A Eucharistic Liturgy for Families with Young Children

When it happened that families with young children wanted their children to remain with them during a very adult Rite II Eucharistic service, I decided that we needed a family Eucharist on Sundays.  The Book of Common Prayer gives permission for developing an Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist, one that is not intended to be used at the principal Sunday celebration of the Holy Eucharist, sometimes called Rite Page 400.

The goal for this Eucharist was to make it participatory for children while at the same time providing something substantial for adults.  What did we want to achieve?  We wanted to make the meaning of baptism and Eucharist as transparent as possible in the liturgy.  We wanted to provide accessible metaphors for the meaning of the Nicene Creed and Real Presence.  We wanted to make transparent the connection between the liturgy and every day life.  We wanted to make corporate prayer accessible.  Praying litanies of Praise, Thanksgiving and Petition using the intonation patterns for the Lord, Have Mercy, S-106 has proven to be very accessible to young children.  We wanted to make the service less wordy and more compatible with attention spans of children.  We wanted to choose more child friendly songs, ones that could also include dance and gestures.  We wanted to use young readers as our liturgists.  Other things that we do to invite participation:  We ask for children to express what they are thankful for before the litany of Thanksgiving.  We have baskets of instruments which children can choose to play, including drums, tambourines, triangles, cymbals, wood blocks etc.  The children also circle the altar after the Sanctus and remain until the Great Amen.  They also "con-celebrate" in that they are encouraged to mimic the gestures of the celebrant.

Below is a sample of our Eucharistic Liturgy for families with Young Children

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

September 25, 2011: Fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost 

Gathering Songs: Do Lord; Thy Word; May the Mind of Christ, Our Savior; Awesome God

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Do Lord  (Christian Children’s Songbook,  # 42)

1. I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun.  I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun.  I’ve got a home in glory land that outshines the sun, ‘way beyond the blue. 

Refrain: Do Lord, oh do Lord, oh, do remember me.  Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me. Do Lord, oh, do Lord, oh, do remember me, way beyond the blue.

2. I took Jesus as my Savior, you take Him too. I took Jesus as my Savior, you take Him too. I took Jesus as my Savior, you take Him too, ‘way beyond the blue.  Refrain

Liturgist: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 78

Hear my teaching, O my people; * incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 

We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, *

and the wonderful works he has done.  

Birthdays:  

Anniversaries:  

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus said to them, "I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?" And they argued with one another, "If we say, `From heaven,' he will say to us, `Why then did you not believe him?' But if we say, `Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  "What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, `Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' He answered, `I will not'; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, `I go, sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him."

Liturgist: The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil 

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and 

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is 

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Your Prayers are asked for healing for  

Faithful Departed:  

Your Prayers are asked for those in the Armed Forces 

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist: The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:   And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Music:  Glory to God in the Highest,  St. John’s Children’s Choir

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ. 

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n 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. Hosanna in the Highest.

(Children may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat 

 the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as   

 this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, 

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant: Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People: Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn:  May the Mind of Christ, My Savior, (Renew! # 285)

1. May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day, by his love and power controlling all I do and say.

2. May the word of God dwell richly in my heart from hour to hour, so that all may see I triumph only through his power.

3. May the peace of God, my Father, rule my life in everything, that I may be calm to comfort sick and sorrowing.

4. May the love of Jesus fill me as the waters fill the sea.  Him exalting, self abasing: this is victory.

5. May we run the race before us, strong brave to face the foe, looking only unto Jesus as we onward go.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: Awesome God, (Renew! # 245)

Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love our God is an awesome God.  (Sing three times)

Dismissal:    

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People:      Thanks be to God!  

A sermon on "Exceptionalism"

Lectionary Link

14 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 20, September 18,2011

Jonah 3:10-4:11   Psalm 145:1-8
Philippians 1:21-30  Matthew 20:1-16

   Believe it or not a Frenchman or two actually had good things to say about America so when such praise is forthcoming from the French, we should savor it. (We’ll have to ignore what they say about our cuisine).   There was Lafayette, who fought with us in the American Revolution.  And we did get the Lady Liberty Statue in the New York Harbor as a gift from France.  Perhaps the most quoted French admirer of America is the traveler and writer Alexis de Tocqueville.  In 1831 he admired the birth of the new nation America and the ingredients of American ideology that included egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire.  In 1831 and 1840 he described America as “exceptional.”  As individualists we probably did not need a Frenchman to tell us this, but we’ve agreed with him and almost every American has an opinion about our “exceptionalism.”  Politicians give their opinions about our “exceptionalism” all of the time and “exceptionalism” has been re-written by many to mean something different. American exceptionalism to people around the world is different.  Some would define our exceptionalism to be our military might and our possession of the best bombs and the best unmanned drones.  American “exceptionalism” has had religious overtones; indeed what gave our founders the right to run the Native peoples from their land?  It was an “exceptionalism” something like the Israelites had when they chased the inhabitants of Canaan from their Promised Land.  America was our Promised Land; it was our Manifest Destiny to possess it.  It is not surprising that so many places in America have been given biblical geographical names.

  The book of Jonah was a book written by a very wise and satirical writer who was challenging how the people of Israel were living with their notion of “exceptionalism” as God’s Chosen People who had been given a Promised Land.  I believe that every nation and every group or community and in fact every person has to come into a right relationship with “exceptionalism.”  A wrong relationship with “exceptionalism” is an exclusive, boastful, chauvinistic pride which demeans disenfranchises and devalues others.

  What did the writer of the book of Jonah believe?  The writer believed that Israel had been made exceptional through the gift of God and that gift was not to be hoarded or kept within the borders of Israel.  The writer of Jonah believed that the foreigners in Nineveh, if given the message about God and repentance, would discover a new sense of their “exceptionalism.”

  And so you have the rather comedic story of Jonah.  God said to Jonah, “Go preach to those foreign Syrians in Nineveh.”  And Jonah said, “Why would I want to share with them the gifts of our nation, the Torah for living and the message of God’s mercy?  Why would I share that with our potential enemies?  Why would I give them our State secret?  I’m not a traitor.”  What did Jonah do?  He as it were tried to take a “slow boat to China” to get as far away from Ninevah as possible.   But a storm arose and when Jonah realized that his disobedience was the cause of the storm, he asked to be thrown overboard to Davy Jones’ Locker at the bottom of the sea.  But God sent a big whale to swallow the pouting prophet.  The prophet was so caustic, the digestive juices of the whale could not digest him for three days and night, and so the whale vomited the prophet upon the beach.  And Jonah reluctantly obeyed; he went to Ninevah and preached and sure enough, the Ninevites repented and received the message.  And the pouting Jonah was angry? “See I told you God.  The message is so good about God love and mercy, I knew they would accept it, but they are our enemies.”  The pouting Jonah is an example of someone who did not understand why he had been given an exceptional gift.  The gift was not to be hoarded or limited to people within the borders of Israel.  The gift of God’s mercy is catholic, it is universal and open to people who are different than we are.  The sense of “exceptionalism” and God’s favor is so wonderful that it always makes us feel like we are the privileged first in honor and recognition.  But we are made exceptional in God’s grace and favor so that we can share the gift with others and become the last in honor as we see the enthusiasm and joy of those newly born in the experience of God’s grace.  “Exceptionalism” in our relationship with God takes us from first to last and we are to become happily last in honor when we see the joy of the new ones who have experienced the sense of “exceptionalism” from God.

  The parable of Jesus from the Gospel today is also about “exceptionalism” but it is also highlights what came to make our country exceptional.  “All are created equal.”  All are different but equal; equal in honor, dignity and justice.  Our baptismal vows to honor the dignity of every person expresses this ideal.  Different but equal.   In our difference we can appreciate that God meets us with favor in our uniqueness.  But in honoring equality, we also celebrate that God meets others with equal honor and dignity in the very ways in which they are different from us.

  Sometimes in our difference we want to protest how God measures and quantifies the value and worth of people.  As good capitalists, just like the original hearers of the parable, people’s worth were determined by the same standard of wage and work.  It seems unfair that a person who worked one hour would get the same wage as the one who had worked all day.

  But we do understand the equality of human dignity.  The worth of a child is not determined by how much work he or she can do to earn money.  The worth of an elderly person is not determined by what they can contribute to the national economy and work force.  The worth of people with impairments is not imputed as being less because they don’t have the able bodies to complete with those who do.  People are different but equal.  And this is the everyday struggle that we have with “exceptionalism.”  Sometimes we who have been blessed with exceptional wealth, gifts and talents, wonderful backgrounds with loving parents and every kind of social and educational opportunity;  sometimes we need to learn how to practice being last to help people who are different and who have not yet been able to experience their own “exceptionalism”  in the eyes of God.  We as followers of Jesus Christ, need to share our sense of “exceptionalism” and become those who bring the message of God’s favor and mercy and grace to those who are living in a world that does not give them easily the sense of being exceptional.  Parents naturally will give up their part of the stage of “exceptionalism” to let their children rise in the experience of “exceptionalism” in order to build their esteem.  But we need to know that the Gospel can make us exceptional in how we come to practice the justice of equality for all people.

  I believe that the book of Jonah and the Gospel parable provides us some insights on how we can be related to the experience of being “exceptional.”  But the greater message is how can we come to let others know that they are “exceptional” in God’s eyes too.  When we can see the success of esteem come to others, it is easy for us to be last.  The joy of the success of God’s love coming to another person, is unmatchable.  Amen. 

Forgiveness on 9/11? Really?

Lectionary Link

13 Pentecost, Cycle A proper 19, September 11, 2011

Exodus 14:19-31   Psalm 114

Romans 14:1-12  Matthew 18:21-35

  On this tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it may be very difficult for us to ponder the notion of endless forgiveness and this is implied when Jesus told his disciples not to set a limit on the numbers of times that one should forgive.    It may be hard for us to ponder the command of Jesus to  “love our enemies and to love those who hate us.”

  Does God forgive endlessly or is there a point when human willfulness can no longer access divine forgiveness?   Recently a Baptist preacher got himself into trouble with some of his base when he published a book entitled Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Has Lived.  Heaven and Hell has been a prime motivator for Christian religious communities for years.  How could a Baptist preacher, of all people, put such imaginations of heaven and hell into question?  How could he view such imaginations as but temporary states for people to learn ultimately the lesson of God’s unconditional love which in the end becomes convincing to everyone?  It is almost like Heaven and Hell are reduced to imaginations of a purgatory, through which every person works their way in the afterlife, until they learn to accept the love of God. 

  How could he give up the finality of heaven and hell and the incredible motivation that they can be for cleaning up our act in this life?  And how could he give up the finality of heaven and hell as tools of fundraising in the church?  We Episcopalian preachers know that hell, fire and brimstone do not work for fundraising in the Episcopal Church nor does guilt.  So how do we acknowledge the seriousness of evil in our world and ponder the ultimate reconciliation of all people to God’s love?  How do we reconcile the obvious presence of evil, the notion of justice and the final winsomeness of God’s love? Can we really envision Hitler, Stalin, and the 9/11 terrorists reconciled with God’s love?  Do we even want to envision that?

  I think that the controversy of Rob Bell’s books highlights the questions that are raised in the Bible about some great mysteries of life: Innocence and disproportionate suffering, Evil, justice, the limits of love and forgiveness.  The Biblical records provide many images regarding all these great mysteries and the churches at various times have tried to mold the diverse images of the Bible into a single and coherent theology.  And I don’t really think that can be done. The questions and the mysteries are what each of us live each day and we don’t have a silver bullet answer to any mystery.  We look for biblical insights to help us live with the mysteries.

    The Bible is a record of God’s people dealing with the question of the disproportionate dispensing of the suffering of this world amongst the people of the earth.  Many times in the history of the people of Israel as being God’s chosen people, they probably would say, “God if our conditions mean that we are chosen by God, then please do not choose us anymore.”  The whole notion of resurrection came into the Hebrew Scripture as a vision of an afterlife judgment program to rectify the inequities of life.  We may have to suffer now; but in the afterlife there will be justice and our tormentors will get their punishment, and we will get our reward.  This notion of the afterlife is why Marx called religion the opiate of the people.  We can submit to our fate of poverty in this world, because we know that in the afterlife we will get to live on the streets of gold and the tables will be turned on those who had it fortunate in this life at our expense.

  In the biblical record and in the Gospel one can find reflections upon both the global and the local situation of justice, forgiveness and reconciliation.  The events of 9/11 force us to think about both local and global issues of justice and forgiveness.  Those events which were painfully local for the people of our country have been both global and local issues for the last ten years of our lives.  Just think about your most recent trip to any airport.

  The Gospel message about forgiveness includes the words of Jesus that encourage us always to think very locally about people.  We are always to think of people as our brother and as our sister.

  Terrorist attacks occurred because the terrorists reduced people to be impersonal masks of politics and national identity.  In the 9/11 attacks the terrorists reduced individual people to images of someone they thought they hated.  If they had been able to meet John and Mary in their neighborhoods or coffee shops or as someone who gave them a friendly greeting, they could have behaved as local kind people.  But they allowed de-humanization to occur when they reduced real flesh and blood people to an effigy of their hatred.

   I think that the message of Jesus and forgiveness encourages us to live, love and forgive locally.  Do not let anyone become a de-humanized image or effigy of global hatred or group hatred.  We also know that in our warring response to 9/11, soldiers too have to de-humanize others to be able to accomplish their mission of retribution.  De-humanizing global hatred sets off events of revenge and retaliation.

  The message of Jesus is a preventive message; practice forgiveness early and often on the local level.  Do not let anyone become an effigy of global or group hate who can be de-humanized in order to make it easier to harm or injure.

  Today, we are at a very local Eucharistic event, but with global and future aspirations.  We are just a few here at the Lord’s table.  We hope that we are practicing love and forgiveness in our local situation but we also hope that people around the world know that they are invited to be with us at the Lord’s table where we can practice God’s great hospitality to everyone.

  And oh how we pray that forgiveness and love can be known as local and global experience.  And how we pray that God’s love can win us all in this life so that we don’t have to speculate about afterlife outcomes.

  And we pray today, may war and hatred cease in our world, may forgiveness never never end  and may the love of Christ win our world, both locally and globally.  Amen.