Liturgics 2: Session 5.2 Fresh Expressions: Writing Your Own Liturgy Anastasia McAteer Questions:

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1 Liturgics 2: Session 5.2 Fresh Expressions: Writing Your Own Liturgy Anastasia McAteer Questions: Your assignment this week is to choose one element of the liturgy to focus on. You may choose either Prayers of the People or Eucharistic Prayer. My hope is that a few people will be working on each (this may be best facilitated by naming your choice via to the rest of the class). In class we will work together to create a fresh expression of each of these elements. Please come with ideas sparked by your preparation. We will workshop the pieces, trying them out to see how they read, with the goal of a workable element by the end of class. OPTION ONE: PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE The prayers of the people are a very flexible part of the liturgy and the forms provided in our prayer books can be adapted or even replaced. So if you choose to work on POP in class, you ll be working together to write your own original prayers. In preparation for class, read the assignments below, and start thinking about how you d like to incorporate the categories found on p. 383 of the BCP, and scriptures that you think would fit well in petitions (Psalms are always great!). Note, however, that you ll be working in a team, or committee, so you won t always get your own way! The writing will be done IN CLASS. BEFORE CLASS: 1. BCP pp : read the instructions and skim through the six forms. Note how the categories listed on 383 are reflected in the forms; note also the use of familiar scriptural phrases and the repetitive responses. 2. Read EOW pp , paying special attention to the instructions on p. 54, which explicate the BCP forms & instructions (a pdf of these pages is on website in case you don t have this book). 3. Only if you have time, read the document entitled Categories of Intercessions A Template for Writing POPs (pdf on website). Otherwise, just bring it with you to class, as you will need to reference it while writing.

2 4. Only if you have time, you may wish to look at these examples of POPs I ve written for various occasions: For Sundays & Seasons 2013, based on the template given in #3 above: For Palm Sunday (children s service): For Advent: For Lent: For Barry Taylor s 10:10 service at All Saints Beverly Hills: (if you have trouble accessing these let me know right away and I ll them to you because some are copyright protected I cannot post them to the public class page) OPTION TWO: EUCHARISTIC PRAYER The flexibility one has with this element is limited by the instructions of one s bishop. I have been able to write completely original Eucharistic prayers in some dioceses, but my general sense is that in San Diego this isn t possible. So rather than write your own words, those who choose to work on this element in class will arrange the prewritten text into a script using multiple readers and, if desired, the congregation. Your creative contribution (beyond the arrangement) will come in the form of thinking through stage directions for the readers. You will be need to decide on the staging (i.e. where everyone will be and in what posture, and where is the altar/table), costuming (vestments?), props (vessels, what type of bread/wine), sound (to mic or not?), etc. If you like, you may even write gestural directions to the folks reading. You will need to decide together which form to use as your template, from forms A-D in the BCP pp and EOW pp (provided as pdf on the website). The writing is to be done IN CLASS. BEFORE CLASS: 1. Read BCP pp and EOW pp : skim through the forms thinking about which you believe will lend itself best to a dramatic reading. Come with a few options in mind, in case others have a different idea (this is good practice for working with your liturgical committee).

3 2. Read the Eucharistic Prayer in my All Ages Palm Sunday service for an example of splitting the parts: 3. Only if you have time, you may wish to view again the 5- min video of St. Gregory of Nyssa s Eucharistic set up, to get the creative juices flowing for staging, etc.: IF YOU HAVE TIME/FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: If you d like to try your hand at writing an original Eucharistic Prayer, you ll want to consult the BCP pp : these are the bare bones of the Prayer. See also Elements of an Anaphora on Wikipedia which breaks down the basic sections of the Eucharistic prayer so that you can see what you d need to include, if you were ever writing one from scratch. A COUPLE OF EUCHARISTIC PRAYERS I VE WRITTEN: For Advent: For Barry Taylor s 10:10 service at All Saints Beverly Hills (scroll down past the POP): (if you have trouble accessing these let me know right away and I ll them to you because a few are copyright protected I cannot post them to the public class page) OTHER CREATIVE LITURGIES: My Liturgical Writing sampler: All Ages Palm Sunday service for St. Andrew s by the Sea: A wide sampling of Holy Week liturgies I compiled for the EDSD (including my own Good Friday alt- worship service based on the Seven Last Words of Christ): Worship services from St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco: Note the preparatory materials at the beginning and the stage directions throughout. Very important to have in mind when writing a liturgy.

4 Resources I use when writing worship: Bibles: NRSV The Message New American Standard Bible (a word- for- word translation) bible.oremus.org biblegateway.com Prayer books: Book of Common Prayer Enriching our Worship A New Zealand Prayer Book Common Worship (Church of England) The Book of Occasional Services ELCA Worship Hymnals/Music: The Hymnal 1982 Worship & Rejoice ELCA Worship Lift Every Voice and Sing Wonder Love & Praise Music for Liturgy (St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco) Taize: Songs for Prayer and Songs & Prayers from Taize Hymnary.org Texts: The Worship Sourcebook Worldwide Worship: Prayers, Songs, and Poetry The Oxford Book of Prayer Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle Stephen Mitchell, ed, The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry J. Robert Wright, ed, Readings for the Daily Office from the Early Church Brother Roger of Taize: Essential Writings Background Reading: Jonny Baker, Curating Worship Mark Pierson, The Art of Curating Worship Richard Giles, Creating Uncommon Worship, Re-Pitching the Tent, and Times and Seasons Gail Ramshaw, Reviving Sacred Speech Jana Childers, Performing the Word Robert Edmond Jones, The Dramatic Imagination Julia Cameron, The Artist s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

5 Edward Foley, From Age to Age: How Christians have Celebrated the Eucharist