A Place in God's Heart... A Place at Christ's Table
Opening Worship
Published by the Institute for Welcoming Resources, a program of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force and home of the Shower of Stoles Project www.WelcomingResources.org. Unless otherwise noted, permission is granted to reprint individual selections for congregational use.
CALL TO WORSHIP
Creating God
From the More Light Presbyterians Retreat & Mission Weekend
New Orleans, LA, 2006
| One: | Creating God, blessed are You and blessed is this time and place. Thank You for Your people gathered here. |
| All: | We are here! Being the Church! We have not retreated! We are standing in praise! |
| One: | Reconciling Redeemer, You are the mender of our souls and the healer of our broken bodies. You lift us up, strengthen and sustain, nurture and nourish, heal and help. |
| All: | Holy Fire, ignite a new spark in the heart of each one gathered here. |
| One: | Light our way. Warm our bodies. Inspire our tongues to speak a new word, to shout another praise, and to sing an amazing song that will bring to us life and to You glory! |
CALL TO WORSHIP
God Has Shown Us What is Good
From St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Oklahoma City, OK
More Light Sunday, 2005
| One: | God has shown us what is good, and what then is required of us? |
| All: | To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. |
| One: | Jesus says: Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the One who sent me. |
| All: | The Spirit says, "Come." Let each one who hears the Spirit say, "Come," for all are welcome here. |
| One: | Let us worship God! |
CALL TO WORSHIP
The Heavens Are Telling the Glory of God
By Rev. Ann B. Day
Program Coordinator, Open and Affirming Program of the
United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns 1987-2007
Originally published in Shaping Sanctuary
| One: | The heavens are telling the glory of God! |
| All: | Day to day and night to night, unending is their silent speech of beauty and wonder. |
| One: | How shall we join their joyful witness? |
| All: | With words that proclaim God's inclusive love, with works that bring forth God's powerful justice, with worship that rejoices in God's wondrous presence, now and always. Amen! |
INVOCATION
Inviting the Presence
By Rev. Dr. Sally Harris
Co-Chair, Affirm United, United Church of Canada
| One: | Gathered in this sacred space, O Creator Spirit, in the multicolored company of Your Church on earth and in heaven, We celebrate Your creation and invite Your presence into our midst. We know, Creator Spirit, that eternity cannot hold You, Nor can our little words describe the breadth of Your faithfulness to us. Yet in the space of our small heart and in silence, Come close and repair us. |
| (Silence) | |
| One: | Creator Spirit, bring new life |
| All: | Where we are worn and tired, |
| One: | New love |
| All: | Where we have turned hard-hearted, |
| One: | Forgiveness |
| All: | Where we feel hurt and are wounded, |
| One: | And the joy and freedom of Your holy presence |
| All: | Where we are prisoners of ourselves. |
| One: | Creator Spirit, |
| All: | In the space of our small heart and in silence, Come close that we may dream. |
| (Silence) |
OPENING PRAYER
O God, Whom No Image Can Encompass
From the More Light Presbyterians Retreat & Mission Weekend New Orleans, LA, 2006
| All: | O God, whom no image can encompass, no definition encircle, and yet who meets us in the gentle touch of love, the beauty of a butterfly's wing, and the laughter of children, help us to move beyond our attempts to limit You, intellectualize You, or to eliminate You from all that is earthy, sensuous, or vibrant, so that we may greet You in every particle of this spectacular universe which You are creating. Amen. |
CALL TO WORSHIP
Send No One Away!
By Meredith Bischoff
President, Welcoming Community Network
Basileia: An Open Door Community of Christ, Solidarity Sunday 2006
| One: | Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. So they came up to him and asked if it was right for a man to divorce his wife. Jesus asked them, "What does the Law of Moses say about that?" They answered, "Moses allows a man to write out divorce papers and send his wife away." (Mark 10:2-4 CEV) |
| All: | We will send no one away. |
| One: | Some people brought their children to Jesus so that he could bless them by placing his hands on them. But his disciples told the people to stop bothering him. (Mark 10:13-14 CEV) |
| All: | We will send no one away. |
| One: | In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to himself, and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat. If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long way." (Mark 8:1-3 CEV) |
| All: | We will send no one away. |
| One: | And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is cruelly demon-possessed." But He did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, "Send her away, because she keeps shouting at us." (Matthew 22-23 NIV) |
| All: | We will send no one away. |
| One: | Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender brothers and sisters are walking with us on the path of the disciple. They have chosen to be there because they feel God's call to them. Some have struggled throughout their lives with questions and uncertainties about their identity, their acceptability, their status as children of God. Some have dared to tell their story, resulting at times in warm acceptance and other times in cold rejection. Some have come to understand that God loves them unconditionally and embraces them as valued members of the human family; others are not so sure. (adapted from Community of Christ President W. Grant McMurray's Address at the 2002 World Conference Address) |
| All: | We as a community of faith value diversity and celebrate those differences as intentional acts of God's creation. In that the realm of God includes all persons, we welcome and include all persons including persons of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and family units in the full life of the congregation. We will send no one away! (adapted from the welcoming statement of Basileia: An Open Door Community of Christ) |
CALL TO WORSHIP
We Are Part of the Church Universal
By Rev. Ann B. Day
Program Coordinator, Open and Affirming Program of the
United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns 1987-2007
Originally published in Shaping Sanctuary
| Voice I: | We are part of the Church universal - faithful people of every color, gender, class, sexual orientation, age, and ability, gathered to love and serve God. |
| Voice II: | We are an Open and Affirming church.* Together, let us worship God, rejoicing in the good news which we celebrate this day! |
| All: | There is a place in God's heart, there is a place at Christ's table, there is a place here and in every welcoming church for all people - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Straight! |
| Voice I: | Christ who gathers us, bids us follow in the ways of love and justice. |
| All: | May our hearts be open to Christ's leading in our worship and our living, this day and always. |
*Use the appropriate denominational designation
CALL TO WORSHIP
We Are the Body of Christ
By Rev. Ann B. Day
Program Coordinator, Open and Affirming Program of the
United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns 1987-2007
Based on I Corinthians 12:14-31
Originally published in Shaping Sanctuary
| Voice I: | We are the body of Christ! |
| Voice II: | The hand clapping, toe tapping, heart pumping, mouth tasting, arms embracing, |
| Voice III: | Justice seeing, hymn singing, love making, bread breaking, risk taking |
| All: | Body of Christ! |
| Voice I: | Baptized in one Spirit, we are members of one body. |
| All: | Many and varied in gender, color, sexuality, age, class, and ability, we are members of Christ's beautiful body. |
| Voice II: | None of us can say to another, "I have no need of you." |
| All: | For only together can we find wholeness. |
| Voice III: | None of us can say to another, "I will not care for you." |
| All: | For we are connected like muscle and bone. If one suffers, we all suffer. If one rejoices, we all rejoice! |
| Voice I: | Thanks be to God who, in Christ, has made us one. |
| All: | Let us worship God! |
CALL TO WORSHIP
What Right Have We to Invoke God's Name?
From the More Light Presbyterians Retreat & Mission Weekend New Orleans, LA, 2006
| One: | What right have we to invoke God's name on what we say and do here together? |
| All: | In Christ we have been called to be God's people, and given God's Spirit and Word. |
| One: | Have we the courage to worship in spirit and in truth, knowing that it may change us? |
| All: | We have come to seek, to find, and to be found. |
