2009-2010

The Table - Sept 09

table flyer



Set up:
Long table banqueting style down centre of church. Table with white cloth/roll is bare. Light shining on table - grace logo

People arrive in Polygon through church, tunes playing, warm atmosphere
1. Aperetif – drink and menu given out to read.
Small drinks table set up with wine bottles labels and instructions for people to create wine labels to attach to bottles – what do you bring to the table?

Invite people to go to the table and to take the bottles with labels (and their glass), collect cutlery and plate on way

2. Welcome to the table - intro and prayer

3. Amuse Bouche – 5 different types of dip and bread. Dips to be different flavours – reflect/examen type thing using flavours – spicy, sweet, bitter, sour, hot.

4. Entrée – salad. Ingredients brought to table. Each group/person makes a salad. An item on its own is not so great but together make something better – picture of grace. Thanks for community and all ingredients.

5. Plat Principal – Add crackers to table. Cards in crackers with ethos words on - exchange cards to select one which you have done in the last year and one challenge for the year ahead. Talk over the meal.

6. Pause - a pause after the tables are cleared to listen to a couple of readings and pray.
reading 1 Gal 5:22 Fruit of the Spirit plus poem from Listings
reading 2 from book Sanctuary on community
Prayer - we hang our lives on your mercy and then invite people to write or draw prayers on the table cloth

7. Dessert – make cookies adding decoration – then taken to be baked. Be a gift for someone else in the community.

8. Toast and blessing – refill glasses, toast others round table.
Hot towels brought round and a prayer of blessing

9 Coffee and cookies back in Polygon with more tunes.

Amuse Bouche - Meditation for the "The Table"

AMUSE BOUCHE

[The platters of dips are placed down the table along with baskets of bread]

Introduction

Time to wake up your taste buds and reflect on the past few months.

Asian cooking works around five major tastes:

• Sweet
• Sour
• Salt
• Hot
• Bitter

The perfect meal consists of a blend of all five – without one that essential something is missing.

Take some time to read the quotations.
Take some bread and taste each of the flavours in turn:
• Sweet – honeyed cheese dip
• Sour - lemons
• Salt – crisps
• Hot – chilli hummus
• Bitter - rocket

Reflect on the events of the past few months that each flavour brings to mind.

You might want to share your thoughts with your neighbours around the bowl.

[Copies of the verses and instructions were scattered along the table]

SWEET

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Psalm 119:103

Think of the good times of the past few months.

SOUR

Whoever eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
Jeremiah 31:30

Reflect on those times when something has not turned out as well as you had hoped.

SALT

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
Matthew 5:13

Remember a time when you made a difference however big or small

HOT

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
Revelation 3:15

Remember those things you are enthusiastic about

BITTER

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
Exodus 12:8

Remember times of sadness

Bread - October 2009

Our Toast Washing Line with "I am the Bread of Life" in alphabet-cut toast:



Bread is a fundamental staple in the west. Other cultures have rice or potatoes; we have bread. There is a story from the aftermath of World War II, when thousands of children were orphaned in bombing raids and left to starve. The fortunate ones were rescued and placed in refugee camps where they received food and good care. But many of these children could not sleep at night. They feared waking up to find themselves once again homeless and without food. Nothing seemed to reassure them. Finally, someone hit on the idea of giving each child a piece of bread to hold at bedtime. Holding their bread, each child could finally sleep in peace. All through the night the bread reminded them; “Today I ate, and I will eat again tomorrow”.

Opening Prayer

The participants were invited to gather around tables in small groups.

We demonstrated how to create a yeast fermentation using warm water, sugar, and dried yeast. We had a new packet of yeast to demonstrate the yeast of the Kingdom of God, and a packet of out-of-date yeast to demonstrate the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (this we also sabotaged with vinegar).

Each group had a jug of warm water, sugar, and dried yeast to start a fermentation with(the first stage in making bread). Whilst the yeast came out of dormancy and started making froth, the people in their small groups had two readings from Matthew to read and to discuss:

Readings and Questions

Then we compared the Yeast of the Kingdom of God (fluffy) with the Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees (flat and sour).

Before the service we had prepared some dough, kneaded it, and allowed it to have its first rising. A small lump of this dough was now distributed to every person; they were invited to knead it, to shape it into a flatbread / pizza-type shape, and to flavour it with olive oil, honey, sesame seeds, lemon salt, zatar (herbs), or fried onion. These flavourings can be taken to symbolise the diversity of the Christian community: honey for sweetness, the salt of the earth, oil for healing, herbs and onion for flavour, and seeds for new life.

The work was blessed:

Blessing the Kneading

And while they kneaded, people were encouraged to consider some of the following questions, taken from Examen:

Examen Questions

before we all prayed the Lord's Prayer together.

The finished bread was laid on baking trays and carried out to the kitchen to rise.
Three passages from John's Gospel were read:

Readings from John

Lynda gave a personal testimony on the power of Jesus to be our bread and to sustain us through difficult times.

Then we considered the symbolism of bread in the story of Exodus - how the Israelites had to be ready to move at a moment's notice, so carried unleaved bread with them. The participants were invited to move into stations that told this story through a series of displays and questions, whilst Bob Marley's 'Exodus' played in the background.

Whilst this was going on, the bread was baking. We all gathered together again for a prayer:

Blessing the Bread

before the distribution of the Antidoron, which we took from the Orthodox tradition.

About the Antidoron

“May the blessing and the mercy of the Lord be with you”

All shared the bread they had baked.

This marked the end of the formal part of the service.

About the Antidoron

"The Orthodox Church has two pulls going on inside it – one towards exclusivity and the other towards inclusivity. Eucharist is regarded very highly – only Orthodox believers who have fasted and prepared properly may receive it. But not all the loaf is consecrated: the largest portion is set aside as Blessed Bread, or Antidoron, to be shared among all the Orthodox. Churches that have a lot of non-Orthodox attendance have even-less-consecrated-Blessed-Bread which any Christian can share. Years go I took part in this Blessed-Bread sharing at a service with a Russian Orthodox community in Bath. It was a beautiful experience. First the priest would break off a large lump of bread, break it in half, bless it with the words “May the blessing and the mercy of the Lord be with you” and share it with the person next to him. Then that person would eat a small fragment of it, break the rest in two, and themselves bless it: “May the blessing and the mercy of the Lord be with you” and share it with the people next to them. Before long the whole room was a melee of people blessing bread and sharing it."

Blessing the Bread

God, food of the poor;
Christ our bread,
give us a taste of the tender bread
from your creation's table;
bread newly taken
from your heart's oven,
food that comforts and nourishes us.
A fraternal loaf that makes us human
joined hand in hand,
working and sharing.
A warm loaf that makes us a family;
sacrament of your body,
your wounded people.

Blessing the Kneading

As this yeast does its work,
So may the Holy Spirit infiltrate all of my life:
Those areas off-limits that I want to control.
Expand my experience,
Raise my expectations.
Becoming a source of nourishment to others,
even as crumbs on the floor.

Examen Questions

Examen:

For what moment today am I most grateful?
For what moment today am I least grateful?

When did I give and receive the most love today?
When did I give and receive the least love today?

When did I feel most alive today?
When did I most feel life draining out of me?

When today did I have the greatest sense of belonging to myself, to others, to God and the universe?
When did I have the least sense of belonging?

When was I happiest today?
When was I saddest?

What was today’s high point?
What was today’s low point?

Opening Prayer

Opening Prayer

Look at us, Lord,
Our hands are empty,
Our hearts are hungry
What do we want?
We are hungry for you, God our maker
We are hungry for a world where people are loved and affirmed
We are hungry for you Holy Spirit
We are hungry for justice
We are hungry for community
We are hungry for celebration
We are hungry for you Jesus Christ
We are hungry for change

Passages from John 6

Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Jesus the Bread of Life

25When the crowd found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Readings and Questions

Matthew 13v31-33
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Matthew 16v5-12
When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Questions.

What does ‘the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’ mean today?

Is there any point in being ‘good yeast’ in our communities?

Where do you see the good yeast at work?

Low April 2010

the sunday after easter is traditionally called 'low sunday', not as is often thought in relation to the 'high' feast of easter but as a corruption of 'laudes', latin for 'praises'. it is also the day when the story of 'doubting thomas' is told [john 20:24-29]. this service explores the story of thomas, and how we believe what we believe.

setup:

church is dark with low lights
grace brazier from easter vigil - in middle - not lit - just full of ashes
images on big screen

1. welcome and introduction [steve]:

explanation about 'low sunday'

2. volunteer reader - first passage:

Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"

But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

3. meditation: [steve]:

congregation watch slideshow
backing music - 'subterraneans' by david bowie from 'low'

4. volunteer reader - second passage:

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

5. volunteer to bring paschal candle up to beside the brazier and light it
slide on screen reads:

put down all your weapons
let me in to your open wounds

music - 'prologue' and 'weapons' by son lux from 'at war with walls and mazes' - track faded out halfway through [steve]

6. real and fake quiz:

big letters 'true' and 'false' hung from line slung across church. questions appear on screen - people stand under the letters according to whether they think the answer is 'true' or 'false'. the answer is then revealed on screen.

zoe to compere

7. people believe what they want to believe:

'people believe what they want to believe' slide on screen [steve]

jackie to introduce

play clip from 'catch me if you can' [steve]:
the scene where dicaprio arrives at a new school and starts teaching french, and everyone believes that he is a french teacher when he is in fact a pupil!

get people into groups of 4 or 5
hand out profiles from 'christian connection' dating site - which are real people and which are fake?
plus questions about how we decide if people are for real or not

people discuss in groups for ten minutes

jackie to ask people which they thought were the true ones

jackie to close section - about making those decisions - having a balance between faith and scepticism
'wise as serpents and innocent as doves'

8. volunteer reader - last part of passage:

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

9. commitment:

if we have chosen to believe, we are asked, like thomas, to pass that faith on.

as a sign of our commitment, we light individual candles from paschal candle and place them in the brazier so that it glows from within again.

closing prayer [matt]

final track 'sound and vision' by david bowie

followed by the cafe

Speaking of God - June 2010

This service followed a discussion we had in the planning group about inclusive language, and explored expansive language for God.

As people waited for the service to start, they played Taboo - the game where you describe a word without using any of the most obvious associated words.
We had the words of 'Praise my Soul the King of Heaven' on a screen. Half way through the service we introduced this and invited people to edit any words they wanted to change.

At the start of the service, we invited people to move to the choir stalls while 'He who would valiant be' was played on the piano. Someone appeared in the pulpit to preach to the 'brothers' about the wrath of God.

People then moved into a space at the front of the church to discuss their reactions to the sermon. They were enclosed in tape saying 'Do not cross' while we considered whether the language we use for God constrained us from a fuller understanding of who God is.

We broke the tape and people moved back to the body of the church.

Opening prayer, with space for people to think about the words they instinctively use for God.

Someone talked about different models for understanding the atom: Rutherford's planetary model compared with Schrödinger's quantum model. The new model led to many discoveries that we now take for granted.
In what way is your picture of God like the planetary model of the atom?
How is your picture incomplete?
What language and explanations do you use that hold you back from a fuller picture of God?
What might become possible if you can see the limitations of your picture of God?

We invited people to 'park' the instinctive and familiar words we use for God, not to reject them, but to put them to one side in order to create space for a more expansive understanding of God. People wrote them on yellow pieces of card and attached them to the spine of a book, creating a library of words that we wanted to rest.

People were invited to join in a confession.

We gave everyone an envelope with a different metaphor for God, most from the Bible, some from creeds and writers through the ages. People reflected on what this metaphor revealed about God, and talked to others near them about their words.

We invited people to choose a new metaphor or phrase that shed light on God's nature and write a prayer or some words that explored this. There was also an opportunity to create artwork. People came and wrote their new word on another piece of coloured card and added it to the bookcase, expanding the library of words.
Here are the words that people parked, and that people chose to explore.

In an atmosphere of worship, people read out their prayers. Here are a few:
Jesus is not lord
quantum
rock
housekeeper
generous host
ocean

We ended with a blessing.

The even greater silence - December 2009

Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas, and also the second coming of Christ at the renewal of the heavens and earth. This service included two periods of silence as we reflected on these themes.

Between the Old and New Testaments there are 400 years without word from God.
When there is silence from heaven, how do we wait amid noise on earth?

Call to worship

Old Testament prophecies

Silence in heaven; turmoil on earth
a dramatic piece, ending with questions to reflect on
to be projected onto a screen that will gradually fade into
darkness

Silence

Voices from the Christmas story
- starting with angel to Zechariah, ending with John 1
lighting eight candles in homage to Hanukkah
- more words from the life of Jesus to end with Great
Commission

Corporate prayer
- thanks for Jesus being born in our world

Meditation – how do we wait for the second coming

Silence
- during which people will be invited to light a candle
as a sign of wanting to participate in bringing in God’s
kingdom on earth
As candles fill the church with light, turn lights down

Prayer – recognising that people wait for different things
and with different feelings

Corporate prayer – we choose to wait in hope

For both of these see here

The even greater silence - closing prayer

we are all waiting, lord
some of us are waiting for minor things
that only trouble the corners of our minds from time to time
some of us are consumed by waiting, unable to live fully
until our hopes and fears are resolved

none of us know how things will turn out

but we know that you do
but we know that you love

how do we know how to be faithful, when we don't know how things will work out?
how do we prepare?
what will we do in the meantime?
will it make a difference to what happens?
should we prepare for the best or the worst?
can hope and faithfulness encompass both outcomes?

none of us know how things will turn out

but we know that you do
but we know that you love

how do we wait serenely, when our imaginations get in the way?
how do we wait for god to act, without cooking up strategies for self-defence?
how do we accept uncertainty?
how long should we be prepared to wait?
how do we fill in the time, without wasting it?

none of us know how things will turn out

but we know that you do
but we know that you love

how long does faith last when nothing happens?
why do we expect answers within a certain time?
why do we think the answer will be different, if it doesn't come when we expect it?
do we think that delay means something has gone wrong?
can we think that delay means something is growing, like a flower,
or cooking, like a cake?

none of us know how things will turn out

but we know that you do
but we know that you love

we are all waiting, lord
in hope and in fear
but the difference is often in ourselves rather than in our prospects

when heaven is silent and earth is noisy
help us not to be distracted or misled
help us to be active shapers of the future we long to see

even if we cannot make the future
we will prepare its place
even if we cannot cook the feast
we will lay the table and invite the guests
even if we cannot sing the song
we will make the silence in which it will be heard
even if we cannot see the dawn yet
we will live by the light that we have

we will remember the stories
of how you rewarded those who dared to wait
we will wait in the knowledge
that waiting is not in vain if it is waiting for you

you are the one who holds our future
you are the one who was, and is, and will be
walk with us tonight, and for ever

amen

yearn

[this service revisited the story of the prodigal son/embracing father/grumpy older brother. inspiration for it came from ken bailey's poet and peasant book and miroslav volf's book exclusion and embrace. then we interwove several pieces from padraig's album hymns to swear by that we played. the set up was with a home - sofas, table, plant, fridge - in the centre and confession stations in 4 corners. amongst the visuals we used images of these stencils]

yearn flier | yearn movie loop

Welcome/intro
God above
Opening collect (from Hymns to Swear by)

Home - memories
Exploring stories, memories and associations with home
Discuss in small groups, and stick photos to fridge with fridge magnets
Blank postcards and pens for people who may not have photos

Home – trap or haven
Narrative Theology (from hymns to swear by) – the answer is in a story...
Tell/read/narrrate story of prodigal son. Set up story first - start of chapter, hear story one of whom will make a demand..., shocking request, father losing dignity etc..
Explore home in the story – I wonder... (a la godly play) on the two sons feelings/experience of home

Home – in Babylon
Play Maranatha (from hymns to swear by)
Then invite people to go to one of 4 areas they most identify with. Each will have a station and accompanying ritual for confession with a line from song.
These were...
you are my strength when i am weak -
i've given up sometimes when i've been tired - washing up
i've fucked it up so many times - shred paper with sins on
i found my home in babylon - mark on a map your distance from home

Absolution

Play Yearn for Home (hymns to swear by)

Home - Reconfigured
Improvised dialgue between two sons along lines of...
Discuss in twos - who do you identify with? - Dean
Spread out sofas – reconfigure world as an order of embrace

Home – the table
Peace
Share communion on the table in the centre of the home - take bread and wine out of fridge!
yearn communion liturgy

Home – blessing
yearn blessing
Give people a key as an object to takeaway to symbolise in terms of home that a) if they identify with the younger son, that they are not slaves but children with access to the front door and b) if they identify with the older son outside the party the door is always open and the arms are open wide as the world is reconfigured as an order or embrace.