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Lessons and Carols For Peace and Justice Through the Way of Love
An Alternative Liturgy for the Sunday after Christmas: no sermon required!
When I was the Interim Dean at Trinity Cathedral, Portland OR, in 2003, we as a nation spent Advent preparing to invade Iraq. I found it insane if not downright immoral to be singing "Peace on Earth" while loading ships with guns and bombs.
For the Sunday after Christmas, we replaced our Sunday morning liturgy with a service entitled Lessons and Carols for Peace as a prayerful response to our nation's intention. While it was partially modeled on the classic Lessons and Carols the service also includes Eucharist and prayers for our nation and ourselves.
What was distinctive was the readings which were taken not only from the Scriptures, but also: Omar Bradley, Dwight Eisenhower, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Thomas Merton. For clergy, especially in small parishes, it had the added benefit of not requiring a sermon after the busy Christmas activities.
Over the years I have used it numerous times, slightly tweaking it to respond to our current predicaments of racial injustice, and the growing hatemongering in our society. In all locations it has been well received and appreciated by parishioners, some of whom reported feeling deeply moved by the readings and atmosphere of the service.
You can view and download a completely editable version from
http://www.appreciativeway.com/liturgies. I invite you to use it. Please feel free to cut, copy, paste, edit, and adapt it to meet the needs of your community and share it with colleagues in other communities.
If you do use it, I would love to hear how it works for you and your people. I would also like to hear if you have any recommendations for changes, edits, etc. to improve your worship experience.
I am also creating a library of liturgical resources, with seasonal prayers, blessings, canticles, etc. that you can access at
http://www.appreciativeway.com/liturgies. The library also includes several Blue Christmas Service liturgies and resources
I wish you all a great Thanksgiving
And a Blessed Advent
Rob
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Updates on Training: Whats Rob Doing in Retirement
Having retired from active parish ministry and taking a year-long sabbatical from most things church I am beginning to re-engage in some training, writing, and consulting work. I will confess to not being a fan, recipient or presenter, of virtual training but still very much enjoy in-person presentations and training.
I am open to conducting training events, but by invitation only. In my retirement I don't have the personal bandwidth to engage in the organizing and marketing a successful training event requires. If a group or and individual would like to organize an event, or want a breakout session for a conference I would love to connect with you and explore possibilities. The topics that remain close to my heart are:
You can find information on all these topics and more at:
http://www.appreciativeway.com/training/training.cfm
Rob Voyle,
Founder of the Appreciative Way and
Director of the Clergy Leadership Institute
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