Welcome to the home for stuff we've created and want to share.
Please feel free to re-cycle and re-imagine our ideas for your own alt.worship/church stuff
the old zine section of our website
smallfire's collection of pictures of Grace services
Welcome to the growing archive of Grace services and events.
As we slowly trawl through our brains, email accounts and hard drives we aim to try and collect together the plans for services, some of the liturgy, rituals and images we created and maybe a record of how it went, or just some good memories.
Organised by date, you'll find it's grouped by September to September years. Why? it's just always the way we've done things - maybe the whole school year thing is too embedded in our brains, maybe it's because we've always taken August off, maybe it's because we go to Greenbelt in August and that feels like the end of one year and the start of the next.
Enjoy exploring.
Grace took part in the Channel 4 series 'God in the house'
This aired at 12:30pm on 30th Dec.
With Guest speaker Mike Starkey(?)
The Grace Album and Video were released in Aug 1997
LOPE (Live on Planet Earth) Joined us to run a labyrinth
Grace ran 2 events: life-bittersweet and the last supper
Time of our Lives was a special event held across London. Grace ran a service at Southwark Cathedral
With Guest Mike Starkey
We ran a labyrinth with LOPE and the Sunday morning communion.
Also released the eucharist CD to go with the service
[note from adam - I have no record as to what this service was - any ideas?]
Simon Jenkins was the guest speaker explaining the tradition of icons.
Afternoon picnic followed by eucharist
Ran at the Guildford Youth Diocesan event
Grace ran the St Paul's labyrinth at Greenbelt
See December 2004 for explanation.
These are the nine readings and music we used this year:
1. Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19; Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones
2. Genesis 22:15-18
3. Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
4. Isaiah 11:1-3a, 4a, 6-9; Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles
5. Luke 1:26-35, 38; Angels by Robbie Williams
6. Luke 2:1, 3-7; Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
7. Luke 2:8-16
8. Matthew 2:1-12
9. John 1:1-14; Mad World by The Darkness
Lesson 1: the Fall
So this is freedom...
Something later generations will curse us for.
They will say it all started here.
Conflict, starvation … stress at work …
concentration of power in the hands of a few,
separation from one another,
lives driven by fear.
They will retreat into the trivial -- you know, celebrity watching, tabloid television, the National Lottery...
or build fortresses to keep everyone away. Especially the asylum seekers.
They will say it all started here.
This is what it means to be fully human, to be fully alive -- to face bleakness and death.
But could I go back to the way I was before? Before, all was light, I was dazzled, I saw nothing.
Now I see that the world has texture.
Now I see that we need darkness as much as light if we are to see anything.
Now I am no longer an infant who expects to see God walking in the garden in the evening.
Now it is possible for me to relate to God as an adult.
And I believe that is what God wants.
But first I must face my freedom. And I must face death.
This follows up the previous service on psalms -- participants were invited to bring their own psalm.
Some examples:
My Psalm of Complacency by Jonathan Hassell
Oh Lord,
It's too easy to forget you
Your call on me often doesn't get through
Muffled by the bustle of my life
My multi-tasking mind
To you I call
Break through any barriers I have erected
Whether knowingly or by accident
Through trying to be contemporary
Break through
My complacency
My arrogance
My intellect
Help me to be more than observer
Finding new neuroses
To keep life full
And yet empty
Guide me
Make me unable to contain your gifts
Move me
Help me to hold on until it hurts
Because although I crave your peace
I need your justice
Agitate
Do not leave me in my self-sufficiency
Help me to need you more
Take me places where I must turn to you
To get me through and find you're all I need
And when I need it
As you often do
Send your irrepressible joy
Blowing through
Leave me startled
Grinning uncontrollably
Almost giddy
Embarrassingly happy
A gift bestowed by a spendthrift
The Inspirer of all
Oh Lord,
It's too easy to forget you
Break through
______________________________________________
I am frustrated by the mundanity of life
the superficiality of what I am offered each day
or my own lack of energy.
My life threatens to stagnate
when what I really want to do is fly away, to run for the horizon.
But what will happen to the people I leave behind?
I remember moments when things were different.
The most intense times
when someone kissed me unexpectedly or cried on my shoulder
when God spoke to me or took hold of my hand.
I thank God for those times.
And I thank God for stability day-to-day -- for I can't stay on the mountain top.
______________________________________________
I can no longer praise God like I once did.
Once I could follow formulas
sing songs ("Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee...")
say the standard prayers ("Almighty and most merciful Father...")
spend certain specified times in a church building.
Now I see that praise must be earned.
Now I see that it is not tied to words or times.
My soul longs for something -- but what?
[this service was inspired in part by the idea of the three mile an hour god from theologian kosuke koyama]
Set up:
Set the room up with two screens in the middle back to back – project speed on one side and slow on the other.
do visual stuff from arkaos for speed side
do visual stuff through mixer for slow side
have two mac classics, one for each side of the screen with slow and speed on
Before the service:
Give out tickets for the fast track that lets people in early/quickly – make it slow for others.
Have a rev counter type thing that runs from flat out to flat out – invite people to answer one or two questions - how do you live your life? how do you want to live your life? – and place a post it note or sticker on according to their answer
Service:
1 Preparation:
Welcome/intro
invite people to take watches off and turn phones off
Opening prayer/sentences/call and response liturgy (could involve slow and fast ends of room)
Play track from logical progression with sample from ferris bueller’s day off (life moves pretty fast....)
Slow down
adbusters reading of guy who stands still
prayer of st hilda community
video of jar being shaken and settling with words to encourage people to slow down (taken from cd rom accompanying tune in chill out)
play 'hey man slow down' radiohead
Group discussion
on contemplative vs commuter:
Questions along lines of
Is slow good? Is fast bad? If you're in an accident, you want the ambulance
to come as quickly as possible. When else is speed good?
We work quicker so we can work fewer hours - but do we?"
are you naturally more a commuter or a contemplative? martha or a mary?
slow confession with Reflective piece on time
visual of hand written clock
Praise
My heart is restless
The Lord is compassionate and gracious
2. The Word
Readings
Bible passages/readings on either side of the room re slow and fast
Reflective piece if we slow down... accompanying a video slow moment that no longer seems to be online - it was a brilliant combination.
3. Response
Prayer
Make Jesus prayer cords – use to pray – use animated iconostasis and jesus prayer tack from tune in chill out
Concluding ritual
Take boiled or soft sweets depending on whether you are feeling the call/need to go slow or fast
the first of a series of two services looking at miracles inspired by jeffrey john's talks at greenbelt 04
order of service
'Call to worship'
couple of songs
Simpson's clip/Life of Brian clip
Discussion of miracles and feedback
(people to write miracles they remember on a big sheet so we have a record
of them.)
Inspiration for service and summary of Jeffrey John book with clips from GB tape (see below for summaries)
Ignatian reading - pool of Bethesda (taken from de mello book)
Stations:
a)Water into wine
b)Hem to touch
c)Inclusion/exclusion - stories and post-it notes
d)faith
Need for belief and concluding ritual
A summary of Jeffrey John's book "The Meaning in the Miracles".
The Guardian Editor section used to include summaries of books "condensed in the style of the original", and that is what I have tried to do here.
Introduction
The author starts by referring to two Scripture teachers from his school.
One of them believed the Bible in the most literal possible sense, and
considered the meaning of each miracle story was to prove the supernatural
nature of Jesus. The other teacher, in the interests of being relevant,
dismissed anything that sounded supernatural. Her explanation of the
miracles was therefore naturalistic (e.g. the calming of the storm was a
convenient coincidence) or moralistic (e.g. the feeding of the five thousand
was achieved by inspiring everyone to share the food they had). Both
teachers assumed that the only interesting thing about the miracles was the
question of what did or did not happen, and both therefore missed the point.
What we need to do is look for the meaning.
"Let us ask the miracles themselves what they tell us about Christ, for they
have a tongue of their own, if it can only be understood. Because Christ is
the Word of God, all the acts of the Words become words to us. The miracle
which we admire on the outside also has something inside which must be
understood. If we see a piece of beautiful handwriting, we are not
satisfied simply to note the letters are formed evenly, equally and
elegantly: we also want to know the meaning the letters convey. In the same
way a miracle is not like a picture, something merely to look out and
admire, and to be left at that. It is much more like a piece of writing
which we must learn to read and understand." -- St Augustine
a) Each miracle story is a literary creation with a theological purpose.
The gospel writers were steeped in Old Testament Scripture, and constantly
use threads of prophecy-fulfilment, symbolism, or allegory to create a new
story which reapplies the truths, hopes, patterns and meanings of the
scriptural past to the present.
Therefore the key to unlocking the theological meaning of a miracle story
requires knowledge of the Old Testament. The author therefore recommends
following up the cross-references in the Bible, and using a good commentary.
b) The stories must be understood in their own religious, historical, social
and political context. A story such as the healing of a woman with a
haemorrhage shows Jesus overturning a taboo which subjugated and oppressed
women, and was nothing less than revolutionary. Read properly, it
challenges the Church to assess its own treatment of women today as
powerfully as Jesus challenged the gynophobic conventions of his own time.
A similar point can be made about most, if not all, of the healing miracles.
They seem to have been deliberately selected by the evangelist to show
Jesus healing at least one of every category of persons who, according to
the purity laws of Jesus' society, were specifically excluded and labeled
unclean, or who was set at varying degrees of distance from worshipping in a
temple. They are demonstrations of Jesus' healing power and compassion for
the individual, but that is not the main point. Far more relevant to us is
the miracles' universal significance: the overturning of social and
religious barriers, the abolition of taboos, and Jesus' declaration of God's
love and compassion for everyone, expressed in a systematic inclusion of
each class of the previous excluded and marginalised. How often has the
Church failed to follow this inclusiveness and, and preferred instead to
create and cling to its own taboos?
c) Principalities and powers. The gospels continually refer to demonic
powers,, and we must avoid the pitfalls of literalism and reductionism. We
are not required to believe in the existence of demons with forked tails,
nor even, necessarily, in the powers as being entirely distinct, self
existent entities, but nor should we simply dismiss them as if they were
merely outdated dramatic trappings which no longer mean anything in a
"scientific" age. The New Testament uses the same terms to mean both
supernatural forces and the very real powers which represent them on earth.
(They are not inherently bad.)
Just as the healing miracles often imply reinclusion of a whole class of
excluded persons, the power of sin and rebellion against God, and the
healing that they require, must be understood as operating corporately as
well as individually.
d) Faith. One of the many paradoxes in the gospels is that at first sight
the miracles seem to be intended as straightforward demonstrations of Jesus'
divine power, but at the same time the gospels contain strong warnings about
the dangers of being impressed by signs and miracles, and Jesus himself
appears to be extremely wary of being known simply as a wonder-worker, and
is scathing about those who seek signs for their own sake. A personal
belief in Jesus that goes deeper than self-interest and the mere worship of
power is at least part of what the gospels mean by "faith".
e) Eyes to see (and ears to hear). When the disciples fail to understand
the significance of the miracles, they seem to incarnate both the particular
spiritual blindness of Israel and the general spiritual blindness of all
humanity. Mark in particular appears to believe that God had willed a
temporary spiritual blindness to come upon the people which actually
prevented them from understanding. The hope, prophesied by Isaiah, remains
that one day all the blind eyes will be opened. All the gospel miracles of
Jesus healing the blind are to be interpreted in terms of this theology of
revelation: their point is not medical but spiritual and theological.
Summary: the background knowledge of a miracle is indispensable if we are to
get the spiritual meaning. All the miracle stories contain profound
teaching which is of indispensable relevance today, teaching that all too
often gets passed over because we do not get past the "miraculous" packaging
and the endless issue of "did it happen?" We should aim to share the same
perception of the truth that impelled the evangelists to write the miracle
stories in the first place.
That covers the introduction -- the rest of the book consists of analysis,
from the above perspectives, of almost all the miracles. Each chapter also
has some devotional materials.
... the one who was lowered through a hole in the roof. (Mark 2 v 1-12,
Luke 5 v 18-26, and there is a similar story in Matthew 9 v2-8)
The main point of the story is Jesus' claim to forgive sins. It is a
fundamental assumption in Judaism that God alone can forgive sins on God's
behalf or with God's authority. The reality of Jesus' claim to forgive
authoritatively could not be proved on its own, since it is an inward,
spiritual matter. Hence the importance of the miracle. Jesus' question,
"Is it easier to forgive or to say to the paralytic, get up?" is not meant
to imply that forgiving sin is literally "easier" than physical healing. It
is more a question of visibility. The physical healing proves the truth of
the claim to exercise forgiveness.
The fact that Jesus heals and forgives simultaneously might suggest that the
sickness was the result of a specific sin on the paralysed man's part, or
that he was an especially sinful person. But as is referred to elsewhere in
the Gospels, as well as the book of Job, human sickness is to be linked not
so much with the personal sin of the sufferer as with human sinfulness in
general. From the Gospel point of view all disorder, even natural
phenomena, derive from the separation between God and the world. Conversely
the various demonstrations in the Gospel of the power of Jesus over
sickness, sin, disorder and death are all equivalent signs that he bears the
authority of God to drive back the darkness, and reclaim the world and human
beings for their creator.
Many Christians are suspicious of sacramental confession, but it does carry
a special healing power for those who still need to hear the kind of
objective and authoritative declaration of God's forgiveness that Jesus
makes in the story. A desperately needed ministry (which the Church is not
particularly effective at) is the opportunity to open oneself up in faith,
and to be reassured of God's acceptance of our whole person, despite the sin
and mess.
There is a barely concealed implication that Jeffrey John considers this
story to be allegorical rather than factual. Many Jewish writing symbolise
the messianic days as a wedding feast, and many of the stories in the
Gospels are about weddings as well.
There are two particularly important points from the story, and the first is
the production of the wine itself. There are reminders of Jesus saying "can
the wedding guests fast while the groom is still with them?" and "no one
puts new wine into old skins".
The production of a huge abundance of wine, and a production of a similar
abundance of bread at the feeding of the five thousand, suggests an allusion
to the Eucharist, the sacramental means by which the believer is united with
Jesus. [I am reminded of the communion liturgy which says "let us make a
huge loaf of bread, and let us bring abundant wine."] The story of the
wedding, like communion, is also about celebrating a corporate as well as an
individual relationship -- and the story does not hesitate to compare the
joy of the celebration with drunkenness. In the Western Church we are not
good at joy, though the joy does not necessarily have to be expressed in
loud and visible joyfulness.
The second point concerns Jesus' words to his mother -- a verbal slap in the
face which suggests hostility between them. Jesus' view of the family was,
to say the least, ambiguous, and he himself clearly had problems with his
own family. His teaching that all human relationships and all human
institutions need redeeming -- including motherhood and apple pie -- is
important to keep in mind, especially when our relationships prove
difficult. God comes first, and everything else needs ordering in the light
of our relationship with him.
second service on miracles
this included communion where people were invited to take a thorn as well as bread and wine and concluded with
order of service:
PowerPoint presentation of optical illusions at the start
welcome/focus on God
song - this is the house of God
Intro to service - miracles today
Simpsons clip
Introduce stories - of miracles and unanswered prayer, faith and doubt.
People to tell stories - Steve, Moya - leg, ? - St Marys
Mystery in miracles, place of faith, refer to coins from last time
Heavenly man story
Invite people to take a thorn - what do you want God to do for you?
Time of quiet for prayer
Song - O Lord hear my prayer
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Liturgy - we believe you can do miracles, but even if you don’t you are still God.
Communion, leave thorn with God, prayer for healing/miracle - needs explanation at the start.
these are the nine readings we used this year:
1. Genesis 3:8-15, 17-19
2. Genesis 22:15-18
3. Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
4. Isaiah 11:1-3a, 4a, 6-9
5. Luke 1:26-35, 38
6. Luke 2:1, 3-7
7. Luke 2:8-16
8. Matthew 2:1-12
9. John 1:1-14
And these are the tracks people chose:
Adam Lay I-Bounden Anon 15th c
No title - Welk
At the Centre’ - Lies Damned Lies
It Hurts So Good - Millie Jackson
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Personal Jesus - Johnny Cash
Untitled – Joel Baker and Simon Burrell (aka twotone)
Sound effects of a journey – Mark Waddington
As I Went Down - Lies Damned Lies
To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
Lesson 4: Isaiah's vision of the kingdom
Here we have Isaiah's vision of an ideal future world -- call it "heaven" if you like. And this picture, the Plains of Heaven by the Victorian artist John Martin, is another vision of heaven.
What is your vision of heaven? And what do you think will need to happen for that vision to be realised?
Isaiah's vision is of a world without conflict.
What would it take to stop humans fighting with each other (never mind animals)?
Here are a couple of possibilities:
Give people all the resources they could possibly want -- be it living space, time, oil, carbon credits... and they won't have anything to fight over. I call this the George Bush model.
Or change people so that they are incapable of fighting -- the Brave New World model.
I'm sure you can think of other possibilities.
Now let's get back to Isaiah. He makes it clear that this is the Jesus model. Jesus will lead the world to the vision of heaven. This is Jesus who healed people -- and who promised to bring fire to the world.
I really don't know how he will bring heaven about. But we can be sure that it will be alive.
a guest from the london meditation centre (julie) led grace in an ignatian type examen for the new year
12 people had taken a minor prophet and had a space under their head (which are sculpted in stone around the church) to offer their interpretation, reflection, ritual or whatever.
there is a smallfire photo album here
the second photo album above has a summary of each station though we may dig out some other bits and pieces for here...
amos
habakkuk
haggai
hosea
joel
jonah
malachi
micah
nahum
obadiah
zachariah
zephaniah
a guided/narrated journey through the days of creation with original soundscape and meditations. it is all age friendly. this is a new project created with Group which will be published in the US in june05 under the title worshipping the creator (uk) | US version here. we called it 'out of nothing'...
there is a photo album here and another one here
Grace continued in a pattern of two worship services a month. The main creative service is on the second Saturday of the month. We tend to loosely follow the pattern of the church calendar as a basic structure for our services. Themes this last year included miracles, slow, minor prophets and prophecy, nine (our untraditional take on nine lessons and carols), the ignatian examen and stations of the resurrection. We have a couple of visiting speakers each year. This year we welcomed Julie Dunstan from the London meditation centre who led us in the Ignatian examen. And Bishop Pete joined us for a BBQ in the vicarage garden where we 'grilled the bishop'.
Gracelet is the second service each month which is smaller and one or two people from Grace put it together each time rather than a creative group effort. We have moved this back to the church rather than meeting in peoples homes. It is a reflective service usually structured round a basic liturgy.
At Easter we ran the installation 'Out Of Nothing' for three days of holy week. This was a new worship experience meets art installation on the theme of creation.180 people passed through and the feedback was great.
We took part in Greenbelt arts festival again where we have become something of a regular fixture. This was the first outing of 'Slow' the service that we subsequently led at St Marys in February.
The lent blog was a big success again (a web site with people posting a reflection each day through lent).
Numbers at Grace vary between about 30 and 60. Gracelet is more like a dozen. We have the usual mix of regulars and tourists. Partly by being in London and partly through having a strong web presence we are always hosting visitors from round the world looking for creative ideas for worship and church. The strangest this year was when two mini bus loads of Danish youth pastors arrived.
The planning group has been pretty strong this year. Communication with St Marys is definitely helped by Anna being a member of Grace and on staff at St Marys. We also took part in a training day for the diocese of Willesden in response to the report Mission Shaped Church. We are in the middle of a process of re-evaluating what Grace is about and how we structure our life together. In part this is in response to a challenge bishop Pete gave us to reflect on what mission means for Grace. The first phase of the process has led us to develop a set of values that we hold and/or aspire to. We'll let you know the outcome once we've finished the process.
You can generally check what we are up to on the grace web site, by looking at the grace notice board in the polygon and of course you are always welcome at any grace services.
the grace team xxx
opening words
opening prayer
songs:
come holy spirit
this is the house of god
confession
intro notion of parables
three different takes on hospitality
brick testament – unhospitality [slideshow on screens]
mike riddell parable [read out]
babette's feast [on dvd]
creed
song - this is the table of christ
eucharistic prayer [andy sillis guest priest]
invitation
[bread and wine]
prayer
blessing
Friends from l8r in northwood led by Kev Draper led us in an experience of godly play
Parables 3 notes from e-mail:
The service will be ‘topped and tailed’ by Mike leading some worship. The
main part of the service will be loosely based on ‘speed-story telling’.
Groups will congregate around 6 tables (more if we have to double some up)
and experience parables told/discussed/explored for 8 – 10 minutes (we’ll
fix the time on the night). After the allotted time the gong will sound and
in a Mike Reid Runaround style groups will move to a different table.
If all goes well we’ll have 6 rotations so everyone gets everything but
we’ll be responsive to mood.
We’ll set up the parable tables in the large polygon room with some chilled
muzak in the backgound. Café set up as usual. Do we have drinks available
during as well as after?
Order of service:
§ Welcome and introductory worship – Mike
§ Explanation of the service – Jen
§ 6 parable tables + facilitators:
q Good Samaritan – fill in the blanks - Mark facilitator, Ben/Mike to prepare
q David and Bathsheba – Rebecca ‘Hypocrisy is the greatest luxury’
q Why did Jesus use parables? Matthew 13 - Jen
q Tales from peoples lives – M & Ms - Adam
q Film + response – Ben ‘Hudsucker Proxy’ + ‘Life is Sweet’
q ‘Nicholas of Cusa’ or Unforgiving servant – Jackie
§ Parable of the sower – prayers Mike
The M&M’s exercise consists of giving each of a small group of people a subject to talk about, depending on which colour sweet they draw from a bag:
Brown: something you fear (it doesn't have to be personal)
Green: something you hope for
Red: a gift you have to offer
Yellow: a show, film or exhibition you have seen
Orange: a place you have visited
Blue: a person who has particularly influenced your life.
I am not going to explain too carefully exactly what I mean by each of these topics, because the precise interpretation is not important -- the purpose of the exercise is just to give people something to talk about, so they will tell stories. But it helps to give an example. This one is for yellow:
"Last night I saw a real live dragon. I am not joking -- it was a Green Water Dragon at Kew Gardens. They had a special late-night opening for "locals", for which I just about qualified, mainly to allow us to see the exhibition of glass installations, most of which can be found among the plants in the greenhouses. My favourite installation was hanging from the ceiling of the Temperate House -- a large cluster of glass leaf shapes in flame colours. I was just in time to see it catch the evening sun.
"But even after that, the best thing I saw on my visit was the dragon. I have never seen anything before that looked so alive."
That is the first part of the exercise. We were not able to do the second part at the Grace service, but we have done it at a Gracelet meeting:
A large drawing of a tree is required, and some leaves cut from green and brown paper and fruit cut from red paper. This is the point at which you discover the reason for the choice of colours. Each participant takes a leaf or fruit to represent each hope, fear or gift they mentioned, and any others they may have thought of, writes something on them if they want to, and puts them on the tree. The leader glues down the green and red shapes, but does not put any glue on the brown leaves.
When the tree is complete, the leader prays, to dedicate everyone's hopes and gifts to God. Then the leader picks up the tree and allows all the brown leaves to fall off.
we ran the installation Out Of Nothing - see Mar 05 holy week installation
1. Dramatic start
Unexplained smashing of mirror with sledge hammer
see fab pics here including steve doing a ymca impression
(No link or explanation into...)
2. Radiohead video (the one with buildings collapsing)
Verses on death, letting go etc...
3. Plate smashing ritual
Invite people to consider comfort that they want to move on from, or something dear that needs to be let go of. This could be personal or about Grace. Write it on plate and drop onto concrete slab.
Play shouty track video by Lemon Jelly
4. Grace in transition
Introduce reshaping Grace process. Recap weekend. Explain letting go of some of the ways we have done things. Invite/challenge to consider part in reshaping. Living with discomfort.
Lead godly play style ‘I wonder what could be made of the fragments/broken pieces’
(Play track ‘So Beautiful’ by Urban Myth Club)
5. Reflection/Prayer
Reflection/meditation on broken pieces connecting with personal and Grace stuff.
Prayer for Grace and personal things.
Conclude with liturgy with response ‘far I have come far I must go’ based on song on Idjut Boys album Press Play.
We are creatures of comfort
God of broken people and places (far I have come far I must go)
6. Scriptures on rebuilding/desert blossoming etc..
7. Take away bags
Invite people to come and take a bag with a broken piece, and a sheet inviting them to think about where they might engage.
Play track ‘get up get involved’ by James Brown
This is the service plan that got sent out before the event.
Setup: Main body of chruch cleared of pews. Camo netting hung flat
across the space just above head height. Video screens on left and right
sides. Creative Stations set up around edges. [EVERYBODY from 6pm]
(clips/hooks etc for hanging things on netting - Adam and Steve to bring)
- Welcome/Introduction
- Reading Genesis 1
- Playback of 'Day 7' from Worshiping the creator
- Explanation that we are all creative
- Blank sheet of paper/first idea/shredder ritual - encourage people to
think outside their box and suspend judgement.
(Requires shredder, paper, pens - adam to bring)
- Play time! Creative stations
-- Consequneces Prayers - an outline (possibly based on lords prayer)
for groups of people to write prayers bit by bit
(requires paper, pens, explanation)
-- Drawing with restrictions - eg wrong handed, with crayons, limited
colours
(requires paper, pens, etc etc - adam to bring)
-- Potato printing - potatoes, knives, paint, tarpaulin to protect
floor! make shapes or print with whats made.
(richard bringing tarpaulin, can volunteer bring potatoes etc)
-- Pipe cleaner modelling - small modelling things, pipe cleaners, foil
etc - just make something
(modelling stuff?)
-- Typewriter - for writers that can face the blank sheet!
(typewriter, explanation - Mark)
-- 'Punk' litrugy - ie created by cutting words out of newspapers
(newspapers, glue, paper - can everyone bring newspapers)
-- Live camera direct onto screen - with props to create visuals
(techie stuff Adam, can everyone bring some random props! anything to create 'creative' still lives from! the more random the better)
-- Lego - making things just because!
(lego and explanation)
People encouraged to have a go, work alone or in groups, leave things
unfinished or only do part of a creation.
All creations hung on camo netting to create the service that people can
wander in and sit under.
- Finish with 'We bring gifts' Communion (with or without communion
depending on priest availability!) Leave bread and
wine for people to take and time to look around the creations hanging
from the netting (play Vision On/Tony hart gallery music)
Cafe afterwards
Introduction/prayer
DVD we have decided not to die - connection between it and Grace – mention stuff from last service
Song(s)
Blob tree where are you participating in the Kingdom of God
Jelly babies
Participition in Grace – ‘making space’
Participation in the wider world -- see below
Time of contemplative prayer inc explanation of the new monthly gig
Concluding liturgy/ritual
This was the final liturgy/ritual:
As well as considering participation in our churches and communities to be important, we are also very interested in participation in the wider world, such as the addressing of injustice in the world.
If you think that the injustice in the world is too large to handle, we need to find an action on a scale which we can handle. And we need to start from a position of knowing something about injustice, so here is a story. About sugar.
Sugar is very important -- where would we be without jelly babies? More seriously, it is a major global commodity, which millions of people rely on for their livelihoods. And if it is traded fairly, it helps to release people from poverty. This is what is happening in Mozambique, in southern Africa. The government has introduced a policy to help its sugar industry. It has set a minimum price above which imported sugar must be sold, helping locally produced sugar compete with imports. Sugar factories and plantations now employ 25,000 people, and foreign sugar companies are investing in Mozambique. Workers now earn enough to send their children to school and to afford medical help when they are sick -- both important indicators of development and hope for the future.
But Mozambique is an exception. International trade rules are preventing the governments of poor countries from helping their farmers and industries. In exchange for loans from international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which many poor countries rely on, many countries are forced to accept detrimental economic policies.
Mozambique was put under great pressure to stop supporting its sugar industry. If it had stopped, this would have opened the economy to sugar imports which may well have been cheaper than local production, often because rich countries who don't have to worry about being able to get loans subsidise their farmers or because of dumping of oversupply. In which case, the farmers in Mozambique would not have been able to sell their products and they would lose their livelihood. Imagine it -- you have been working hard for years to lift your family out of poverty, and then you are sent back to square one by farmers who are supported by their government, while your government is not allowed to support you. This is exactly what is happening in many situations around the world.
I am sure you think that this is unfair, and hopefully you would like to do something about it. So I have brought in some postcards to Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The World Trade Organisation is having a critical meeting in Hong Kong next month, and so we want to ask Mr Johnson to stand up for what we want -- to allow developing countries to shape trade policies that are in the interests of their people and the environment. The more people ask him, the more likely he is to do it.
The postcards are over there at the back. Please sign one before you leave, and please also think about whether you would like to do more. There is a sign-up list for further information. If you need a further incentive, I have brought some chocolate.
[Everyone who signed up to receive further information received the following message: "To sign up to receive Take Action (in which case you will be sent postcard appeals, similar to the one to Alan Johnson, about five times a year), or e-mail appeals, or (preferably) both, go to Christian Aid's Take Action web site and tick the first two boxes."]
See the archive for December 2006 for explanation.
The Nativity (accompanied by Lord of the Starfields by Bruce Cockburn, and the trailer for the film The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)
In the story of Narnia, Jesus is depicted as a lion
A strong, majestic, victorious king
Who sends his subjects into war
Who defeats death through his sacrifice
Who keeps his distance
A wild lion, to be feared and respected
To loved and obeyed.
But Christmas is not a time for lions
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus
The creator of the universe, left the security of his father’s side and entered our world as one of us
The lord of the starfields became flesh and grew inside his mother’s womb, was born and cried and slept and fed.
The Ancient of Days became tiny, vulnerable, dependent child.
And in the still darkness of that first Christmas night
As the silent earth draws breath
We creep inside the stable,
And sit with Mary and Joseph
To wonder and to worship.
The Shepherd’s Prayer
by Andrew Sillis
Oh God this is boring - sitting in the damp
staring at these lousy sheep
I think I’m getting cramp.
Oh could there be another way?
Could life be full and fun?
Could there be riches beyond the heavens
When all is said and done?
Oh God this is boring - the sheep are going “baa” again
like when preachers make you want to snore
until their last “amen”.
Oh could there be another way,
where truth is light and airy?
and get away from all those folks
whose truth is simply lairy?
Oh God this is boring - like riding on the tube
all those sheepy faces staring
kinda blank, but in a mood.
Oh could there be another way,
for us to share this journey,
with loving smiles and open hearts
life would be much less scary.
Oh God this is boring - yet more daily grind
satisfying the pedantry of others
won’t they ever open their minds.
Oh could there be another way
much more natural and simple
without crossing every “t”
and spotting every pimple.
Oh God this is boring - why don’t you just come down
with a flight of heavenly angels
just come, and take your crown!
Oh!
Inspired by The Monastery – best reality TV of 2005 – intrigued by way in which this ancient tradition impacted on the 5 men who entered the monastery. Fits in with a desire of Grace to look at existing and past traditions and think about how they might become refresh our own lives. Good from time to time to ask other people to come and talk to us about the things they are passionate about to widen our horizons. This service is lead by John Chapman of St Hughes Northolt.
Readings
Kathleen Norris, US poet lives in South Dakota – raised a ‘thorough Protestant’ as she described herself but
Cloister Walk reading – from first chapter ‘The Rule and Me’.
Video Tape Clip from “The Monastery”
The Benedictine Way: a way of true listening, humility and order:
We are a school of the Lord's service, in which we hope to introduce nothing harsh or burdensome. …. But as we advance in the religious life and faith, we shall run the way of God's commandments with expanded hearts and unspeakable sweetness of love; so that never departing from His guidance and persevering in … His doctrine till death, we may by patience share in the sufferings of Christ, and be found worthy to be coheirs with Him of His kingdom.
Some Benedictine key words: (power point “Key Words” - overlay on background images)
Humility, Listening, Obedience, Order, Patience, Rhythm, Rule, Scripture
The Ladder of Humility (Power Point “Ladder of Humility” overlay on background images)
1. Fear the God who sees all
2. Desire only the Father's will
3. Submit as unto the Lord
4. Embrace difficulties as for Christ
5. Confess all sin, conceal none
6. Be content with the lowest task
7. Choose humble attitudes not just words
8. Follow the common rule;
9. Control the tongue, learn silence
10. Beware of careless laughter
11. Speak gently at all times, be meek
12. Show humility in one's bearing
We considered the Benedictine vows of:
Obedience, Openness to God & others, Humility, Hospitality, Limitless Listening
Stability, Fidelity, Chastity, Celibacy, Reckless Love
Conversion of Life, Continual Conversion, Poverty, Simplicity, Generous Justice
We considered Lectio Divina in the monastic Tradition
Lectio (Read)
Rumination (Chew)
Meditatio (Christ)
contemplatio (myself)
oratio (pray)
action (action)
We closed the service with Eucharist
Additional reading material suggested by John Chapman.
taking the theme of discipline we explored four areas -
discipline of time (organising the rhythm of life)
discipline of idleness (ensuring we create time for being lazy, rest, play)
discipline of practice (lots of areas of life require practice - e.g. sport - in what ways can we develop practice to mature our faith)
discipline of community (what do we do together as grace to support faith)
once we had expored these four areas and collected a different coloured clothes peg at each we collected a piece of washing line and put them on and joined them together in a circle with the following piece of liturgy written by steve...
We hang our lives upon your mercy
here's how the whole service works:
General setup:
video - usual two screens
jonny's laptop for words with one projector
steve has adam's projectors and cables
music - jonny
4 tables, on floor with folded legs - tablecloths probably required
fatboys around each table
cafe [email round for volunteers]
steve's list:
bell or sounder
psalm
bcp prayer/confession
coloured pegs and lines - mark as time/practice/idleness/community
concluding prayer
how the service works:
people come in and sit round the tables
each table has a theme as below, with a facilitator. there will be objects, questionnaires etc for discussion.
at intervals a bell will ring [or some other sound] and everyone has to move on, taking a coloured clothes peg from the table [different colour for each table]
intro [steve]
psalm 1
blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor stood in the way of sinners:
and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.
but his delight is in the law of the Lord:
and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.
and he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side:
that will bring forth his fruit in due season.
his leaf also shall not wither:
and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
as for the ungodly, it is not so with them:
but they are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth.
therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgement:
neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
but the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
and the way of the ungodly shall perish.
glory be to the father, and to the son, and to the holy spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end,
amen
dearly beloved brethren,
the scripture moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of almighty god our heavenly father; but confess then with a humble, lowly, penitent and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy.
and although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before god; yet ought we we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.
wherefore i pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying after me:
almighty and most merciful father,
we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep,
we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts,
we have offended against thy holy laws,
we have left undone those things which we ought to have done,
and we have done those things which we ought not to have done,
and there is no health in us:
but thou, o Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offenders;
spare thou them, o god, which confess their faults,
restore thou them that are penitent,
according to thy promises declared unto mankind in christ jesu our Lord:
and grant, o most merciful father, for his sake,
that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous and sober life,
to the glory of thy holy name.
amen
the tables:
1. discipline of time: [sue]
questions:
what do you make time for?
what does this tell us about values/what we put first?
fill in timetable daily/weekly/yearly
objects eg alarm clock, organiser
2. discipline of practice [richard]
practice makes perfect - doing things to achieve skill, fluency, or in readiness for use
eg martial arts, music, ballet, sports
hebrews 12 1-11 as bible reading
body/mind/spirit connections - the physical as spiritual activity, and vice versa
are we obsessed by results? how do we measure?
another view of spiritual disciplines is as following in the way of christ's passion - rehearsing the ancient ways so that they become part of us
rather than doing spiritual routines to 'make us better'
objects: things that need practice eg games
3. discipline of idleness [mark]
knowing how to rest
the idea of sabbath
renewal, play
stillness, attentiveness leading to awareness - of god?
objects: lazy area? things invoking play, contemplation [zen garden!] or relaxation
4. discipline of community: [jonny]
what helps us to live together?
what is grace's rule?
questions:
what does grace do that helps you in your journey with christ?
what's missing from what grace does?
grace has identified an ethos - what is the framework that supports us in living it?
objects: ??
then ask facilitators to report back
concluding ritual for all together: [steve]
prayer about taking responsibility for our lives
this is a process not finished
hand out lengths of washing line for people to put their pegs on, hang any bits of paper they have kept
[we say together]
We hang our lives upon your mercy
measured out in miles
your boundaries and pathways,
coordinates and charts
that guide our steps
along roads you travelled before us
We will make time for you and your word
We will practice your ways until they are part of us
We will rest and play in you
We will be your people
[hold the end of the line of the person next to you]
We are not complete without one another
We cannot run the race alone
We will support one another
encourage one another
wait for the weak
pick up the fallen
through your strength and love
When we are together we will remember what it is like to travel alone
When we are alone we will remember what it is like to travel together
Wherever we are we will remember God who always goes with us
Go with us now, Lord, this night and always
Amen
[end of service]
discipline of community group discussion:
what does grace do that helps you in your journey with christ?
what's missing from what grace does?
grace has identified an ethos - what is the framework that supports us in living it?
what would a grace rule/rhythm of life look like?
1. rule vs grid:
as metaphors:
a rule [linear] implies a specific sequence of events that you have to follow
a grid is a frame of reference, like on a map, within which one can move in any direction but which gives orientation
2. rule emerging out of ethos of community:
what is our particular gift/charism/unique selling point as the community of grace?
what rhythm/rule sustains that?
what sustains the grace ethos/values as a community?
how is the gift guarded?
if a community develops its own rule, there is a danger of missing out things that are hard
the purpose of disciplines are to get us in touch with the Passion of Christ
discipline helps us participate in the life of christ
so what does it mean to follow in the way of christ, for us?
what helps us to be disciples?
how do we disciple someone? do we do it as a community?
do we disciple by sharing our life with people?
how do we communicate the life of christ in that?
following a corporate rule gives you support
rule embodied in a pattern of 'shared consumption' - traditionally, everyone in the community using the same book/prayers/daily office, but what is our pattern of shared consumption?
3. testing your rule:
are we the best people to curate/review the structure we generate from ourselves?
who do we look to for the outside view?
tests to apply:
how does your new rule compare to previous rules and the life of christ itself [church tradition /the bible]
how does your rule bring someone from no faith to faith?
4. digging up disciplines from history:
there is a life progression of a discipline:
one person's ideal - many other people want it too - fashionable - convention - obligatory - oppressive - abandoned as meaningless
cf Mike Riddell's story of the teacher's cat
a discipline continues as an ideal after it has ceased to be helpful
are old disciplines helpful or just the accepted conventions of how to be spiritually disciplined?
how to reexamine them?
how appropriate are disciplines created for different societies [eg benedict] to our own circumstances?
5. discipline in postmodernity:
there is a suspicion of authority ingrained in us
rule-changing/deconstruction is our natural response faced with a rule
so what is a postmodern rule?
in a postmodern society what stock should we set by the failure to follow somebody else's rule?
how do you find the 'rule' that is authentic for you?
the first rule of grace is that there is no rule
always contradict yourself
to be able to break something down you have to know it from inside well [in alt w it's knowledge of church espec charis evo]
[it's typical of grace to pick up something on a quick reading [eg benedict] and run with it]
6. what are the seasons or rhythms of our lives/community?:
quartering the year - seasons of christian life
[the christian calendar is supposed to work like this]
if we reevaluate during summer holidays is that our new lent?
an alternative church year?
[interesting that grace has always produced strong stuff in lent - as opposed to say advent]
is a rule always the same or does it have seasons?
7. discipline as training for achievements [is it it's own reward?]
discipline turns you into something.
what do you want to turn into?
how far will you go?
discipline takes us from one place to another
is discipline like gardening - different natures, all need shaping within their own nature/environment
discipline to be appropriate - wrong one will damage
what is sustainable as a rule/discipline?
8. discipline of prayer as practising awareness of god, rather than repetition of words or lists
9. discipline of idleness
over-organised lives need times to not be 'disciplined'
we need a discipline of taking time out - the danger of a rule is it becomes another form of workload
is this why we fail to have disciplined spiritual lives? another form of busyness in a too-busy society?
balance in life - as individuals/community
10. for the service:
we need things in service that produce data:
eg questions:
what helps you to follow jesus?
what does grace do that helps
what's missing from what grace does?
[do on flip charts/post up]
what do people actually make time for?
what does this tell us about values/what we put first?
make an altar of self-help books - a monument to failure of discipline/good intentions
video - mark to run
music - mike presum. - jonny has idj?
cafe
this was the text that we sent round to publicise it that sums up the approach...
Part of the grace ethos is participation. The next grace puts this to the ultimate test...
Please bring a station with you on the theme of lent and/or a tune on an ipod or CD.
What is a station?
One of the sorts of service we do at grace involves walking around the worship space interacting with stations that have been set up in advance that contain something to cause you to reflect, pray, worship, think, or actively participate in a ritual. These might be as simple as lighting a candle, reading a story, writing a prayer, adding a stone to a pile, looking at a video loop, listening to a meditation, tasting some fruit or whatever. If you’ve never done this before even better – this could be the start of something...
What do I do?
The theme is lent. Lent is a season of preparation for Easter typically focused on discipleship and following Christ. Do anything that relates to that. If you want to work from a scripture passage then three ideas to spin off from might be a) Jesus' temptations in the wilderness (we have done many a lent service on the theme of desert) b) the return of the prodigal son c) Psalms. Create something that is self contained for people to visit – i.e. it has things that people can engage with without you having to be there to explain it. So if there are instructions print them out for people to read and then add what you like in the way of things to look at or read, activities, small rituals, food for thought etc.
When will it be set up?
Please arrive early to set your station up between 7 and 7:30pm. We will allocate you a space to set up. The earlier you are the more choice you will get.
What about the music?
We will have a CD player and ipod mixer. So if you have a tune (that relates to the lent theme in some way) bring it along and you can play it.
How will it actually work?
Grace will start at 8pm. Music that people bring will provide a soundscape while everyone walks round and interacts with the stations for as long as they like. Then when you’re done the café wil be open as normal. It’s that simple.
I’m not sure I can do anything up to standard
Please don’t be shy or think what you do won’t be good enough. It can be really simple. Just work with an idea. We value creativity, participation and risk so go for it.
I need help
If you want to bounce your idea of someone else or if you need some technical stuff (a TV or slide projector for example) then e-mail us
Do I need to let you know what I am doing in advance?
No. We quite like the element of surprise so do just turn up and set up your station.
Can I come if I haven’t got a station?
Of course everyone is welcome whether or not you have done a station. But if we all think that way it may be a very short grace!
some of the stations were:
the gate - lent blog description | pic
40 - si smith's wonderful slide set 40 - pic
give - animation on lent blog | pic
calm - pic
game - pic
searcher - mike's debut video sequence the searcher - pic
naz's picture - pic
fairtrade - pic
stones - lent blog entry | pic
how not to observe lent, using a story from Noel Streatfeild's autobiography (see below)
cards with pictures of items which may or may not be essential
(anyone remember any others?)
A meditation based on chapter 5 of "A Vicarage Family".
This is a story of three sisters in the year 1910, Isobel aged thirteen, Victoria aged twelve and Louise aged ten. Their vicar father has decided the Lent discipline they must follow -- no sweets or sweet food except on Sundays. He has permitted them to attend a birthday party during Lent because they are about to move house.
Victoria is in fact Noel Streatfeild, the author of the book.
Some questions to think about (if you don't have enough of your own):
Lent observance is a self-imposed discipline which is an end in itself -- unlike, for example, a slimming diet which has practical value. Unquestionably some people find this discipline valuable. But does it have the same value if it has been imposed by somebody else?
If you break your discipline, for whatever reason, what should the consequences be?
Is it better to make a stand, or to keep your discipline to yourself?
spiritual health was inspired by renovare. renovare was founded by richard foster who suggests that to be spiritually healthy you need a balance of six streams or traditions. we made a wheel with six spokes on the floor and had stations on each of the six streams followed by an examen. it was a debut for a parachute at grace - an example of balance...
Had titles for each station that have our word on the front and the renovare word on the back.
Each station will have stories from the life of Jesus; an object/image; a question/action. Stations:
contemplative
charismatic
social justice
incarnational/sacramental
holiness
evangelical
Service outline
Prayer/focus on God/song
Ambivalence about maturity
Parachute experience/game
To be mature is to be Christlike
Introduce stations
Stations
Introduce renovare
Uncover words on stations
Examen – individual reflection
Importance of community
Questions for future of grace
Closing prayer
paul hobbs installation holy ground ran from the thursday to saturday of holy week. a collection of shoes with stories from christians all round the world made for a simple and powerful piece. a highlight was the footwashing service on the thursday evening when people were invited to take off their shoes and add them to the installation with their own story.
jonny blogged about it with links to where you can get the catalogue from the exhibition or book it.
there are some pics in the gracelondon flickr group
when people arrived they were given a drink and stood chatting in the waiting area. then we all went through and sat down at tables. at each table were 9 numbered envelopes. every time a bell rings the table open an envelope and follows the instructions. the envelopes sort of followed the basic liturgical structure of the communion service. it worked brilliantly - we set people off and they were away - no leadership required... the envelopes went something like...
1. introduce yourselves, slips of paper with questions to ask each other
2. iconic candle making kit with a night light, strip of acetate with the last supper image on and two paper clips. give thanks for things that have happened this week.
3. text a confession on your mobile phone to the number prefacing it with the word confess (an absolution with the words you are forgiven is triggered by the keyword confess)- thanks to jason djang for the inspiration for this who had IM confession recently that he told us about, which i'll blog about separately when i get round to it.
4. read story of thomas - share stories of doubt and surprise
5. peace - toast glasses proposing a toast of affirmation to someone round the table
6. share what you are thankful for about jesus. share what you want to remember about jesus. use images of christ enclosed to spark discussion
7. share bread and wine round the table after listening to the prayer. a bottle of wine and bread were already in place on each table (duncan wandered around doing bill's prayer).
8. invite the group to share concerns for prayer - take one of the night lights and light it for each prayer
9. go and collect a plate of hot towels (the kind you get after a curry - we got some from a warehouse locally!) - say a blessing and use the towel
the texting confession was brilliant! the absolutions didn't come until later during the sharing of bread and wine - coincidence or divine intervention?!
the hot towels was another great idea...
i'm sure this will become a grace regular service. it could have as many takes as you like...
some photos are in the gracelondon flickr group
we mowed a labyrinth in the grass at the front of st marys with a focus on pentecost. in the centre we had some oil so that you could pray for the next person to arrive to be filled with the spirit of god by anointing them with oil. we gave some simple guidelines for walking. walking intenitonally and prayerfully takes a bit of getting used to. the first time you walk a labyrinth can be a bit weird. and it's good to make the most of the centre as a space for prayer/being still or whatever.
there are lots of photos in the gracelondon flickr group. mark has a lovely one from the top of the tower with people walking on it. jonny has created a set - one man went to mow
he has also blogged instructions on how to mow a grass labyrinth if you are interested.
this labyrinth was actually a trial run for a labyrinth we had been invited to help set up for the minet park festival with arocha in southall. this one proved harder to create (the grass was pretty scraggy) and was more complicated to mow as it was the chartres pattern. there are a couple of pics of that in the labyrinth set mentioned above.
At Greenbelt we built a shed worship installation and ran Communion by numbers - see May 06
This is the building of the Grace installation at Greenbelt; The creation of a "shed obscura". The idea was that inside the shed you could see a projection of the outside world but upside down.
Viewers were invited to sit in the shed and reflect on this upside down kingdom, and the way in which the Christian faith requires us to see things differently. Those who spent time in the shed were invited to write comments on the outside - most said it was an amazing experience.
the grace 2006 season got off to a fine start. a chilled service reflecting on summer gone and the year ahead.
1. chill - quiet down in god's presence - use the video image of the jar settling from the CD ROM with tune in chill out | sing this is the house of god from one of the late late service albums | play lovebleeps by laura b from the mini album midi a minuit which i got at the big chill this summer with the lyric 'i am calling to you' (could become a grace classic tune i think), and give space to call out to god for the new year... also light three candles to pray for the presence of the father, son and spirit. use the prayer we are hungry from alternative worship | sing heal me from another of the late late service albums (!)
2. examen - look back over the summer using an examen type thing - talk in twos and then reflect on your own on your consolations and desolations... these were the questions jen put together
Consolation – for what moment of this summer am I most grateful?
Desolation – for what moment of this summer am I least grateful?
When did I give and receive the most love?
When did I give and receive the least love?
When did I feel most alive?
When did I most feel life draining out of me?
When have I had the greatest sense of belonging to God?
When did I have the least sense of belonging?
What was this summer’s high point?
What was this summer’s low point?
For what moment of this summer am I most grateful?
For what moment of this summer am I least grateful?
played the tune before from panamerican's quiet city which was perfect with the line let those memories come.
3. looking forward part 1 - revisiting the grace ethos - create, particpate, engage and risk. mike had a wonderful meditation/reflection and piece of liturgy reworking the doors liturgy from the book Alternative Worship. This was the meditation...
About 18 months ago in Grace we started a process of exploring who we were, what we had achieved, where we were going. We summed up several weeks of reflection, thought and prayer into three words. We described the three words as our ethos.
• Create
• Participate
• Engage
And as we learned more about Jesus and our community we found that there were new possibilities in an old, a 10 year old, situation. And where we might previously have made an easy, obvious choice, following the rules of our tradition, we became aware of new options in old situations.
And we found that our new option had the word "truth" written all over it.
But the word "truth" is hard to take. The truth might be uncomfortable. The truth might mean changes we hadn’t anticipated which would shake us out of complacency. We added a fourth word to our ethos:
• Risk
And as we went on facing daily decisions we became aware that any given situation has a choice of doors to go through. The obvious, familiar one, and the new one you're vaguely aware of.
That second door is smaller and harder to find than the familiar big door of comfort and self-satisfaction.
The second door is not directly in front of us - it is in semi-darkness and may be covered in cobwebs until we turn around and find it.
But as we reach out for the second door we find that the word "truth" is suddenly a lot more attractive. We find that the decision to reach for the other door has somehow given us a sense of being "bigger".
If we go through that door, and take the hard option, we find that we were wrong about the fear of the small, restricting room of the truth ... we find the biggest surprise that our hearts can contain ... because on the other side of the small, dimly lit door is a wide open space. And that wide open space is freedom ... it is the Realm of God.
And once we've been through that door we get used to its feeling, and in more and more situations we begin to see the second, smaller door, and we realise that the big door that we're used to going through actually led to a small room ... a kind of prison.
But now that we're learning to find the small door. We are starting to know the price of putting our ethos centrally into the life of Grace.
As a way of re-committing ourselves to our ethos at this, our ‘start of year’ service, a series of responses:
Doors 3
4. looking forward part 2 - personal dreams put to flight - this idea was lifted from laura of sanctus1 who led worship on the emerging churches tour and got everyone writing dreams on paper and making origami birds. she kindly sent me the origami template afterwards. steve has posted his reflection that introduced it summer is over on his blog and in the liturgy section. this looked fabulous and we projected images of moving skies and so on behind it which was fun.
5. prayers and blessing - some simple prayers/blessing led by ben...
Sometimes we can have dreams and goals that were founded on grand ideas. But like the seed on rocky soil, they sprout up quickly and then wither; it seems right for them to die
- And then there are those that are those dreams, visions, aspirations, that are planted so deeply in us that they can feel like part of God's dreams for us.
No matter how low the flame is burning, no matter how little the shoot has sprouted since the seed first took root in our being, our heart still sings out somewhere when we bring it back to mind.
These are the dreams that we want to take flight. To re-engage with the great migration.
Dear God
Just as you don't break a bruised reed or snuff out a smouldering wick, graciously let our plans and dreams take flight.
- Give us a sense of how we can coax it back to life
- Incubate it
- Let us see a next step & the manageable close at hand & And the glorious dream maybe far off.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ
Amen
running order
1. People come in to see the visual - a soap box and microphone projected + CD of speeches for atmosphere.
2. Intro the theme
3. Set the soap box idea up - People given a number to make their great speech. Tickets will have a time on. 8.15,
(possibly making provision for people to prepare before giving their speech)
4. Explore a range of ideas in three groups
A) still small voice
B) those with a voice those without a voice
C) speaking beyond words
7. Some all together feedback
Speaking out when you can't be heard
Verbalising out loud - what's it like?
8. reading and liturgy from Ezekiel
9. brandy snaps ritual (never actually happened)
10. Thanks and goodnight
Intro words
In the beginning God said... and there was - language makes the world
The heavens declare the glory of God... day after day they pour forth speech... there is no language where their speech is not heard - the world speaks
In the beginning was the word - Jesus God's great speech?
If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have no love then I am only a resounding gong - empty words
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be acceptable in your sight - appropriate words
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer one another - words of grace
A gentle tongue can break a bone - powerful words
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones - healing words
The tongue is a fire a world of evil amongst the body - poisonous words
A time to keep silence and a time to speak...
Welcome to Grace. You've probably guessed that tonight's theme is speaking. This is the first in a series of three service on speaking, listening and seeing (Because we want to use the stained glass the seeing one won't be until the summer).
As we have talked around notions of speech, words, speaking, comunicating we have realised it's a big subject. There are also lots of scriptures about it, a few we've touched on here. At the next Gracelet we'll particularly look at some proverbs that touch on speech. But for tonight we have narrowed down somewhat to speaking out...
The track we have just listened to is called Libations by Ursula Rucker. You probably haven't heard of half the people she cites but what we liked about it is that it just lists and lists people who have spoken out for liberation whether in literature, art, sculpture, music, preaching or whatever form. Not all the people listed are Christian but as Christians we have a pretty good heritage in this regard whether we think of the prophets, MLK, Wilberforce, Shaftesbury, Jesus or whoever... We stand in a long line of speaking out with the question hanging over us - what do we want to speak out about?
It may be a bit cheesy but we have got a room with a soapbox in. And we'd like to invite you or as many are brave enough to make your great speech for one minute or so. Before you get worried we are not going to pump the sound out so it will be just you. We'll be able to see you on the screen but not hear you. You'll have a few minutes to think but you could speak out about injustice in Uganda, the environment, Jesus and what he calls us to, generosity, the church, the poor, racism... Why? Well it seemed a good idea when we were planning. We'll talk about it later in the service but we think there's something scary about speaking/voicing something out loud, but there's also something good about it.
The way it will work is that we have a series of tickets (much like the supermarket deli counter) with times on. Go to make your speech so that you are at the door at your time. You have about a minute which isn't long. I'll knock on the door when your time is up if you go on too long! Not everyone has to do this - we don't want to tip anyone over the edge. But equally it will be a shame if no-one speaks...
(hand out tickets)
feedback questions
We thought it might be worth reflecting on your great speeches...
Turn to a neighbour and tell them what you spoke about (or would have).
(Altogether)
How did it feel to verbalise out loud?
How did it feel to be speaking and not be heard?
We set up a cheesy soapbox - I doubt any of us want to get on a soapbox... Turn to your neighbour again and think what ways might we be able to speak out?
The service began with a sound montage – sounds of traffic and people in conversation gradually became more intrusive and more complex, with voices of politicians and rap bands interwoven. Instead of the normal peaceful start to the service, this noise intruded and made us feel uncomfortable. It was noise to get away from, the unpleasant clamour of a busy and complex world. It grew to a crescendo and then abruptly stopped. And the silence was very sweet afterwards.
Welcome, opening prayer, songs of worship
Soundscape – six CD players around the room played sounds simultaneously – a car alarm, radio 4 news bulletin, ‘Jesus’ blood never failed me yet’, a baby crying, the sound of the sea, and the voice of a needy person who wanted to be listened to. We were invited to walk through the intersecting sound zones and to reflect on the experience. Which was easiest to listen to? Which sound did you want to escape? Where was God? Which needed to be attended to?
Reflection on the soundscape
News Bulletin "Meanwhile, several thousand miles away"
There's something strangely soothing about the news sometimes. Strange, when you think what awful things we hear about hour after hour. Can we ever hear God speaking in the litany of what Nick Cave calls "routine atrocities"? Are we driven to prayer, or lulled back to sleep?
Baby "I want to have some of your attention, give it to me"
Some things have been designed to grab our attention, not always in a pleasant way.
Alarms "Warning! Go back to sleep! Now!"
Something else designed to grab our attention in the middle of the night. But who pays the blindest bit of attention to a car alarm. There's a place for the urgent a case for too much urgency...
The Sea "Peace at last"
Calming... meditative. Do you feel closer to God when sat by the gentle ebb and flow? We often think of being closer to nature as being closer to God. But was Jesus closer to his father on a mountain top, or in a sea of human need and hunger?
Phone Conversation "Don't go ... not yet"
It may be heavier going than the sounds of nature; so many people with so many needs. But, to risk a little paraphrase; "whenever you listened to the least one of these, my children, you listened to me".
Music "Soothing? Moving?"
The sound of a tramp recorded near Waterloo and set to music. He was destitute but still able to sing "Jesus' blood never failed me yet". Sometimes music can point us to God with very specific declarations of faith and devotion. And, sometimes, perhaps God can slip under the radar with a rather less obvious message.
How good are we at listening to other people? A reading
Discussion
In groups of three and four we discussed a couple of questions:
• What does it feel like to be really listened to?
• How can we listen to each other better?
But the discussion had constraints. Each person took three tokens. Every time they spoke they put down one of the tokens, and when the tokens were gone they were not allowed to speak any more. We then discussed this method of discussing! Did you think more about what you were going to say when you knew that your opportunities to speak were precious? Did you listen more carefully? Did it affect the way you contributed to the conversation? How did you feel to have tokens in your hand when other people had used theirs?
Opportunities to think some more about listening to God and listening to self
We were invited to walk around the church and interact with four stations. If people wanted to continue to be silent and still, they could go into the sound-proofed crèche room at the back of the church which was lit with candles.
The stations:
• Obstacles to listening – what stops us listening to God and to ourselves? Take a block from the Jenga tower and write on it what stops you listening to God. Add it to the top of the tower, and come and collect it later
• Where do you hear God? Write or draw on a large piece of paper the places where you find it easier to hear God
• Ignatian spirituality – God speaks to us through our deepest yearnings and longings. Put your fingers on the pulse in your wrist. As you ‘listen’ to your heartbeat, listen to your heart and ask yourself the examen questions – for wat moment today am I most grateful? For what moment today am I least grateful?
• God listens to us – read about people in the Bible that God listened to - Anna, Hannah, David, Bartimaeus
A commitment to listen
We were invited to anoint our earlobes with scented oil as a commitment to listen more intentionally – to the world, to ourselves, to God or to others
The service ended with a prayer
Nine readings... nine tunes... nine surprises...
"Nine" is the Grace version of the traditional nine lessons and carols. The nine lessons are there, but they are allocated to nine volunteers (or groups of volunteers), each with the task of producing their own reflection or interpretation, including music. In keeping with Advent, expect the unexpected.
The readings are:
Lesson 1: The creation
Genesis 1, vv 1-5, 26-8, 31
Lesson 2: The fall
Genesis 3, vv 8-15, 17-19
Lesson 3: The people who walked in darkness...
Isaiah 9, vv 2, 6, 7
Lesson 4: Isaiah's vision of the kingdom
Isaiah 11, vv 1-3a, 4a, 6-9
Lesson 5: The Annunciation
Luke 1, vv 26-35, 38
Lesson 6: The Nativity
Luke 2, vv 1, 3-7
Lesson 7: The shepherds
Luke 2, vv 8-16
Lesson 8: The Magi
Matthew 2, vv 1-12
Lesson 9: The Word
John 1, vv 1-14
__________________
Bidding Prayer adapted from Christian Aid
This Christmas may it be our care and our delight to hear the story once again, from the first light of creation to the coming of the new light in Jesus. And as we celebrate his coming with words and music, we rejoice in his unending love for all and in the promise of his kingdom of justice.
And we recognise that it is our calling to make that kingdom a reality; and we pray that like Jesus we may be ready to greet the outsider, uphold the rights of everyone who suffers injustice, and seek to change the world through prayer and action.
God our Father and our Mother, we offer you our praise and worship that it may be pleasing to you. And we offer you our lives that you may use them to fulfil your purpose. In the name of your Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The People Walking in Darkness (full version with pictures can be found here)
We’re like the kid who puts her hand up to answer a question in the old Sunday School gag. She says, “I know the answer must be Jesus, but it does sound like a squirrel.”
We hear the words light and child and instantly imagine baby Jesus laying in a manger. The reading comes round every Christmas tucked between carols, and we skip over three verses in the middle of the prophecy that don’t sound so Jesusy. We can hardly imagine the wonder and longing felt by the people that first heard Isaiah’s prophecy. We know what this light is like; we’ve got it wrapped up; tighter than any present.
The people walking in darkness…
What do us city dwellers know about darkness? To us, darkness is yellow. It’s the colour of sodium street lights. It drains the world of colour but not of detail.
What would it be like to see… nothing?
To feel isolated and alone?
To live under the control of empires and powers too strong to oppose?
To long for change, but fear to hope that change is possible?
To lose confidence that God has any power to alter the world?
But darkness is also a place of concealment.
A place where we can mask our true selves.
A place to hide the things we don’t like about us.
Perhaps we know darkness after all.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light…
Ah yes, the light. We know about that! The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes. But little lord Jesus no crying he makes. But this baby is also the light of the world. The harsh light of day, penetrator of dark corners, revealer of blind spots who tramples on rose-tinted glasses and heals jaundiced eyes.
This is the light that will not be tamed, controlled or confined. We coo and cluck over the baby in the manger, and attempt to cut God down to size, and make him in our image. For what could be dangerous about a tiny child? Yet the coming light will overturn empires, rule with justice and righteousness, see into the heart of us and save the world. God was born as a boy and made his dwelling among us. That doesn’t mean that because we know babies, we know all there is to know about God.
So watch and prepare for the coming of the light. Greet the coming with joy, and also fear.
Watch and wait. Expect to be surprised. But not comfortable.
Watch and wait.
The Annunciation
Holy is His Name by John Michael Talbot, illustrated with pictures including the following:
An Anachronistic Nativity by Paul Leach
The small hours come and bring with them the sun,
but the darkness is reluctant to give way to anyone.
But night, in itself being an absence of light,
concludes its inherent inferior might,
and concedes that for now, the sun might just be right,
and grudgingly opts to relinquish the fight.
And the sun having won, becomes conscious of time,
so begins to make good on his new chance to shine.
So Joseph wakes up, turns on News 24,
yawns and walks to the mat just inside the front door,
picks up the mail he expected to see,
but decides that his first job is going to be a cup of tea.
Flicks the switch on the kettle, goes to sit on the chair,
that he recently made between trips to Mothercare.
He opens a statement from Lloyds TSB,
casts it aside and reads the one from BT
and just as he ponders why they're serving Nazareth,
the kettle makes clear that it feels that it's had enough
time to boil. So Joseph makes tea.
But his attention is turned to the voice from the TV.
See the strangest thing about a really strange day
is that strange days and normal days begin the same way.
So he turns and considers what this voice has to say,
and how even the most well-woven plans will fray.
Joseph zones out as his brain does the sums,
and although his mind's flailing his face just looks numb.
And Joseph just stands there as minutes stack up,
till the BBC's best fanfare wakes him back up.
Music on the news hits somewhere deep in Joseph's heart
‘cos the news they've just reported has .. blown his world apart.
And whilst the monotone of read news can be something of an opiate,
the epic intermission tunes seems hugely more appropriate.
He walks back to the mail which he left down by the chair
and sees the last unopened letter which he left lying there.
He picks it up although he knows already what it reads,
Opens and reads it and confirms that ... yes indeed ...
He's going to need to go home.
But that's not it. ‘Cos this isn't a journey he'll be making alone.
I think I may have mentioned that he's been going to Mothercare.
And there's only really one reason why a man his age goes there.
See, Joseph has a girlfriend, who's all set to be his wife,
but she currently playing host to a secondary life.
And this half-life is aspiring to be a full life of its own,
for about the same time as Joseph needs to be back home.
Watch the dark clouds bruising
Bellies flushed with water
They swell above your heads
So now we move the sun a few degrees through the sky
just to signify that some hours have gone by.
We rejoin our protagonists just as they've finished packing
and as we step back in, we see brave faces close to cracking,
hid behind facades and charades is the hard realisation
that their will to see this through is lacking.
Pull your coats around you
Feel the wind cut through them
Scraping at your bones
But still the door closes.
And Joseph thinks he knows if those who chose this could be shown his
situation the decision would be reached then to postpone it.
But knows that just for them to see might not inspire empathy
and is actually unlikely to lead to change of policy. And anyway,
he realises his head is in the clouds
and if they're going to get to Bethlehem he needs to hold it down.
Searching their effects for a map he recollects a time when
Mary map-read and what should have taken two days took ten.
He's not falling for the "Leave the map reading to me" gambit again.
Upon successful procurement of a map, they start their quest,
and we'll fast forward this bit and move the sun yet further to the west,
to a time where crepuscular light
soaks the dusty trail they're on, heralding the night.
Their elongated shadows stretch across the panorama
It's time for moratorium.
Joseph puts his arm around Mary;
He holds her, and she holds him.
Their love seems to burn stronger
when everything else looks so grim.
He looks deep into the eyes of the girl who'll be his wife
and says "There's no-one in the world
I’d rather spend the worst day of my life with than you."
She smiles, and rests her weary head on his shoulder,
and Joseph relaxes, content for now to hold her.
Hold her in the falling rain
Hold him like you’ve never done
Let this be a moment
That you won’t forget
That you won’t forget
That you won’t forget
All your life
‘til you die
So once again the sun peeped his head round the world,
just to be present as the story unfurled,
to examine what went down since he did last night,
and to paint this morning's skyline with vivid orange light,
which found the weary couple, sooner than they'd like,
and announced that it was time to resume their hike.
But Joseph knew today would be much like yesterday
so rolled on to his side and asked the sun to go away.
But the sun is persistent so continues his ascent
and ignores Joseph’s ongoing pleas to relent
eventually accepting the inevitable fate,
Joseph takes the bait, sits up straight and berates
the sun for interrupting his rest.
Unjust altercations seem endemic to the stressed.
As rationality resumes it rightful place in
Joseph’s mind, he recognises that they need to make haste
‘cos they're behind.
They get up and they set off much the same as before;
instead of leaving a house though, they're leaving a floor,
and beckoned now by the trail they know they have to go
they let the wind fill their sails but the wind is moving slow.
Do you know what I mean though, where drive is hard to come by?
Destination - current position yields a value much too high?
Well I guess that's how they felt as they set off today,
and the early morning sunlight sees them on their way.
The late afternoon sun however, sees them arrive
filled with elation and glad to be alive.
They go into the first inn they come to in town
and it's true that what goes up must come down,
‘cos they walk away despondently, the last room's just gone.
They thought they'd get a cup of tea, but they've got to carry on,
so they walk on down the road and go to inn number 2,
admittedly a budget affair, but it'll do.
Problem is that this one is jammed full as well
but the bloke behind the counter is happy to tell them
of another one, just down the road,
so off they go again, carrying their load.
As they approach the final inn, the sun departs to see
how Canada’s been getting on and leaves Bethlehem be
And the moon enlisted by the sun shares his light
helping people not to bump into things in the night.
They knock on the door to which they've pinned all their hope
and are greeted by a bloke who wants to throw them a rope
but says he can't. He's got no more rooms,
but wants to help them out on account of Mary’s womb.
He wishes he had something to offer, he says,
and if there's a cancellation in the next couple of days ...
Mary looks at Joseph like he'll know what to do,
and he sort of does: he hugs her, and tells her they'll make it through.
Though he doesn't know that, ‘cos don't forget,
he hadn't read Luke, ‘cos it wasn't written yet.
Mary lets some tears fall now on Joseph’s shoulder,
and Joseph's mind is whirring; he can feel it getting colder.
He despairs and he stares, relied upon, but lost
and he's scared, stood there, too aware of the cost.
Statued close together
A precious, tender moment
A solemn, sombre time
And just as they turn their backs and walk away,
the door opens behind them, this man has something else to say
his face, no longer downcast says "You can't stay right here,
but if you're open to suggestion, I’ve got an idea ..."
Joseph will take anything he says and if he's able
to offer something to them lay it down on the table.
The man says his livestock would be happy to share
the stable round the back if they'd like to sleep there.
Joseph wastes no time and ecstatically accepts;
Mary smiles and wipes away evidence that she wept.
The smell in the stable can't assuage their relief
they get brought a cup of tea, to revisit our motif.
The decor's hardly Hilton, but it's everything they need,
if they steer clear of the wet bit where the cow just weed.
And if their son should come, for want of a cot
they can use the manger, ‘cos that's all that they've got.
Joseph says "I need to know the cow's name if I stay..."
The inkeeper smiled. "His name is Gyp I say"
"Stupid name for a cow" said Joe and sat in something sticky
"Stupid name for a dog, but it didn't bother Vicki"
So once again the two of them embark upon sleep,
both convinced that nothing's going to keep
them awake tonight.
But nothing's ever black and white.
‘cos in the moonlight
Mary senses something's not right.
Wakes Joseph up by squeezing him tight
tells him what's happening, its the fright of his life.
It's the night when his wife to be
gives the right to the life to be
and though this scene is a sight to see
this son is the light they need.
So the small hours come and bring with them the son,
And the darkness will leave, ‘cos the light will have won.
guests mark berry and jem from telford led the service. a great way to kick off and look forward to the challenges of a new year.
jonny interviewed mark about what he is up to in telford (will link to mark's report for the last year when he puts it online). and then mark and jem led us in a reflective worship time on the theme set sail.
candles formed the outline of a boat in the centre of the space and then a line of sand ran across the front of the space with the words set sail and brendan's cross on the floor.
taking inspiration from st brendan who knelt on the beach before setting sail in his small leather boat and trusting the wind of god's spirit to blow him where the spirit willed, it was a challenge to set sail in mission leaving the comforts of known securities and trust ourselves afresh to god. it included a ritual of making a mark in the sand before setting sail.
set sail worship trick has links
prayer attributed to sir francis drake
We repeated a version of our Road to Emmaus Communion by Numbers service at Greenbelt.
We decided early on that we wanted to do something out in the middle of the festival, bringing worship to a place where festival goers would pass by as the service unfolded. We secured a slot in the arena on a Saturday afternoon, and set about transposing Communion by Numbers from a cafe vibe to a summer afternoon picnic on the grass. We achieved this with windmills, a deckchair, and a scorchingly hot afternoon. Substantial use of the big screen replaced some of the envelopes.
The attached files include the contents of the envelopes we distributed, and the full text of the service, with notes.
The carbon calculator used at the service can be found here.
The service ended with the following confession and non-absolution:
For failing to think of the harm done to air, water, land, plants, and animals,
Lord have mercy.
For failing to conserve energy, Lord have mercy.
For allowing ourselves to be saturated by the allurements of a consuming culture, Lord have mercy.
For not being thankful for the gifts God has given, Lord have mercy.
God is faithful and just and forgives everyone who turns to him and repents.
But our sins are against our world as well as God. The world cannot forgive, because it has no voice. All we can do is to amend our ways so that we stop damaging it. We end this service not with a blessing, but with a charge to be a blessing to the world that God has given us as a gift.
This article started out as a review of the book Heat by George Monbiot about the reality of climate change and how to address it, but it has since evolved into more than simply a review -- I have added some elaborations of my own. Monbiot draws an analogy between the use by humans of fossil fuel, allowing us to live in an amazing way until the environment is ruined, and the pact made by Dr Faustus whereby, in return for a few years of power, his soul is consigned to hell.
This raises the question: what sort of person would sell their soul? I can think of two obvious examples.
Firstly, somebody who did not believe there was such a thing as hell. An analogy can be drawn with people who deny the existence of climate change. Although they are a dying breed now, there are a few such people, who will always point out the evidence that seems to suggest climate change is not a reality (you can always find some if you look hard enough, in the same way that if you look hard enough you can use the Bible to justify racism. The world would be a better place if nobody did either of these things). We can't be certain what will happen, but the probability that climate change will destroy the environment is high -- and who would gamble their own and their children's life and future on short odds?
And secondly, somebody who was convinced they would go to hell no matter what they did. The analogy here is with people who think they can do nothing about climate change. This belief is far more common, and perhaps reasonably so; according to Monbiot, and also other writers such as Mark Lynas, the average cut in carbon emissions required for people living in the UK is 90%. (To get an indication of how much you need to cut your carbon, click here. This calculator isn't perfect but it is one of the best I have seen).
But Monbiot believes that 90% cuts can be achieved, and sets out a plan for doing so. The use of carbon must be allocated fairly, by means of a rationing system. As a result, excessively carbon-intensive processes such as bringing fruit from the other side of the world (as Faustus does) would be priced out of the market.
And to allow us realistically to live within our ration limits, various changes are required. In summary:
- Build new homes and convert existing homes to "passivhaus" standards, meaning that they require no active heating or cooling systems. This requires improved building regulations. Also replace Portland cement with artificial geopolymeric cement (Monbiot accepts that cement is not a very interesting subject).
- Produce half of grid-based electricity from gas-burning power stations, with capture and storage of carbon dioxide produced, and the other half from offshore wind and wave machines.
- Redesign coach travel to make it the most effective way of transporting people. Move freight to the railways. Run road vehicles off batteries, which can be switched and recharged at "filling stations".
- Replace shopping in large stores with virtual shopping, i.e. home delivery.
- Aviation. Monbiot has no solution -- his message is "you can't". I suggest one of my own: limit the number of flights to a sustainable level (perhaps one-twentieth of the current level), and allocate them according to the benefit they will bring. This will enable international skill-sharing through organisations such as VSO to continue.
What is needed to bring about this absolution from hell? As Monbiot argues, the technology exists; what is lacking is human and political will.
So now it is time to take action. There are many things you can do -- but start by writing to your MP to ask them to support a Climate Change Bill with targets strong enough to prevent global average temperatures from rising to more than 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels, this being a critical threshold. A particular requirement is for the Climate Change Bill to cover aviation and shipping. You need to be quick -- the consultation deadline is the 12th of June. See the DEFRA web site for more information.
If you are short of time, Friends of the Earth