with memory, reason and skill;

you made us the stewards of creation.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

But we turn again you and betray your trust;

and we turn against one another.

Again and again you all us to return.

Through the prophets and sages

you reveal your righteous law.

In the fullness of time you sent your Son,

born of a woman, to be our saviour.

He was wounded for our transgressions

and bruised for our iniquities.

By his death he opened to us

the way of freedom and peace.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

Therefore we praise you,

joining with the heavenly chorus,

with prophets, apostles and martyrs,

and with those in every generation

who have looked to you in hope,

to proclaim with them your glory,

in their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed are you, Lord our God,

for sending us Jesus, the Christ,

who on the night he was handed over

to suffering and death,

took bread, said the blessing,

broke the bread, gave it to his friends,

and said, “Take this, and eat it:

this is my body which is given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after supper,

he took the cup of wine;

he gave you thanks,

and said, “Drink this, all of you:

this is my blood of the new covenant,

which is shed for you and for all people

for the forgiveness of sins.

Whenever you drink it,

do this for the remembrance of me.”

Glory to you for ever and ever.

Gracious God,

we recall the death of your Son Jesus Christ,

we proclaim his resurrection and ascension,

and we look with expectation for his coming

as Lord of all the nations.

We who have been redeemed by him,

and made a new people by water and the Spirit,

now bring you these gifts.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us

and upon this offering of your Church,

that we who eat and drink at this holy table

may share the divine life of Christ our Lord.

Glory to you for ever and ever.

Pour out your Spirit upon the whole earth

and make it your new creation.

Gather your Church together

from the ends of the earth into your kingdom,

where peace and justice are revealed,

that we, with all your people,

of every language, race and nation,

may share the banquet you have promised;

through Christ, with Christ and in Christ,

all honour and glory are yours,

creator of all.

Glory to you for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

We break this bread,

communion in Christ’s body once broken.

Let your church be the wheat

which bears its fruit in dying.

If we have died with him,

we shall live with him;

if we hold firm,

we shall reign with him.

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion

‘You Call Us, Lord, to Be’  Common Praise #450

The Hymn after Communion

The Commissioning of the Community

The Prayer after Communion

God of the covenant,

you call us to be fruitful servants within creation,

and to offer our lives as the foundation of your real.

We lay before you the desires of our hearts,

that we may be transformed by their fulfillment,

proclaimed in this sacrament of hope.  Amen.

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen.

The Closing Hymn

‘To Abraham and Sarah’  Common Praise #468

The Dismissal

Let us go forth to witness to the steadfast love of God.

Thanks be to God.

Liturgical Notes

The Introductory Responses are adapted from The Book of Alternative Services (1985), p. 97.

The Absolution is adapted from Common Worship (2000), p. 136.

The Collect is taken from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), p. 81.

The Apostles’ Creed is taken from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), p. 105.

The Commissioning was prepared by the Rev’d Richard Geoffrey Leggett from materials used previously at Saint Faith’s.

The Prayer over the Gifts and the Prayer after Communion are adapted from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), p. 80.

The Dismissal was prepared by the Rev’d Dr Richard Geoffrey Leggett.

All other liturgical texts are taken from The Book of Alternative Services (1985), pp. 185-228.

Interfaith Panel on Israel

Being in the Same Boat: Noah and the Christian People

RCL Lent 1B

26 February 2012

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Focus text:  Genesis 9.8-17 and the Baptismal Covenant

         Some of you may know and others of you may not know that I have served as the co-chair of the Vancouver Jewish-Christian Dialogue for almost ten years.  Our Dialogue had its beginnings when the provincial government announced its intention to hold a referendum on the rights of aboriginal peoples in the province as these rights affected possible settlement of land claims.

         The Jewish community immediately recognized the danger of referenda on the rights of minorities.  Over the centuries Jews have experienced the potential negative outcomes of such political actions and the Jewish community in Vancouver was not about to stand on the sidelines in this initiative of the provincial government.  I was among the Christian clergy invited to attend an initial meeting and, as the story goes, I have been involved ever since.

         Early on in our Dialogue we determined that we needed not only to look at social and political issues that affected our communities but that theological and spiritual questions were also ones that we needed to discuss.  It was in the course of preparing for one such session that I came across the Jewish teaching about the so-called covenant of Noah.

         At the heart of Jewish theology is the concept of covenant.  A covenant is a solemn agreement where two parties bind themselves together in an indissoluble relationship.  If one party fails to live up to the terms of the agreement, then there are consequences to be sure, but the covenant remains.  After a period of time and a process of reconciliation the covenant is renewed and the parties continue in their relationship.

         In the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Five Books of Moses or, in Hebrew, the Torah, there are at least three covenants.  The one that most of us are familiar with is the covenant that God makes with the Hebrew people at Mount Sinai occasionally called the covenant of Moses.  This is a very specific covenant with a small community of people.  To this day this covenant shapes the lives of our Jewish sisters and brothers, our neighbours and our companions in following the Holy One of Israel.

         But before the covenant with Moses God makes two other covenants.  An older covenant than the covenant with Moses is God’s covenant with Abraham and Abraham’s descendants.  From time to time our lectionary brings us stories of Abraham and Sarah as well as stories about their descendants, Isaac and Jacob.  This covenant plays a major role in the spiritual theology of Jews, Christians and Muslims.  It is a broader covenant than the covenant with Moses, touching both the physical and spiritual descendants of this Middle Eastern patriarch.

         Even older than the covenant with Abraham, however, is the covenant we hear God making with Noah today.  This is not a covenant between God and the myriad descendants of a patriarch nor is it a covenant between God and one tribe descended from that patriarch.  The covenant with Noah is a covenant made with all living things:  “Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘As for me I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.’” (Genesis 9.8-10)

         This is the original covenant made between God and all living creatures, a covenant that has particular meaning in the Jewish theological tradition.  Later generations of Jewish thinkers will ponder this covenant with Noah and discern that there are seven laws in this covenant.  Human beings are forbidden (i) to commit idolatry, (ii) to commit murder, (iii) to steal, (iv) to commit sexual immorality, (v) to blaspheme and (vi) to eat the flesh of living animals and are required (vii) to establish courts of law.  Any non-Jew who follows these laws will have a place in the world to come and be considered as righteous as any Jew who follows all the commandments of the law of Moses.

         In some ways this covenant with Noah is a precursor of the covenant you and I made at our baptism.  Just as the covenant with Noah reaches out to all living creatures, so does the baptismal covenant reach out to include every human being who wishes to experience the embrace of God’s faithful and steadfast love. 

         But our baptismal covenant also mirrors the covenant of Moses.  Just as the covenant with Moses created a people who were called to witness to the God of Noah, the God of Abraham and the God of Moses, so too does the baptismal covenant create a people who are called to witness to the God of Jesus of Nazareth whose life and teaching summons every human being into relationship with the God whom Jesus called ‘Abba’.

         Lent is a season during which all Christians are called to examine their lives and to re-commit themselves to the covenant that God made with each one of us at our baptism.  Whether we were baptized as an infant or a young child or as an adult, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.  If we were to return to our baptismal covenant after years of neglect, we would not be re-baptized.  We would be re-integrated into the community of faith and given the opportunity to rediscover our fundamental identity as the people of Christ and witnesses to the resurrection.

         In our current Anglican baptismal practice we make use of a liturgical text first prepared for the American Episcopal church in the 1970’s.  Every time we baptize or celebrate a baptismal occasion in the Christian year we renew our covenant.  But the chief renewal of that covenant occurs at Easter when we celebrate the new life made known to us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.  That covenant has two parts:  (i) a confession of faith in God using the familiar words of the Apostles’ Creed and (ii) five commitments that arise from our confession of faith.  It is about the first part, the confession of faith, that I want to offer some reflections as we begin our Lenten journey.

         To confess that we believe in God the Father is to confess our belief in a God who has a purpose for creation.  It is not always easy to believe this in a world such as ours where governments kill their own citizens, where people die of preventable diseases and where the rich seem to grow richer and the poor poorer.  But we dare to claim that God does have a purpose for this world and that creation was not an accident or the random result of unknown physical forces.  This world and all the worlds, known and unknown, came into being because God loves.  We may not be certain what that purpose is, but we can be certain that God knows and that this purpose will come in the fullness of time.

         To confess that we believe in God the Son is to confess our belief in a God who gives us a pattern for genuine maturity and humanity.  In a society such as ours where advertising and the mass media offer us false patterns of genuine humanity, where young people are led to believe that conformity to some one else’s idea of perfection is desirable and where the quiet courage of thousands of people throughout the world who work daily for justice and peace is overshadowed by movie stars and so-called ‘reality show’ participants, to believe in Jesus Christ as the model for what it means to be a human being has a hard time selling itself.  But we dare to believe that true maturity and true humanity, when it shows itself, has the face of Christ.

         To confess that we believe in God the Holy Spirit is to confess our belief in a God who continues to work to achieve God’s purposes for us and for all of creation.  This is not always easy to believe when we face the challenges of our daily lives, especially when we experience unexplained and unpredictable brokenness, tragedy and loss.  But then a moment comes and a light shines into our darkness pointing us in an unexpected direction and we realize that the brokenness, the tragedy and the loss were not signs of God’s absence.  Light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it.

         Today we gather for the first Sunday eucharist in Lent.  We also gather after the service for our annual meeting to transact the business of this community.  While it is tempting to see the eucharist and the annual vestry as separate and, perhaps, unrelated events, I hope that we will see them both as moments to renew our belief in the God who created all things for a purpose, who provides us with a living model for whom we are called to become and who continues to work in us and for us in bringing all creation to its perfection.  As people of the covenant made in baptism and in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, I hope we will join Noah and Abraham and Moses and all their descendants in a life empowered by our hope that all God’s children shall be free and the whole earth will live to praise God’s name.  Amen.

Liturgical Ordo for Transfiguration Sunday

Last sunday after epiphany: 

transfiguration sunday

19 February 2012

The Gathering of the Community

Processional Hymn

‘Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness’  Common Praise #397

Introductory Responses

Christ is the image of the invisible God,

the first-born of creation.

In him all things in heaven and on earth were created,

things visible and invisible.

Christ is the head of the body, the church;

he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead.

In Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

and through Christ we are reconciled to God.

Hymn of Praise

Gloria in excelsis by Rupert Laing

Collect

Let us pray.

Holy God, mighty and immortal,

you are beyond our knowing,

yet we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ,

whose compassion illumines the world.

Transform us into the likeness of the love of Christ,

who renewed our humanity so that we may share in his divinity,

the same Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Proclamation of the Word

First Reading

2 Kings 2.1-12

The Psalm

Psalm 50.1-6 in Songs for the Holy One

Second Reading

2 Corinthians 4.3-6

The Gradual Hymn

‘We Have This Ministry’  Songs for a Gospel People #76

The Gospel

Mark 9.2-9

The Sermon

Bishop Michael Ingham

An Affirmation of Faith

Do you believe and trust in God, the Holy One of Israel,

source of all being and life,

the one for whom and in whom we exist?

We believe and trust in the Holy One of Israel.

Do you believe and trust in God, the Word incarnate,

who took our human nature,

died for us and rose again?

We believe and trust in the Word incarnate.

Do you believe and trust in God, the Power of the Most High,

who gives life to the people of God

and makes Christ known in the world?

We believe and trust in the Power of the Most High.

This is the faith of the church.

This is our faith.

We believe and trust in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

Confession and Absolution

Let us remember before God our selfish ways,

the things we have done wrong,

the sorrows we have caused,

the love we have not shown.

Silence for reflection is kept.

Most merciful God,

forgive us our sins against you

and against each other.

Strengthen us to overcome our weaknesses,

that we may live in love

as you would have us live,

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour

and in the bonds of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

May the God of love and power

forgive you and free you from your sins,

heal and strengthen you by the Spirit,

and raise you to new life in Christ our Lord.  Amen.

The Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of Christ be always with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

The Offertory Hymn

‘We Praise You, O God’  Common Praise #342

Prayer over the Gifts

God of Moses and Elijah,

receive all we offer you this day

and reveal the glory and presence of your Spirit

alive in the world today,

freeing us from all doubts

and empowering us to be a transfigured people.

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, gracious god,

creator of heaven and earth,

because in the mystery of the Word made flesh

you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts,

to give knowledge of salvation

in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now with angels and archangels

and the whole company of heaven,

we lift our voices

to proclaim the glory of your name.

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life:

Blessed are you for the birth of creation.

Blessed are you in the darkness and in the light.

Blessed are you for your promise to your people.

Blessed are you for the prophets’ hopes and dreams.

Blessed are you for Mary’s openness to your will.

Blessed are you for your Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh.

In the night in which he was betrayed,

our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;

broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take and eat; this is my body given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,

and gave it for all to drink, saying:

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

[Therefore let] us proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

With this bread and cup we remember

your Word dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.

We remember our new birth in his death and resurrection.

We look with hope for his coming.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Holy God, we long for your Spirit.

Come among us.  Bless this meal.

May your Word take flesh in us.

Awaken your people.  Fill us with your light.

Bring the gift of peace on earth.

Come, Holy Spirit.

All praise and glory are yours, Holy One of Israel,

Word of God incarnate, Power of the Most High,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (sung to BAS 918)

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread

We break the bread of life,

and that life is the light of the world

God here among us,

light in the midst of us,

bring us to light and life.

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion

Communion Hymn

‘You, Lord, Are Both Lamb and Shepherd’  Common Praise #630

The Sending Forth of the Community

Prayer after Communion

Holy God,

we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

May we who are partakers of his table

reflect his life in word and deed,

that all the world may know

your power to change and save.

We ask this in his name.  Amen.

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen.

Blessing

Closing Hymn

‘’Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here’  Common Praise #167

Dismissal

Go forth to reveal Christ in the world.

Thanks be to God.

Notes

The Introductory Responses are based upon Colossians 1.15, 16, 18, 19, 20.

The Collect is the Thematic Collect for the Last Sunday after Epiphany in Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), p. 72.

 ‘An Affirmation of Faith’ has been adapted from ‘Authorized Affirmations of Faith 1’ in Common Worship (2000), p. 144.

The Confession is adapted from ‘Home Prayers’ in The Book of Alternative Services (1985), pp. 691-692, and the Absolution from Common Worship (2000), p. 135.

The Prayer over the Gifts is adapted from the Intercessory Prayer for the Last Sunday after Epiphany in Revised Common Lectionary Prayers (2002), p. 72.

The Thanksgiving at the Table is taken from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), p. 110 with the first Preface of the Incarnation from The Book of Alternative Services (1985), p. 220.

Any liturgical elements not noted here are taken from ‘The Holy Eucharist’ in The Book of Alternative Services, p. 185 ff.