LITURGY
as General Synod prepares
to consider the Women
Bishops legislation
Many of us will want to gather to pray at this
important time in the life of our church.
This liturgy has been prepared to help us unite and
focus our prayers in the weeks leading up to General
Synod and beyond.
Notes for organisers and leaders
The inside pages of this booklet are designed to be a ready-made order of
service on a single sheet that you can simply photocopy and use as it is. The
text is also available in a Word document on the WATCH website, so you can
adapt it to fit your local requirements if you wish.
The liturgy is designed to be used in groups, and can be used in as formal or
informal a setting as you wish – in a home, a meeting room, a chapel, church
or cathedral.
Theme
The theme of the liturgy is ‘Looking towards the Promised Land.’ We have
been journeying through the wilderness for a long time, and we are now at a
turning point – whether we will enter the Promised Land or face a longer
journey in the wilderness, we do not yet know; but either way we need to
pause and prepare for a new stage of our journey. Nicola Slee has written a
litany especially for us, to help us express our memories, prayers and hopes
as we remember out journey so far and look towards the next stage.
Resources
You will need:
A cross.
If you are sitting in a circle, you could put this on the floor or a small
table in the middle of the circle. If you are sitting in rows facing an
altar, you could put this on or in front of the altar.
At least one stone per person.
3 large candles.
These could be around the cross or slightly separate; they will be lit
near the end of the service as you pray for the 3 houses of General
Synod.
LITURGY as General Synod prepares to consider
the Women Bishops legislation
Invocation
Within solidarity of the sisterhood we watch
Within blessings of the brotherhood we wait
Within cherishing of the church we witness
...the watching of the angels
...the waiting of the called
...and the witnessing of the world.
Be over us Watching One
Be beside us Waiting One
Be before us Witnessing One
...may the church, the angels and the world rejoice.
Amen.
Elizabeth Baxter, Holy Rood House.
A hymn may be sung
Litany of struggle and remembrance
1st voice
2nd voice
3rd voice
1st voice
2nd voice
3rd voice
1st voice
Wandering for years in the wilderness
looking for a way out, a way forward
footsore, parched throats, sunstroke, hardened skin, clothes worn thin
going round in circles, chafing at the bit
bored with limited rations, angry with our leaders
irritated with each other
forgetting where we’ve come from
losing the sense of where we are going
Some of our mothers died in the desert
bones bleached by sun, unremembered graves
Others went mad with the waste of it
patience worn to the bone
Some wrested power for themselves,
refusing to wait for scraps from the master’s table
Others absconded, abandoned the caravan trail,
headed off on their own up isolated ravines seeking an oasis,
the impossible dream.
2nd
We hear snatches of their stories,
but much is lost, scattered in the desert sands,
snatched up by the wind and blown away.
All
We remember the ones we knew or heard tell of:
3rd
women who refused to give up on their calling,
who had a sense of our common destiny to share a sacred priesthood,
who led the way when few were ready to follow
1st
women who kept vigil, protecting the embers
of the fire of God’s smouldering passion
who spoke out against restriction, limitation, small and mean vision,
who took their elders to task, shamed them, demanded something better
2nd
women who hunkered down for the long haul,
who prayed their way through refusal, ignorance, resistance,
who found the means to inspire and nourish sons and daughters
when they had been offered little themselves
3rd
women who heckled and complained and insisted
when many around them demanded they keep silence;
women with bold, expansive dreams and theologies to match
1st
women who clung to the hem of the garments of healing,
refusing to let go,
who wrested a blessing from their opponents,
who blazed a trail for others to follow
2nd
Women too numerous to name,
even when their names have been remembered
All
We remember them,
We mourn them and celebrate them,
We take hold of their boldness and courage,
We are here because of all they have dared and hoped and believed,
We will not fail them now.
Nicola Slee
Stories of the journey
Bible Reading Deuteronomy 30.11-20
Prayer ritual
This is not just our journey – it is the journey of the whole of the Church, and all
those the Church is called to minister to. Let us now pray for all who are on this
journey, willingly or reluctantly, knowingly or unaware, joyfully, brokenly, with
friends or alone. As you make your prayer, aloud or in the silence of your heart, you
are invited to place a stone by the cross to represent those on the way.
A chant may be sung
Litany looking towards the promised land
Leader God promised a land flowing with milk and honey;
a place of abundance, flourishing and peace.
All
Have we come to that land?
A land where steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Have we come to that land?
A land where those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
Have we come to that land?
A land of freedom to worship God without fear,
holy and righteous in God’s sight all the days of our lives.
Have we come to that land?
A land where the powerful are brought down from their thrones,
and the lowly are lifted up;
where the hungry are filled with good things,
and the rich are sent away empty.
Have we come to that land?
A land of good news for the poor, release for the captives,
recovery of sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed;
Have we come to that land?
A land where there is no longer Jew or Greek,
there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female; but where all are one in Christ Jesus.
Have we come to that land?
We wait in the wilderness to cross into the land God promised us;
Have we come to that land?
Prayer for those who will choose our direction
Almighty God,
you have given your Holy Spirit to the Church, to lead us into all truth:
bless with the Spirit's grace and presence the members of General Synod;
in the house of Bishops
(light the 1st candle)
in the house of clergy
(light the 2nd candle)
and in the house of laity.
(light the 3rd candle)
Keep them steadfast in faith and united in love,
that they may manifest your glory and prepare the way of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen
Adapted from Common Worship
A hymn may be sung
WATCH Prayer
Gracious, loving Lord,
we look forward with hope and joyful anticipation
to the time when men and women can serve you, and all people,
equally in every task within your Church.
Thank you that every position held and task done
is valued by you and furthers your mission on earth.
Thank you Lord for hearing our prayer.
Amen
Rev’d Canon Pamela Wilding
Closing blessing
The blessing of the God of Sarah and Hagar, as of Abraham;
The blessing of Jesus, born of the woman Mary;
The blessing of the Holy Spirit who broods over us
as a mother over her children,
Be with us now and forever.
Amen
The St Hilda Community
Music
We have suggested two places in which you could include a hymn.
We have also suggested singing a chant during the prayer ritual – a Taizé
chant or something similar may be appropriate; you may wish instead to play
quiet background music or simply be quiet.
Stories of the Journey
This is a point at which you may choose to invite one or more people in
advance to come and share the story of their journey to this point – the
struggles and the rejoicing.
You may, depending on the size of your congregation, wish to invite
everyone present to share their story, or the story of someone who has
inspired them. You may like to invite each person to put a stone at the foot
of/around the cross as they finish telling their story, in which case make sure
you have plenty of stones as each person will also need one for the prayer
ritual.
Prayer Ritual
This is an opportunity to offer our own hopes and fears to God, but also to
intercede for others who will be affected by the outcome of the General
Synod vote.
Prayer for those who will choose our direction
This is a prayer for General Synod. You may like to pray by name for the
Synod members from your Diocese, adapting it like this;
Almighty God,
you have given your Holy Spirit to the Church, to lead us into all truth:
bless with the Spirit's grace and presence
the members of General Synod in the house of Bishops (light 1st candle)
especially Bishop N, representing our Diocese;
bless with the Spirit's grace and presence
the members of General Synod in the house of clergy (light 2nd candle)
especially N, N, (etc) representing our Diocese;
and bless with the Spirit's grace and presence
the members of General Synod in the house of laity
(light 3rd candle)
especially N, N, (etc) representing our Diocese.
Keep them steadfast in faith and united in love,
that they may manifest your glory and prepare the way of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord.
Additional prayer resources
WATCH have also produced a Novena (reflections, readings and prayers for
the 9-day period leading up to the vote), and prayer cards in two sizes with
the WATCH prayer.
There are also additional prayers and reflections on the WATCH website.