A Children s Eucharist Celebrating God s Story and Holy Eucharist (insert image) St. Andrew s Episcopal Church

A Children s Eucharist Celebrating God s Story and Holy Eucharist (insert image) St. Andrew s Episcopal Church

God s Story for Us We sing a hymn. Celebrant People Blessed be the one, holy, and living God. Glory to God for ever and ever. During Advent Celebrant People Blessed are you, holy and living One. You come to your people and set them free. From Easter through the Day of Pentecost Celebrant People Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! During Lent Celebrant People Blessed be the God of our salvation: Who bears our burdens and forgives our sins. Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hidden: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. 1

Song of Praise Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God s people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. Or during Lent Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. The Gathering Prayer May God be with you. And also with you. Let us pray. The Celebrant says the Gathering Prayer and we say, Amen. 2

The Stories The people sit to listen to the stories. After each story, the Reader says, Hear what the Spirit is saying to God s people. Thanks be to God. We are quiet after each story. Then we sing a hymn. Then, all standing as able, the Deacon or Priest reads the Gospel story, The Holy Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ according to. Praise and glory to God! After the Gospel story, This is the Gospel of Christ. Praise to Christ, the Word! The Sermon We sit and listen. 3

The Affirmation of Faith / What We Believe We stand if we are able. You, O God, are powerful and holy. You give us life. You are with us now and forever. You are God. You, O God, are Jesus our brother. You are good beyond measure. You died and rose again for us. You are with us now and forever. You are God. You, O God, are the Holy Spirit. You help us help each other. You heal us when we are hurt or in danger. You are God. We worship you. Or this The Nicene Creed We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. 4

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. 5

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. Prayers of God s People The Reader says, O gracious and kind God, you have promised to hear when we pray. We are quiet. We pray for the church. That those who work for us in our church will be strong and happy. We pray for the whole world. That people will have peace between each other and children will have good schools. We pray for our community. That people will have enough food to eat, money, and a warm place to live. 6

We pray for those in need. That those in danger or in any kind of trouble may be comforted by God s love, especially that the people of Haiti and others affected by disasters will be safe and have places to live. We pray for those who have died. That our friends, families, and animals who have died will never be forgotten. We pray for ourselves. That we may feel God s love and share it with others. The Celebrant asks us to pray now for any special thing or person who we are thinking about. You can say it out loud or just in your heart God hears it all! Lord, you speak to us in the kindness of others and the beauty of the world. Help us to listen for your voice in the quiet times. Help us to serve you in the hard times: when we get in fights with our friends and family, and when others hurt us but pretend that they didn t, and when the school work is difficult. Help us to be thankful for the good times when we feel calm, relaxed and happy. In Jesus name, Amen. 7

Confession of Sin / Asking God to Forgive Us The Deacon or Celebrant says, Let us confess our sins to God. We are quiet and think about what we ve done wrong or how we hurt someone. God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives. We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created. We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf. Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Savior Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will. Amen. The Priest or Bishop says, Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins through the grace of Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, keep you in eternal life. Amen. 8

The Peace The Celebrant says to the people, The peace of Christ be always with you. And also with you. We walk around, passing the peace to everyone. The Holy Eucharistic (Communion) The Offertory/ Giving Our Gifts We stand as able and sing a hymn. Bread and wine are brought to the table. Our gifts of food and money, to be shared, are also brought to the table. The Great Story God is here. God s spirit is with us. Lift up your hearts. We lift them to God. Let us give thanks to God. It is right to offer our thanks and praise. 9

This story is God s song to us. Sisters and brothers, let us open our ears to the old story. Let us make it new again. It is the story about this bread, this wine, which come to us from wheat and grapes, gifts of the earth, and gifts of the hard work of poor men and women. This bread and wine gather into themselves all our hopes and dreams. We now hand over these symbols of our care to God in Jesus; we now hand over ourselves to each other. Let us put away our worries and fears as we begin the story with a song: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest! It was not yesterday that God s care for us began, but it was in the very beginning. In the beginning the Creator God spoke, and the world was made, and animals and people came to be, and the story started and the tale was told. 10

It was the tale of God s great love. In the hearts of our great, great, great, great grandparents, God came, and they received the Holy God, sometimes slowly, hesitantly, awkwardly, but truly. God chose among us Abraham and Sarah as well as the slave woman Hagar. Like us, these ancestors were to be the great tellers of God s special story. And God chose Miriam and Moses, and Ruth and Naomi and Orpah, and many other women and men. Throughout history, however, they and we have been people of poor memory. Again and again we forget the story of God s love for us. And do you know what God did? God sent us prophets, like Isaiah, and poets, like David, weighed down with holy vision, burning with God s dream to be near us, always calling our voices to the story of God s love. But there have been other tales to tell, and other words to hear. And we have not always listened and paid attention to God s story. 11

And so it is that our wonderful loving God did among us something completely unexpected! God took our timeless human hopes, our search for light and love, for hearing and speech. God took our ancient hopes and made of them one like ourselves, Jesus. Jesus was God s very own, the source of God s Wisdom. He was born in Nazareth, our sister Mary s very own son. He grew to tell the story of God s love. He sang out the coming of God s goodness and power. But people were busy with other words again, and so they took the One who was our own best hope, and one day in time, his friends betrayed him, denied him, and gave him over to death. Yet here we are gathered around him. We witness, we celebrate, and we tell the story of the change God made of Jesus death into life, of our sin into salvation, of our hurting one another into healing, of this bread and wine into Jesus very life and presence for the life of the world. 12

For, on the night on which he was betrayed, the night before he died, Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to his friends, saying, Take this and eat it, all of you. This is my body, my very self. It will be broken for you. And then he took the cup and said, Take this cup and drink from it. It is the cup of my blood, my life, the gift that makes good the new promise you have in me forever. Remember me by doing this. Precious God, we ask you to sanctify these gifts by your Holy Spirit to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Accept these gifts of bread and wine. Weave them and us into your song as we pray those words that Jesus taught us: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 13

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen. The Breaking of the Bread The Celebrant breaks the bread. We break this bread to share in the body of Christ. We who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. The gifts of God for the People of God. Let us pray. We receive the Eucharist (Communion). We stand or sit. We may sing a hymn or listen to music. After everyone has received the Eucharist, and the table is cleared, the Celebrant says, God of abundance, You have fed us with the bread of life and cup of salvation; You have made us one with Christ and each other; now send us out into the world in the power of your Spirit, so that we will tell your story and continue in the risen life of Christ our Savior. Amen. 14

Blessing and Sending Forth We stand. The Celebrant will bless us, using one of these prayers. May the blessing of the God of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, and of Jesus Christ born of our sister Mary, and of the Holy Spirit who broods over the world as a mother over her children, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen. The wisdom of God, the Love of God, and the Grace of God strengthen you to be Christ s hands and heart in this world, in the name of the Holy Trinity. Amen. Live without fear: your Creator has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a parent. Go in peace to follow the good road, and may God s blessing be with you always. Amen. God s blessing be with you, Christ s peace be with you, The Spirit s outpouring be with you, now and always. Amen. 15

We sing a hymn. We sit down to listen to announcements and news. We stand when the Deacon or Priest says, (Alleluia, Alleluia!) Go in peace now to love and serve God. Amen. We go in the name of Christ. (Alleluia, Alleluia!) (Alleluia, Alleluia!) Let us go forth into the world, Rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Thanks be to God. (Alleluia, Alleluia!) The liturgy is now finished. More music is played. We go downstairs for a snack and to talk and visit with each other. 16

The liturgical material in this booklet is derived from Enriching Our Worship and A New Zealand Prayer Book. The Eucharistic Prayer is adapted from James Carroll s Wonder and Worship: Stories for Celebration (Paramus, NJ; Newman Press, 1970) and used with permission from St. Mark s Episcopal Church, Burlington, MA. These sources are authorized by the Bishop of Vermont and commended to us by the Worship Team of St. Andrew s. The Prayers of the People were written by the children of St. Andrew s. Epiphany 2011 2011. St. Andrew s Episcopal Church, St. Johnsbury, VT.