A Memorial Service to celebrate the Life of Wendy Kemp Friday 12th February 2016 at 2pm

Transcription

1 A Memorial Service to celebrate the Life of Wendy Kemp Friday 12th February 2016 at 2pm

2 God s love and power extend over all creation. Every life, including our own, is precious to God. Christians have always believed that there is hope in death as in life, and that there is new life in Christ over death. Even those who share such faith find that there is a real sense of loss at the death of a loved one. We will each have had our own experiences of their life and death, with different memories and different feelings of love, grief and respect. To acknowledge this at the beginning of the service should help us to use this occasion to express our faith and our feelings as we say farewell, to acknowledge our loss and our sorrow, and to reflect on our own mortality. Those who mourn need support and consolation. Our presence here today is part of that continuing support. Please join in the words in bold typeface. There will be a retiring collection for Hospiscare Exeter after this service. 2

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4 Organ Music before the Service Prelude and Fugue in E flat - J.S. Bach Nimrod (from Enigma Variations) - E. Elgar Lo how a rose ere blooming - J.S. Bach The Gathering The congregation stands at the entry of the choir and the ministers. Welcome and Introduction The Revd Canon Ian Morter - Canon Treasurer and Pastor The congregation sings Hymn Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy, whose trust, ever child-like, no cares can destroy, be there at our waking, and give us, we pray, your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day. Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith, whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe, be there at our labours, and give us, we pray, your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day. Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace, your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace, be there at our homing, and give us, we pray, your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day. Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm, whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm, be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray, your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day. Words: Jan Struther Tune: Slane 4

5 Greeting The Canon Treasurer says All We meet in the name of Jesus Christ, who died and was raised to the glory of God the Father. Grace and mercy be with you. and also with you. We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are eternal. Today we come together to remember before God our sister Wendy to give thanks for her life. Opening Prayer All Father in heaven, we thank you because you made us in your own image and gave us gifts in body, mind and spirit. We thank you now for Wendy and what she meant to each of us. As we honour her memory, make us more aware that you are the one from whom comes every perfect gift, including the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Amen. The congregation sits. 5

6 The Liturgy of the Word Reading John 14:1-6 read by Timothy Selley Crosse and Crosse. Jesus said to his disciples, Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father s house there are many dwellingplaces. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. When Great Trees Fall Maya Angelou read by Lois Iles When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety. When great trees fall in forests, small things recoil into silence, their senses eroded beyond fear. When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see with a hurtful clarity. Our memory, suddenly sharpened, examines, gnaws on kind words unsaid, promised walks never taken. Great souls die and our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us. Our souls, dependent upon their nurture, now shrink, wizened. Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance, fall away. 6

7 We are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark, cold caves. And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed. The congregation remains seated. The choir sings I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills: from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh even from the Lord: who hath made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: and he that keepeth thee will not sleep. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel: shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord himself is thy keeper: the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand; 6 So that the sun shall not burn thee by day: neither the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out, and thy coming in: from this time forth for evermore. The congregation stands Psalm 121 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen. The congregation sits 7

8 Tribute Peter Cranfield Instrumental Music Twinkle Twinkle little star Arrangement by David Pairman, from a poem by Jane Taylor Lesley Kemp: Cello Raymond Kemp: Guitar Tribute David Webster Anthem The choir sings Lord, for thy tender mercy's sake, lay not our sins to our charge, but forgive that is past, and give us grace to amend our sinful lives. To decline from sin and incline to virtue, that we may walk in a perfect heart before thee, now and evermore. Amen. Words: Lidley s Prayers, 1566 Music: Richard Farrant ( ) The congregation stands and sings Tribute Richard Stevinson Crosse and Crosse Guide me, O thou great Redeemer, pilgrim though this barren land; I am weak, but thou art mighty; hold me with thy powerful hand; bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore. 8

9 Open now the crystal fountain whence the healing stream doth flow; let the fiery cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through; strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield. When I tread the verge of Jordan, bid my anxious fears subside; death of death, and hell s destruction land me safe on Canaan's side; songs of praises, I will ever give to thee. Words: Welsh, William Williams Tr Peter Williams and others Tune: Cwm Rhondda The congregation sits or kneels. Prayers The Revd Preb Michael Partridge - Team Vicar, Clyst Mission Community The prayers use the following response All Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer. The intercessions end with the Lord s Prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. 9

10 The congregation stands. The choir sings Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace : according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen : thy salvation; Which thou hast prepared : before the face of all people; To be a light to lighten the Gentiles : and to be the glory of thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen. Words: Nunc Dimittis Music: C.V. Stanford ( ) Concluding Prayer of Thanksgiving The congregation remains standing. The Canon Treasurer says All Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us all with the gift of this earthly life and has given to our sister Wendy her span of years and gifts of character. God our Father, we thank you now for all her life, for every memory of love and joy, for every good deed done by her and every sorrow shared with us. We thank you for her life and for her death, we thank you for the rest in Christ she now enjoys, we thank you for giving her to us, we thank you for the glory we shall share together. Hear our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 10

11 The Blessing All May the Lord give you understanding of his wisdom and his grace and make you diligent in his service; may he nourish you in the riches of his Gospel and make you to persevere in all good works; may he keep your steps from wandering and direct you in the paths of love and peace; and the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always. Amen. Organ Voluntary Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV565 - J.S. Bach There will be a retiring collection in aid of Hospiscare Exeter. The family would love you to join them in the Chapter House after the service for tea and cake. 11

12 Afterglow Helen Lowrie Marshall I d like the memory of me to be a happy one I d like to leave an afterglow of smiles when life is done. I d like to leave an echo whispering softly down the ways, of happy times and laughing times and bright and sunny days. I d like the tears of those who grieve to dry before the sun happy memories I will leave you when my life is done. Copyright acknowledgement (where not already indicated above): Some material included in this service is copyright: The Archbishops' Council The Book of Common Prayer (1662) The Bible Reading is copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ, USA. Hymns printed under Christian Copyright License Number