Resources for Worship
Dear Friends,
Worship is at the heart of our life as God’s people. Whatever else we do, worship is at the core as it is through meeting God – in the hymns and the music, the movement and the silence, the Word and the words, in friend and stranger as well as in the bread and wine – that we are fed and sustained. This encounter with God lifts our spirits and gives our lives direction, our prayers focus and our faith a grounding in the everyday realities of life.
My role was created to help churches find resources to aid their worship. Our Worship Notes this week were written by the Revd Nicola Furley-Smith who focuses on the Lectionary passage from St Mark.
I have written this week’s Weekly Intercessions and these focus on the fighting in Gaza between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Forces, the discussions this week around immigration and asylum, and the ongoing Covid inquiry. I use a response from the Psalm set for Sunday and tie the prayers into Isaiah’s evocative cry “Comfort, comfort my people.”
Many churches won’t light a the second Advent candle this week as a sign of solidarity with Palestinian Christians who will be celebrating Christmas amidst the rubble this year. Suggested prayers for this are included above the Worship Notes in the links above.
Activities for Children and Young people in worship can be found here as well as Nicola’s All Age Activity in the Worship Notes.
As well as the Worship Notes being loaded up for Christmas and January we have PowerPoint services which can be downloaded. These include, in addition to Sunday Worship, a Carol Service, a midnight Communion service for Christmas Eve and a Christmas Day service. These can all be downloaded here.
I hope you find them useful – do let us know your thoughts on these resources as you use them.
With every good wish
Andy
The Revd Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship