Marcus Curnow
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Dead Man Rising 07
April 25, 2007
A Seeds Easter Installation in Footscray and Bendigo inspired by last years Dead Man Waiting. Most content gleaned from NT Wright, Marcus Borg and John Dear....
Running Order
Welcome
Reading 1: Mark 16:1-8 Stone
Song: “Stone” James Laidler
Reading 2: Luke 24:13-43 Bread
Reading 3: Luke 24: 36 Fruit
Reading 4: John 21:1-13 Fish
Reading 5: John 20: 24-29 Touch
Reading 6: John 20:19-22 Breath
Interactive Time/Meal
Background Songs:
“I’ll Rise” Ben Harper
“Life is…” Martin Wroe
“There is a Kingdom” Nick Cave
Reading 7: Food for Risen Bodies VI
Song: “Feeling Good” Nina Simone
continue for full liturgy and pix...
Running Order
Welcome
Welcome to Dead Man Rising.
Today we invite you to respond to the mystery of the resurrection. Like Christ’s followers we invite you to stand, run, touch, eat, fear, worship and doubt. To know and to feel within your own body what it means to bear witness to resurrection.
Along with gospel stories this space features the poems “Food for Risen Bodies” by Michael Symmons Roberts.
He explains that the poems “take this other-worldly physicality as their starting-point, imagining what the first meal in a resurrected world might be, and how it might be conducted. What would they eat, drink, smoke, talk about?”
This installation was created by , an ecumenical covenanted community supported by the Baptist Union of Victoria.
After the formal readings feel free to interact with stations at your own leisure.
Many thanks to the Dancing Dog Café, St Matt’s Long Gully, Christop, Talitha, Long and Minh, the Bendigo mob and as ever, Mark Pierson.
Reading 1: Mark 16:1-8 Stone
Who will roll away the stone?
Food for Risen Bodies-I (by Michael Symonns Roberts)
Stone
Immersion in water was traditionally used on Easter Sunday as an initiation symbol of rising up from the watery grave to new life with the risen Christ.
Consider your life and our world. We are weighed down by many things.
Pick up a stone. What insurmountable barriers stand in the way of hope?
Take time to feel the weight of the stone in your hand.
The resurrection is God’s ‘yes’ to the way of Jesus, affirming that suffering love is a force more powerful than the daunting powers of death.
“When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.”
Let your stone “roll away” into the watery grave.
Baptism
Let your hand wash in the water for a time. Feel the water on your skin and running through your fingers.
If the way of Jesus is true then we too will rise again and live with Jesus in peace. All that is required is that we too lay down our lives for suffering humanity. We too must risk the way of the cross.
Use your moistened finger to make a sign of the cross upon your forehead as a symbol of baptism… of your own desire to die to your old life and rise to new ways of living with Christ.
Song: “Stone” James Laidler
Reading 2: Luke 24:13-43 Bread
What were you talking about upon the road? What things?
Food for Risen Bodies - IV (by Michael Symonns Roberts)
Bread
Following the political execution of their leader, Cleopas and his friend walk the road to Emmaus as refugees, fleeing the scene of death. What things fill you with despair, doubt and sorrow?
View the images at the head of the table. Consider those who walk the road as refugees this day.
Whisper grace for those have been silenced in Iraq, Zimbabwe, across Sudan and in other places of our world this day.
Know that the resurrected Christ walks with them and all who suffer, even if unrecognised…
Christian tradition suggests that at the feast of the resurrection those who suffer injustice are given places of honour.
Using the dinner knives, slit their stitched lips free.
What unexpected voices or stories might you hear to make our hearts burn within us.
The story suggests that we may recognize the presence of Christ through the offer of hospitality to strangers.
Break some bread and eat with them.
Make a donation to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in the urn provided or sign the petition as an act of hospitality.
Reading 3: Luke 24: 36 Fruit
Why are you fearful and why do you question in your hearts? Do you have anything to eat?
Food for Risen Bodies - III (by Michael Symonns Roberts)
Fruit
Like a ghostly apparition the risen Christ mysteriously re-appears, raising fear and troubled questions within his followers.
How do we deal with death? What happens to our bodies when we die? Numerous beliefs exist about the afterlife, our body and the spirit.
Many beliefs deny or seek liberation from the body, promoting the development of private spirituality, emphasising life after death for individuals.
However with invitations to touch, feel and eating before their eyes, the gospel demonstrates that resurrection does not involve the abandonment of the body…
The risen Christ shows a transformed physicality where continuity exists between the present life and the resurrected body.
Because of this hope the present time is shot through with significance. Our choices resonate through eternity.
Generations back...fruit was clad…childrens children waited.
Taste a seed from the pomegranate. Swallow or keep it with you as a symbol of the seeds you will choose to plant for future generations.
“Look at my hands and feet… Touch me and see”.
What beliefs do you hold about your own body?
Touch and eat the flesh of fruit reminding us of the holiness of the human body and wounds of Christ.
Reading 4: John 21:1-13 Fish
Children, have you caught anything to eat? Simon, Son of John, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
Food for Risen Bodies - II (By Michael Symonns Roberts)
Fish
At death, Jesus was abandoned by his own followers who returned to business as usual. Now without malice the risen Christ stands on a beach offering them an abundant catch, a cooked breakfast and the chance to follow again.
Peter had earlier made himself comfortable in the house of death whilst Jesus suffered at the hands of the Roman Empire. He denied Jesus three times whilst ‘warming himself’ around a charcoal fire in the palace courtyard.
Now by contrast Jesus invites Simon Peter to warm and feed himself in the house of life, around his own charcoal fire, at the dawn of a new day…
Using his pre-discipleship name of Simon, the risen Jesus offers three opportunities to reconcile, reversing Peter’s three statements of denial with three expressions of agape (unconditional love) and fidelity.
Dip some fish in salt. As you taste remember the bitterness of an experience of denial and failure in your own life.
“Feed my lambs” (poetic Greek reference to martyrs)
The resurrection offers a new invitation and co-missioning.
Light a candle as a prayer
• for those who have died;
• for those whom you have failed or with whom you remain unreconciled;
• as hope for your new work.
Reading 5: John 20: 24-29 Touch
Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Food for Risen Bodies - VI (by Michael Symonns Roberts)
Touch
How is it that you see the stories of resurrection?
• historical fact,
• inspiring metaphor
• a wishful projection of the powerless
• archetypal myth…others?
How is it that you come to know or trust something as being true?
Like Thomas acknowledge your doubts. Choose a quote with which you identify. Use it to touch Jesus’ side. Dip and hold.
“My Lord and my God”
For the first 300 years of Christianity the refusal to address the Roman Emperor by divine title, “My Lord and My God” resulted in execution. Even though people had not seen Jesus, their experience of him as God meant they were routinely martyred for refusing the Empire.
The resurrection proclaims Jesus as King over all the systems and powers of this world including “conventional wisdom”.
Express your allegiance or ongoing doubt by placing your quote upon the central stones or on the crown of thorns above. Know you are loved regardless.
Reading 6: John 20:19-22 Breath
He breathed upon them…
Food for Risen Bodies - V (by Michael Symonns Roberts)
Breath
In the creation stories of Genesis the Spirit blows across the waters and God breathes life into the first human bodies.
Now far from the Spirit’s breath of Genesis we find ourselves living in a time of de-creation. When the suns rising reminds us as much of drought and global warming as it does of the risen Christ.
“Peace be with you”
In the midst of a spirit of fear and the many spirits of the age, Christ breathes upon his disciples in order to release his own Spirit into the world and to enable people to function from a new reference point.
The significance of Jesus resurrection is not simply that it opens up hope for life after death for individuals but that the new creation has begun.
The apostle Paul taught that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with what will be revealed when the creation is liberated from its bondage.
He describes the whole creation as groaning as in the pains of childbirth right to the present time.
“ ’Later, later’...and went straight for the cigarettes”
What is it that you groan for?
Is it possible to imagine a universe where entropy, corruption and suffering is not the final word? How do you feel about the story’s suggestion that the Spirit gives you the power to loose or to bind?
Burn some incense as a prayer of hope. You may long to smoke outside!
Paul concludes that in our weakness the Spirit prays and breathes hope for us with sighs too deep for words.
Interactive Time/Meal
Background Songs:
See his body broken in the shadows of my mind. Can you see the ripple fading from the stone that’s fallen in. Stone, Solid Stone.
James Laidler
Life slips through the cracks, looking for now…
Life is brushing up against you,
worlds within worlds,
the no space between me and you,
between all of God and all of us.
The see through,
seen through,
fat with life…..
Life is waking again and knowing, with thanks, you are waking again.”
Martin Wroe
Just like a bird, that sings up the sun
in a dawn so very dark. Such is my faith for you. All the worlds darkness can’t swallow up, this single spark.
Such is my love for you.
Nick Cave
Reading 7: Food for Risen Bodies VI
Song: “Feeling Good” Nina Simone
Posted by marcus at 12:24 AM | Comments (1)
Why are we baptising Lowenna?
April 23, 2007
Our invitation and explanation of what we have been seeking to do in baptising our kids (includes Seeds Prayer of Promise)...
In a culture where choice is perceived as freedom and spirituality is regarded as a largely private matter, the idea that we are making some sort of public religious choice for Lowenna before she can choose for herself can be easily misunderstood and even regarded as oppressive.
One of the ironies of today is that our Seeds Gatherings are supported by the Baptist Union whose principles are based on naming the historic abuse to individual freedom caused by such practices. We do value individual choice and seek to sensitively engage with this consumer culture.
However with the triumph of late capitalism we presently minister to many young people whose freedom to make life choices of any substance are profoundly limited because they have little connection to an understanding of God or community beyond that of individual consumer choice. We choose baptism for Lowenna in a culture that has already aggressively sought to predetermine many of Lowenna’s choices.
We were both brought up in Christian families where our identities were profoundly shaped by the Christian Story. Both of us were baptised as infants in the Methodist church. We were taught to understand that the significance of this was that as children of believers our identity had a claim over it. Our identity was wrapped up in covenant promises that extend from Abraham and Sarah, to their children and children’s, children.
We were given a secure foundation that came from the Wesleyan idea that the prevenient grace of God reaches out and surrounds us before we are capable of responding. We were always treated as part of the people of God, participating fully in the sacraments before we could decide for ourselves.
Growing up alongside Baptists we were confronted with a different approach which gave emphasis to the importance of conscious confession of faith, freedom of choice and being actively able to take on the ethical implications of discipleship. This of course was not neglected in our own tradition and as we came to experience Jesus as the Living Word for ourselves and decided to follow, we both chose to confirm our baptism as adults in the Uniting Church. Like all of us, Lowenna will one day have to choose for herself whether what is claimed for her today in faith is also true for her.
Our desire to baptise Lowenna derives from an understanding of the covenant promises of God to his people. We believe that the covenants of Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, expressed in the sacramental forms of circumcision and baptism, are essentially connected. We believe Jesus words “Let the little ones come to me”, and embracing children as models to adults of true faith are significant for baptism. We also assume that New Testament practice of household baptism included children.
This means much for us as the sense of collective identity created through hospitable households is essential to the life of our Seedy mobs.
We make this choice for her now with the conviction that a bigger freedom is breaking in around her, protecting, calling, and guiding her and all of us, often despite our own choices. A freedom that extends from the liberation of slaves in Ancient Egypt; to ‘the way” of fisherman, tax collectors and sinners in the face of Rome; to movements across the world today. A freedom found in the gracious way of Jesus.
Our Baptism of Lowenna is a way of saying that she belongs.
BELONGS TO GOD
We believe that God is the community of love at the centre of the universe and the creator and sustainer of the wonderful mystery of life into which Lowenna has been born. Beyond any tradition, culture, religion or family, Lowenna belongs firstly to God who has given her as a gift to us all.
BELONGS TO A STORY
Our human identity can only be understood through stories.
We believe that God has chosen to communicate to us through the sacred story of Jesus and the Bible.
In baptising Lowenna as a child we are acknowledging that she is a participant in ancient promises made in these stories to Abraham and Sarah that ‘they, their children, and children’s children would be blessed.’
This sacred story was embodied in the person of Jesus Christ the “Living Word” who said “Let the children come to me.”
In baptism we want to acknowledge our commitment to this story as the lens through which we seek to understand reality and the way of life in which we will seek to raise Lowenna.
We would seek to be loyal to this living story over against other more dominant stories in our world that would seek our allegiance and make claim to our identity.
BELONGS TO A PEOPLE
Our human identity can only be formed in relation to others.
Community is formed when people gather together around this life-giving story and seek to follow the way of Christ in the world.
This “communion of saints” is one that transcends time and so we will seek to celebrate the traditions of those that have gone before us in faith.
Infant Baptism acknowledges that even before Lowenna decides whether or not she will follow in this way for herself she is already a part of this community.
Because this community is committed to a lifestyle of simplicity, solidarity and service with those considered least in the world, Lowenna will participate in the sufferings and joys this entails even before she can choose otherwise.
It acknowledges that any personal choice she makes will be shaped greatly by those that surround her.
For this reason we have asked people of God to gather and commit to God, this story, this people and to Lowenna.
We currently understand and practice ‘church’ through intentional networks of local Christian households. This is given primary expression for us through the Seeds Covenant that has arisen out of Urban Seed and those who join in its Gatherings.
We also value our participation in The Common Rule and ministry of Common Life, the Footscray Salvation Army and Footscray Baptist Church. We are encouraged by the emergence of Cowethas Peran Sans (Fellowship of St Piran) in Cornwall and its Diaspora and the connections to a living Celtic heritage this offers to Lowenna. We are encouraged that Ewen’s godparents, the Gow’s have returned to minister at the local Church of Christ and acknowledge our historical connection with the Uniting Church and its local expressions… particularly the cricket club that still bears its name….Go Streeters!
We value the love and support of our families and friends.
BELONGS TO A PLACE
Our identity can only be understood in relation to God’s creation.
The promise of land and a renewed creation from which people can work to create a sustainable life for themselves has always been a part of God’s gracious provision.
Lowenna’s name indicates that she is part of a people who have lived in the specific places of Cornwall and Yorkshire. Infant Baptism is a rite that comes out of the spiritual tradition of these places and that of our families and so we want to acknowledge both the Celtic and Methodist traditions of those places.
For many reasons we now call Melbourne’s West our home.
An important part of us finding our identity in this new place is by acknowledging the ancient custodians of this land who have lived long and well in this place.
We believe that even before the time of Biblical history, God has been present in this place and has spoken in and through the stories of the Wurundjeri peoples. We want the liturgy to reflect that acknowledging and learning the songs and totems of this place will be important for Lowenna in finding her way.
Seeds Prayer of Promise
(for Lowenna and each other based upon the Seeds Covenant.)
God our holy community of gracious hospitality, in the midst of our homelessness you extend us an invitation to Grow Home. (symbol: packet of seeds and Credo Café bowl)
Help us to raise Lowenna to know and to grow a rich sense of home. Let us teach her the danger of wealth and the freedom of economic sharing. May the poor always be with her. Teach her the power and beauty of her body; fidelity with your wild creativity and respect for the sacred connections of your Spirit, our bodies and all creation. Teach her how to eat slow so that her eyes may be opened to your presence through the breaking of bread. Extend to her no privilege other than that of Christian equality, teaching her the art of mutual submission. Grant us courage to teach her what laws to break and how to give of ourselves with the same passion with which you lived and died.
Lord hear us.
All: Lord hear our prayer
May we Know the Word. ( symbol: bible)
May we raise Lowenna to know the stories of a God who re-creates a fallen world, not just ancient words on a page but the living Spirit of Christ among us. Teach her how to choose her stories and story her choices; how to spin a life giving yarn and to listen for your voice in silence and Sabbath rest. Teach her to meditate and pray so that she may experience your love and cling to hope in the midst of failure, suffering and adversity.
Lord hear us.
All: Lord hear our prayer
May we Go Engage. (symbol: bottle of oil)
May we raise Lowenna with the confidence to engage our troubled world. To speak truth to the powers and to each of us. To name and cast out that which is evil in our world and within, through militant nonviolence. Teach her the arts of hospitality, mercy and forgiveness. Teach her how to negotiate the streets and danger by teaching her every community safety trick you know and having done this, when and how to risk it all for the sake of love. Teach her the good work of love as the only true measure of success. And because each of us will fail her, in the midst of our brokenness, may she know and share your healing power; your gracious hospitality to us.
Lord hear us
Lord hear our prayer
May we teach her all this but also not forget to learn from her, because the economy of God belongs to such as these. Amen
Posted by marcus at 01:11 AM | Comments (1)
A Death in the Family: Baptism Sermon
Rach and I shared this rant at my son Peran's Baptism three years ago. I mentioned it and its themes as part of the Prayer of Confession at Lowenna's baptism today. This is in large part based on a Sermon by Stan Saunders of Open Door Community, Atlanta...
A Death in the Family
A reflection by Marcus Curnow and Rachael Scott on the occasion of Peran’s baptism, 8th February 2004 with acknowledgment to Stan Saunders, Open Door Community, Atlanta.
Peter Chapman, the spiritual leader of Common Life (who unfortunately couldn’t be here today) commenced the wedding sermon of Matt and Suellen (who are here today) with the unforgettable (and now legendary) line, “Let us not pretend that today is a happy occasion.” Similarly today you may have come here thinking that this will be a pleasant experience, a chance to look at a cute, little baby – an image of sweetness and purity. Someone will splash a little water on him , at worst case he might cry a bit, and then– as if by magic he will be “Saved” – and we can all relax and enjoy a beer and some food.
You may have got this image from having seen kids get done before. A kindly looking, older, white haired man – takes the cute little baby in the pretty white gown, says a few words, sprinkles the water and holds the baby up while we all “ooooh” and “aaaaah” and smile and think it is the nicest thing.
One of this irony’s of today is that I work in a Baptist tradition who don’t baptise children because they criticise it for what it often is. A benign rite, a cheap, sugar coated salvation spectacle designed to make us feel warm and happy.
As we said in our invitation, when we baptise we are telling a story. The problem is the story that is often communicated at such events is that pastors are old, babies are cute- even cuter next to old pastors – and that something magical and nice happens when the two of them get together. Whilst some of this story is fine, and we admit we enjoy it too, something is often missing. Baptism is about the celebration of new life, but its new life that comes out of a death in the family. Our concern is that if we baptise Peran today without making the reality of his death painfully clear, we are telling a version of the gospel story that has no cross in it. And that just isn’t the gospel.
So just in case you were tempted to witness this today and merely smile we want to tell you what’s going on. In a moment we are going to put my son Peran to death, but soon after we hope to raise him again. In fact if all goes according to plan, these events will happen so quickly that you might think that the death didn’t really take place. But don’t be fooled. Peran William Scott Curnow is going to die today. Rachael and I have come to believe that this is necessary because we no longer trust our capacities, as people living in a broken world, to raise him up in a way that honours the dignity and beauty he possessed at the moment of his birth, and to preserve him from the powers of violence and death. We simply can’t do it, and are convinced that his participation in this world will only corrupt and finally destroy him. So we’ve decided to give him back to God.
The death we are talking about is not just a symbol or abstraction, it's real. It is in us, in the people and relationships and the many current struggles of those gathered here today. We know there are some who could and should be here today who are not because this death is real.
The bible calls this death, sin, the Adam and Eve story, the whole fabric of life lived in denial of the reality of a loving and merciful God that disconnects us from God, other people and creatures. We all have our personal Adam & Eve story. Its what this world makes us, our culture, skin colour, family history, struggles, fears and ambitions, our shadow sides. The good news however according to Jesus is that we no longer have to live under the power of death or be defined by our old stories.
According to Paul, there is only one way out of the Adam and Eve story of sin and death. We have to learn how to die as Jesus did. Baptism is a training in dying- to sin and the old self so that new life can come into being. This is the hope that we have of what this death means. Peran will cease to exist under the powers of this world, and will be transformed to a completely new and different kind of existence, with different powers and possibilities for life, with new eyes to see the world, and most importantly, with a new family and a new Lord. To use Paul’s words, today Peran will be will be crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed. And when he is raised up again today, his primary family will no longer be Rachael, Marcus and Ewen, or Scott or Curnow, or Yorkshire or Cornwall or Aussie. But now it will be all of those who live “ in Jesus Christ.”
Now you might say that Peran doesn’t have much of an Adam story yet, but the reality is that his stories of sin and death have been in the planning stage for some time now, just waiting to swing into place at the right moments. The powers of this world have been ready and waiting for Peran to come along, just as they were ready for all of us.
In our culture our humanity is often judged by standards of what is “normal.” When people look at Peran they are going to see a white Aussie male and in powerful ways this will determine who he is, how he will be treated, how he will relate to other people, our expectations of him and what his options are.
Today when Peran dies with Christ all of these pieces of his identity, all our worldly hopes and dreams for him, die also, for baptism means a new reality with new marks of identity. From this day forward his identity is in Christ and Christ alone. This is what it means to give up our lives in order to save them.
Like the gospel reading indicated, this dying, these baptisimal arts, if you will., involve dangers and difficulties that will make Peran a bit strange.
• We expect that this dying and rising with Christ will make him the butt of jokes and misunderstanding like the disciples and Christ himself
• He may struggle with playmates and peers because he’s developed a different language or codes of behaviour, or politics that he’s learnt from all you mob.
• He will have to struggle to find an identity and way of relating to others that isn’t just about being a normal Aussie bloke, making his relationships with men, women and people of other cultures more complex.
• He will need to learn how to work with others, and get out of trouble without domination or intimidation.
• We worry that this will make him vulnerable and we hope that he will not suffer because he has not learned to use violence to defend himself.
• Obviously if he grows up hanging out with most of the people here today he’s not going to make a lot of money. You will need to help him build alternatives of support, economic relationships based around sharing, gratitude and dependence on God, rather than exploitation and self interest.
• As a disciple of Jesus we know that he will sometimes have to struggle against his family and particularly Marcus and myself, because we are too often consumed by our own middle class anxieties and addictions. How do we teach him to trust in God when we struggle to trust God ourselves? It’s hard to give him up to death when we often fear death and its power ourselves.
Of course we wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for our own baptisms and the hope and hunger that God has nourished in us through the years for a new creation. And we wouldn’t be here today were it not for the hope that we see at work in all of you. In local food coops and the Common Lifers, in Urban Seed and Credo Community, at Ya Chasin in St Albans. Paul says that as many of us have been baptised into Christ “ There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.” Now its often hard to get a sense of this going to churches these days but we get a taste of it in you. We could easily translate “no longer corporate or radical, Eastside or Westside, social worker or street person, Aussie or Viet, Filo, Cambo….whatever. In so many ways it’s a reality in the people gathered here today.
We can only sustain this alternative in the midst of other people who have also died to this world and whose stories and practises reflect this new reality. You are here today because you are that reality for us. Today Peran will receive a new identity in God but it can only come to fullness in the context of a community that lives in Christ.
We could have done this in lots of different ways or places but we have chosen to baptise Peran in the backyard at Footscray today because we are intentionally committing him, as well as ourselves, to the peculiar ministry and disciplines of these communities. We believe there are some things Peran can only learn here in the midst of this chaotic, broken, grace filled family. So we are joining our family with yours and we are entrusting him to you. We trust you will love him, play with him and share your life with him as fully as you can.
• We also trust you will treat him as not as a person of privilege but as an equal brother of God
• We trust you will teach him how to negotiate the streets of the City and Footscray and St Albans with compassion and wisdom and faith.
• We want you to teach him the dignity of all people, including his own and how to suffer for the sake of others in the name of Jesus Christ.
• Please teach him the hope of God who is recreating a fallen the world
• Teach him how to devote the power of his hands and voice and body to the mass of humanity that has no voice or influence.
• Teach him the arts of hospitality, conviviality, mercy and forgiveness and how to hold onto hope in the midst of failure, suffering and adversity.
• Teach him all this but also don’t forget to learn from him, because the economy of God belongs to such as these.
There is a death in our family today. Thanks be to God who raises us up every day to live in Christ. Amen
Posted by marcus at 12:57 AM | Comments (0)
Lowenna's Baptism
Liturgy from Lowenna's Baptism. A great arvo. at the Dancing Dog Cafe in Footscray.
Baptism of Lowenna Louisa Mabel Curnow
Dancing Dog Café, April 22, 2007
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Welcome: Mark Pierson
Opening Ritual: Chris and Katherine
We acknowledge that we gather on the land of which the Wurundjeri people have been custodians from time immemorial. We honour this history and commit ourselves to care for the land with them. May our worship and our service be work for reconciliation with people and with our God.
(We say together…)
Jesus, light of the world, we confess that you are here. Shine your light into the hidden places of our lives, and bring warmth to the cold places of our hearts. Amen.
(silence while a candle is lit):
Gathering Song: Marcus
Prayer of Confession & Words of Forgiveness A Death in the Family/ Stones in Water/ Marcus
The Prayer of St Meriasek and Confession with thanks to Cowethas Peran Sans.
Arluth, a wrug mor ha tyr, pub uer oll re’m weressa, Lord, who made land and sea, always be my aid,
Ha roy dhym y’n fordh a wyr ow bewnans omma gedya. And guide my life here in the way of truth.
Jesu Arluth, orthyf myr, ha’th lel gras dhymmo grontya. Lord Jesus, look on me, and grant me your unfailing grace,
Jesu, pub uer oll ow desyr yw y’n bys ma dha blesya. I seek, Lord Jesus, every hour in this life to please you.
A Dhew an Tas, kemer mercy warnaf. God the Father, have mercy on me.
A Dhew an Mab, kemer mercy warnaf. God the Son, have mercy on me.
A Dhew an Sperys Sans, kemer mercy warnaf. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on me.
A Drynsys benegys, sans ha gloryes, kemer mercy warnaf. Blessed Trinity, holy and glorious, have mercy on me.
Re gemerra Dew Ollgallosek mercy warnaf, re wrella gava dhym ow Almighty God, have mercy upon me, forgive me my sins,
pehosow ha’m ledya bys yn bewnans eternal. Amen. and lead me in life eternal. Amen.
Mark: Invites children to centre mat to hear Annette’s story
Scripture Reading Annette
"At another time, some people approached Jesus with their children hoping that he might take the little ones in his arms and give them a blessing. The disciples told them to clear off, but when Jesus saw this, he tore strips off them. “Little children can come to me any time they like, and don’t you dare try to stop them. The realm of God is centred on children such as these. The fact of the matter is that anyone who will not welcome the life of God as trustingly as an innocent child will not receive it at all.” And with that, he gathered up the children into his arms, laid his hands on each one in turn, and blessed them all."
Mark 10:13-16 Nathan Nettleton www.laughingbird.net.au
Mark: To express our love and support we now follow Jesus’ example and ask Jon Cornford to bless the children with a song.
Song: Amnificat: Jon Cornford (2004)
I kick and shout and poke my tounge out
God loves to watch when I play
Wants me to learn of his ways
I stamp my feet
I reckon that’s neat
Think and you’ll see it’ not odd
Laughter and play come from God
It’s so much fun
When I wiggle my bum in the air
God laughs with me ‘cause he made me to be
A bit like him
I crawl on the ground, I smile all around
Laughter is a form of praise
Teaches and shows us God’s way
I wave my hand, just because I can
God loves to watch when I play
He want’s me to learn of his ways.
Sometimes I cry
I don’t even know why
God loves me still when I’m sad
Even when I drive my dad mad
When I sleep at night, God holds me so tight
I dream of all the fun that I’ve had
Playing with mum and with dad
Then comes the day, I can rise up and play once again.
Baptism Ted
Marcus and Rachael, Chris and Katherine
What do you ask of God’s church for Lowenna Lousia Mabel?
We ask that she be baptised into the faith and family of Christ
In the light of both the covenant promise offered by God in Christ Jesus,
And of your request, I ask you; Do you believe that the gospel enables us to turn from the darkness of evil, and to walk in the light of Christ?
We do
Lowenna Louisa Mabel Curnow, may the Lord prepare your heart and soul and mind
to love the LORD your God and to love your neighbour as yourself, to the glory of God.
Prayer of Thanksgiving:
Eternal God,
We thank you for the gift of water,
Essential for life and cause of death;
Metaphor for both,
and symbol of your Spirit’s transformative activity
within our lives and creation.
Raging water which Jesus our Saviour
crossed and subdued,
Still waters to which you guide us.
In the beginning you moved over the waters
to bring to birth creation.
The waters of the great flood served
as both judgment and salvation.
Through their baptism in the Red Sea,
you led your people to freedom,
Directing them through the River Jordan
to the Promised Land.
Within that same river, Jesus was baptised
by John and anointed by the Spirit.
By the power of the Holy Spirit,
bless this water and Lowenna Louisa Mabel Curnow
who is baptised in it
That Lowenna may be born anew of water and the Spirit,
be raised to new life in Christ,
And strengthened to serve you in the world,
until that day when you make all things new.
Through Jesus Christ our lord,
To whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
Be all honour and glory, now and forever.
Amen.
Lowenna, for you Jesus Christ has come, has lived, has suffered; for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane and the darkness of the cross; for you he has uttered the cry, ‘It is accomplished!’ For you, he has triumphed over death; for you he prays at God’s right hand; all for you, little child, even though you do not know it.
Lowenna I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Lowenna Me a'th bethisya in hanow an Taas, ha'n Mab ha'n Spiris Sans. Amen
(marking Lowenna with the sign of the cross)
Lowenna, from this day on the sign of the cross is upon you…
Lowenna is now received into the holy Church universal, according to Christ’s command.
(shows Lowenna to the congregation)
Response: Community Prayer
Ted : How will we respond to the graciousness of God. For this baptism to be more than an empty ritual it requires the faith of a gathered people who have experience of this grace and are seeking to celebrate it in the way they live. Today is an opportunity for us all to renew the vows that were made at our own baptism or to consider what this life may look like for us. This gathering is underpinned by people who seek to express this life through the Seeds Covenant. We ask you to join with the parents, Rachael and Marcus and Godparents, Chris and Katherine in praying a prayer of promise that is shaped around its themes. If you can affirm what is prayed we invite you to respond by saying “Lord hear our prayer.”
Chris: God our holy community of gracious hospitality, in the midst of our homelessness you extend us an invitation to Grow Home.
Holding up the packet of Seeds and bowl
Help us to raise Lowenna to know and to grow a rich sense of home. Let us teach her the danger of wealth and the freedom of economic sharing. May the poor always be with her. Teach her the power and beauty of her body; fidelity with your wild creativity and respect for the sacred connections of your Spirit, our bodies and all creation. Teach her how to eat slow so that her eyes may be opened to your presence through the breaking of bread. Guide her in her use of power, teaching her the art of mutual submission. Grant us courage to teach her what laws to break and how to give of ourselves with the same passion with which you lived and died.
Lord hear us.
All: Lord hear our prayer
Katherine: May we Know the Word.
Holding up the Bible
May we raise Lowenna to know the stories of a God who re-creates a fallen world, not just ancient words on a page but the living Spirit of Christ among us. Teach her how to choose her stories and story her choices; how to spin a life giving yarn and to listen for your voice in silence and Sabbath rest. Teach her to meditate and pray so that she may experience your love and cling to hope in the midst of failure, suffering and adversity.
Lord hear us.
All: Lord hear our prayer
Marcus and Rach : May we Go Engage.
Holding up the bottle of oil
May we raise Lowenna with the confidence to engage our troubled world. To speak truth to the powers and to each of us. To name and cast out that which is evil in our world and within, through militant nonviolence. Teach her the arts of hospitality, mercy and forgiveness. Teach her how to negotiate the streets and danger by teaching her every community safety trick you know and having done this, when and how to risk it all for the sake of love. Teach her the good work of love as the only true measure of success. And because each of us will fail her, in the midst of our brokenness, may she know and share your healing power; your gracious hospitality to us.
Lord hear us
All:Lord hear our prayer
May we teach her all this but also not forget to learn from her, because the economy of God belongs to such as these.
Amen
Response: Communion, Offerings, Candle Prayers for Lowenna and Others, Confession and Affirmation of Baptism: Today we remember that, from the time of our baptism, the sign of the cross has been upon us. Using the water in which we have baptised Lowenna you are invited to affirm the meaning of baptism by dropping a stone or tracing the sign of the cross upon yourself.
Prayer of Thanks for Gifts. Mark Pierson
Song Be not afraid: Jon Cornford
written by phil hudson, stu. manderson, kate eve 2000
Will there be a time
When greed and violence ceases
And the grieving earth is at peace?
Be not afraid
For I am with you always
Our return is small
Our work is slow and humble
And the world does not give its praise
Lord is there one
Whose care will ever be there,
in my hour of need?
Benediction… Mark Pierson
we say to each other…
You are God’s servants, gifted with dreams and visions
Upon you rests the grace of God like flames of fire.
Love and serve the Lord in the strength of the Spirit.
May the deep peace of Christ be with you,
The strong arms of God sustain you,
And the power of the Holy Spirit strengthen you in every way.
Amen.
(Dianne Karray Tripp)
Posted by marcus at 12:23 AM | Comments (2)
Dead Man Rising
April 10, 2007
Been busting my butt working out what I believe about resurrection and putting some stations together for public display..... will post content in time. Thanks to the Bendigo and Footscray seeds mobs, long and minh, talitha and christop., rach and of course all due respect and nods to Mark Pierson. Next year need more green lights and perhaps some flowers in the crown of thorns instead of the blood dripping doubt quotes! Christop has photos here
more photos inc. Bendigo here
Posted by marcus at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)
