Progressive, affirming, questing in Warrnambool, Victoria
When Beth first worshipped with Sanctuary, she found it so mysterious that she wrote a poem. It became something we shared at our annual covenanting service. A few weeks ago, she went back to the poem and added the lines in italics. It is a beautiful witness to the transforming power of a small, gentle gathering around the gospel. Thank you so much, Beth, for sharing this with us now. Continue reading “A silver spoon from Richmond, revisited”
Let us pray.
We are the people:
the people of earth.
Let us care for each other:
let us care for the earth.
Let us worship the creator:
let us attend to the earth.
For the earth is filled with God’s presence.
Our ancestor Jacob woke from his sleep and said,
“Surely the Lord is in this place—and I didn’t know it!”
And he was afraid, and said,
“How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God,
and this, the gate of heaven.”
Let us acknowledge this place’s traditional custodians,
the Peek Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Maar nation,
and pay our respects to elders past and present.
May we wake up to this place and its peoples.
May we wake up to God’s holy presence.
Let us attend to the earth: the very dwelling place of God. Amen. Continue reading “Prayer | The earth is filled with God’s presence”
Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! (Psalm 96:1)
It is good to pray old prayers, tried and tested by generations of the faithful. It is also good to pray in new ways which reflect changing contexts and priorities, raise up our lives here and now, and anchor the biblical story to our own lives and places, such as when we prayed Isaiah 55 in Cudgee (here). Continue reading “Prayer | Write your own collect”
Last week, Donald shared a story about a child who turned up at a service to light a candle (here). Using physical objects such as candles to symbolize prayer is an ancient practice, and one that we at Sanctuary used to do. For the last two years, however, in accordance with government guidelines requiring that we minimize movement and have no shared objects, our prayer stations have been packed away. But now that restrictions are easing, it’s time to reinstate them. Continue reading “Prayer stations”
Alison is on leave until Monday 2 May. In the meantime, here’s a little god-moment which happened to Donald on a recent Tuesday. He writes:
I was ‘filling in’, presiding at the 5.00pm service at the local Anglican church. It was a Tuesday, with a congregation of three present. The Gospel reading of the day, according to the lectionary the rector uses, was Jesus putting a child in the midst of the disciples. Continue reading “A child walked in”
An encounter with God means an encounter with love: and this can be truly terrifying. (Listen.)
Why are you at worship today? If I were to ask most of you, you’d say something like, “I want to be closer to God” or “I hope to experience God’s presence.” These are good and right reasons to be here. They are what we always hope for, and making space for such an encounter is exactly what I try to do. But it must be said: I have never yet curated a service where people have fallen flat on their faces in awe, terror and wonder at the devastating presence of the Living God. Nor have I heard anyone shriek, “Get away from me, Lord, for I am sinful!”, or say they think they’ll die in God’s presence. And I’m not sure any of us here want these reactions: yet in Biblical accounts, such responses are normal. Continue reading “Isaiah | Awe, wonder and the threat of love”
The dance of the liturgy heals and transforms us: but to receive its gifts, we must participate. (Listen.)
One of my happiest childhood memories were church barn dances. Once or twice a year on a Saturday night, we’d gather in the hall with a dance caller and bush band; and off we’d go with a do-se-do and twirl your partner! Adults, teens and children stepped and galloped, wove and spun, stumbling and laughing and moving down the line. Towering blokes swung little kids around; teenagers dominated the Nutbush; and the oldest folk clapped along from the sidelines. Some of us were wonderful dancers; most of us were not: but the dance held us all. Continue reading “2 Samuel | Joining the sacred dance”
‘Can God set a table in the desert?’ The people asked; and the answer is a resounding Yes! This week we kicked off carboot communion with the manna-mobile. That is, being a church that is too big to gather in one room under current restrictions, but small enough to be served in groups, we gathered in a backyard, under a carport, and in a driveway for prayer and communion, set up out of the boot of my car. Continue reading “Carboot communion with the manna-mobile”
Worship is so physical. In ordinary times, we gather at Sanctuary: a gentle, colourful, comfortable space. We greet one another with a hug, a clap on the back, a touch on the arm; we choose our favourite chair or sprawl on our favourite rug. We look at the paintings on the wall and wonder what they mean; we see the story box come out and wait with anticipation as the lid slowly opens. We sing, listening as we find the point of harmony, separate voices melding into a beautiful whole. Continue reading “Worship at home”
An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham … Read it here. (Matthew 1:1-18). Note that Ahaz was a horror, as were several others in the list. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was not Hebrew, but Moabite: an enemy. Bathsheba was Uriah the Hittite’s wife, but King David slept with her, then arranged to have Uriah murdered to cover up Bathsheba’s illegitimate pregnancy. And so on: this is a dodgy bunch of ancestors. Continue reading “#37: Smoking ceremony”
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