UCANZ FORUM2009

Service of Holy Communion

GREETING

The Lord be with youKia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou

The Lord bless youMa Ihowa koe e manaaki

May the God of the weaving threads be with you all this morningAnd also with you

Here we begin another chapter in the life of the Uniting Congregations of Aotearoa New Zealand, weaving together the fabric of our individual parish lives and those of our Partner Churches.

In all its different colours and texturesIn all its changing form and flow

Here we mark the work completed since the last forum

And hope in anticipation for the new things to come.

Here we celebrate each person, each congregation, each Partner Church as a thread in the weaving.

Here we cherish the moments spent engaging with one another in workshops, in dialogue groups and in friendship at meal times.

God, the weaver, making patternsspinning threads throughout our days –joy and sadness interwovenstrands of sorrow, strands of praise,help us to discern your weavingin the multi-coloured maze.

SONG

Teach us Lord to trust your guidancewhen the pattern is not clearand to feel your strength and comfortwhen life’s fabric’s torn by fearHelp us sense that in the dark timeslightening love is always near.

When we see the pattern changingand a new direction startslet us know your love unbrokenwind through life in all its partsby the threads of love and friendshipclosely woven in our hearts.

Though we never see the picturewith your sense of space and timehelp us, Lord to take our placesin our faith’s continuing lineas all lives are interwovenin our final grand design.

Majorie Dobson

CONFESSION Let us not pretend that, as we see our

life and ministry as weavings, there are no tears, mends, holes, tangles and knotted places: silent hurts and angers that make sad gaps in our relationships with one another and in our relationships with our parishes and wider denominations:

(silent reflection)

Threads of lives moving in opposition to each other, or pulled so tightly they nearly break, thin patches and frayed edges of tiredness, tangles that seem impossible to unravel, disappointments or failed expectations that fade the fabric and discolour its beauty.

(silent reflection)

We are human, O God

Give to us your graceGive to us your loving forgiveness.

Amen

God is present in grace among us woven within our lives like a strong golden thread of transforming possibilities. We are forgiven

Thanks be to God.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

BIBLE READINGS

Psalm 139:1-6; 13-18

Ephesians 4:1-16

SermonPeter Mackenzie

THE CELEBRATION

Come dream the pattern in your mindcome spin the joining thread.Come link the parts to form a tenta tent for sharing bread

SONG

Our loving takes both warp and weftand weaves their threads as oneto form a web of tenderness as vibrant as the sun.

SONG

With God we pitch this sacred tenta canopy of grace.A space where pilgrim folk can meetto laugh and to embrace

Bill Wallace

SONG

AFFIRMATION AND COMMITMENT

Here is beauty and variety, many things can be created from this fabric.

We are a cloth of many diverse coloursmade from many gifts and graces

We are the people flowing forth from the Creator surprising ourselves with those things which can be done. We are raw material for rewarding relationships as our lives interweave, contributing one to the other, holding each other firm when one is weak or breaking.

We are each worthy of being respected and cared for essential to the pattern, skilled in our various ministries, vehicles for unexpected wisdom and skills, .....

sources of laughter and sharers of tears, working with each other that, one day, this world may be a place where all people live in justice, freedom and peace.This is our hope, this is our faith, Christ Jesus will be our company and the Spirit gives life to the weaving.

Intercessions Intercessions

Sovereign God though your love seeks to unite we are conscious of so much that still divides,

wounding and scarring the lives of many. Hear then our prayers for others.

IntercessionsIn a world of inequality we pray for the poor:so many denied the essentials of life –food and water, shelter, education and healthcare.

Provide the resources they need to build a better future, and stir those like us who have plentynot to be content to make token gestures of support

but to promote a fairer and more loving world.God of all,

May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Intercessions In a world of religious tension, where faith

so often polarises rather than unites,inciting hatred, persecution, violence, war, we pray for dialogue, respect, and reconciliation –a willingness to see beyond differences to shared values and aspirations.

God of all,May your love bring hope, healing and

harmony.

IntercessionsIn a world of racial inequality

we pray for those who still face discrimination,rejection, hostility, or abuse; their customs, convictions, or simply the colour of their skinblinding people to the common humanity we share.

Break through the barriers of bigotry and ignorance,so that each may be accorded their true worth.

God of all,

May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

IntercessionsIn a world of political instabilitywe pray for societies, countries and continents divided from within wrestling with factional

in-fighting, sectarian conflict or civil war.Grant the ability to look beyond ideology

and to work for the common goodin partnership with those of contrasting convictions.

God of all,May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

IntercessionsIn a world of conflictwe pray for the Church, called to embody unity in Christyet all too often divided itself.

Move through your Spirit to create openness to different traditions, diverse experiences, diverging emphases,so that variety might mean strength rather than weakness,openness to new ideas rather than entrenchment in old.

God of all,

May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Commissioning of

Standing Committee

Standing Committee has the responsibility of doing the work of Forum. That is to promote and support Cooperative Ventures, local Ecumenical Projects and Joint Regional Committees.

It presents reports and recommendations on behalf of the Forum to the national courts of the Partner Churches as well as encouraging unity through sharing new understandings in worship, spirituality, theology, mission, inclusiveness and cohesion.

It relates the quest for unity to other developments within the Church and other related agencies. Standing Committee consists of equal numbers of elected representatives from Uniting Congregations and appointed representatives from the five Partner Churches.

Janet Taege:Do you commit yourselves to the responsibility that goes with this role?

Standing Committee Members:In faith and hope we offer ourselves to God. In joy and wonder we honour our calling and, surrounded by prayer, we commit ourselves to this ministry. God is with us and God is within us. Amen

Janet Taege:Will you as members of Uniting Congregations uphold the Standing Committee in prayer and support the members as it carries out its duties?

Members of Uniting Congregations:We will with God’s help

The peace of Christ be always with you.And also with youE te whanau, we are the threads that make up the fabric of the Body of Christ, the ChurchBy one Spirit were baptised in one body

PASSING THE PEACE

Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace

Amen. We are woven together by the love of Christ

(The peace is shared with those around us)

There is no bread like the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Let us bring our offerings to God with joy and thanksgiving.

OFFERTORY

Rejoice for God has called us from darkness into light,a people of thanksgiving,a people of delight.For we are Christ’s own body,made up of many parts,united in one Spiritpoured into many hearts

SONG

The ministry of lovingIs given to us all.The call to prayer and service is every Christian’s call,and every man and womanwhoever was baptizedbrings gifts the church has need ofto witness to the Christ.

So some have gifts of healing,some dream, some plan, some teach,some make the stranger welcome,some reconcile, some preach.While all these priestly peoplemust serve God faithfully, some are ordained to mirrorand shape our ministry.

The deacons show us JesusWho came to wash our feet.They serve Christ at the edgesWhere church and world must meet.Among Christ’s joyful servants,These are ordained to leadIn caring for the outcastsThe sick, and all in need.

The priests are men and womenWho shape our common prayer,Who take the bread and break it,And bless the cup we share.They teach good news of Jesus,Of peace for all the earth,And tell how God forgives usAnd blesses our new birth.

And now we pray: Christ JesusGive your abundant graceTo all who know they need you,To all who seek your face.Bind up the wounded, lead usTo grow in holiness,And send us, for your name’s sakeTo heal, forgive, and bless.

We give you glory: Jesus,Our shepherd. Servant, priest,and to the one who sent you,who calls us to this feast,and glory to the Spiritwho teaches us your ways:One God, true, loving, holy –how good to give you praise.

Elizabeth Smith

The work of human hands is respected of God:

the bread, risen in the warmth, the wine, crushed in its bitter sweetness.All that we offer is received and transformed into new possibilities

Blessed be God forever.

THE INVITATION

Jesus was always the guest in other people’s homes-upsetting polite company, befriending isolated people,welcoming the stranger.He was always the guest. But here, at this table, He is the host.

Those who wish to serve Him must first be served by Him,those who want to follow Him must first be fed by Himthose who would wash His feet must first let him make them clean.For this is the table, where God intends us to be nourished.

This is the time when Christ can make us new.So come, you who hunger and thirst for a deeper faith, for a better life, for a fairer world.Jesus Christ who has sat at our tables now invites us to be guests at his.

What we do here, we do in the imitation of what Christ first did.We take this bread and this wine the ordinary things of the worldwhich Christ will make special and as he said a prayer before sharinglet us do so too.

THE STORY

GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

God is with youAnd also with you

Lift up your heartsWe lift them to God

Let us give thanks to the God of all creationIt is right to offer thanks and praise.

It is indeed right................

And so we proclaim your glory, as we say:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Among friends, gathered round a table,

Jesus took bread, broke it and said,“This is my body broken for you.”

And later he took the cup of wine and said

“This is the new relationship with God, made possible because of my death. Take this, all of you, to remember me.”

Merciful God, send now in kindnessyour Holy Spirit to settle on this bread and wineand fill them with the fullness of Jesus.And let that same Spirit rest on us,converting us from the patterns of this passing worlduntil we conform to the shape of himwhose food we now share. Amen

The Bread we now break is a sharing in the body of ChristWe who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread

The cup of blessing for which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of ChristMay the blood of Christ keep us in eternal life

Bread and wine; the gifts of God for the people of GodMay we who share these gifts be found in Christ and Christ in us.

(The bread and wine are distributed.)

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Christ who has nourished us is our peace.Strangers and friends, male and female, young and old he has broken down the barriers to bind us to him and to each other.

Having tasted this goodness, let us go with Christ and dedicate the weavings of our lives, our ministries, our relationships and partnerships to God.

May God breathe into our work energy, truth and courage, that we may be faithful, humble people who are truly gracious to each other and truly committed to the vision of life with which God call us on. Amen

Giver of life, inspired by your creative loveMay we help create a new world with you.

Bread of life, nourished by your healing love;May we help create a new world with you.

Spirit of life, filled with your compassionate love;May we help create a new world with you.

BLESSING

Longing for light, we wait in darknessLonging for truth, we turn to youMake us your own, your holy peopleLight for the world to see Christ be our light! Shine in our heartsShine through the darknessChrist be our light!Shine in your church gathered today

SONG

Longing for peace, our world is troubledLonging for hope, many despair.Your word alone has pow’r to save us.Make us your living voice. Christ be our light! Shine in our heartsShine through the darknessChrist be our light!Shine in your church gathered today

Longing for food, many are hungryLonging for water, many still thirstMake us your bread, broken for othersShared until all are fed.

Christ be our light! Shine in our heartsShine through the darknessChrist be our light!Shine in your church gathered today

Longing for shelter, people are homelessLonging for warmth, many are coldMake us your building, sheltering othersWalls made of living stone. Christ be our light! Shine in our heartsShine through the darknessChrist be our light!Shine in your church gathered today

Many the gifts, many the peopleMany the hearts that yearn to belongLet us be servants to one anotherMaking your kingdom come.

Christ be our light! Shine in our heartsShine through the darknessChrist be our light!Shine in your church gathered today

SENDING OUT

Loving Christ,You call us to be your hands, to do your work in the worldYou call us to be your feet to lead others in the ways of justice and peace.You call us to be your tongue, to tell the story of your love.Grant that we may have the ears to hear your callthe strength and determination to follow you and the grace to live as your people Amen.

Go in peace to weave God’s mission and ministry into all that you are and do.

Amen. We go in the name of Christ.