Do No Harm Do All the Good You Can Commission on the Status and Role of Women, United Methodist Church An event focusing on prevention, intervention and just resolution in cases of sexual misconduct in congregations, agencies and seminaries Nashville, TN July 26-29, 2006 Worship Theme Overview Concept and design 2006 Marcia McFee Central Symbol: beach glass Ordinary pieces of tableware or beer or soda bottles are flung into the ocean. Years pass, or decades, and then one day, there it is upon the shore: a small shard from one of those long ago discarded objects. Shifting currents have rounded its edges; abrasion has polished its surface; exposure to the sun has altered its hue. And so, when we happen upon it, here amidst the shells and seaweed, we can t help but laugh with joy at what seems a miracle: this ordinary fragment of silica that time and adversity have transformed into something beautiful. - http://www.writersatthebeach.com/
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Opening Worship Holy Vessels, Holy Substance The dominant image on screen and on worship centers is that of glass bottles and vases of many colors. We open with a celebration of the sacredness/goodness of bodies - an embodied theology that undergirds all feeling/reasoning about why we do no harm. Bodies are not just vessels but our very substance is the very expression and being of God s love itself. The tone of this opening time is of gratitude for the gathering of these people, evoking the Holy Spirit in our work and a bold proclamation of the sacred work of honoring bodies/sexuality as holy gift. Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Evening Prayers Shattered We begin the work of naming brokenness in this moment. Glass on the worship centers is shattered. Lament is uttered. Remnants. Pieces. We lay our broken world, broken lives before us as participants receive pieces of beach glass at their tables. In the tradition of lament, we end in affirmation of trust in God.
Thursday, July 27, 2006 Morning Prayer and Praise For Safekeeping On the worship centers now are pieces of beach glass in containers. We praise God for gathering us as a Beachcomber gathers and marvels at each precious surviving piece she finds. We especially pray for children this morning and for the church to become a place for safekeeping - not hoarding and hiding but protecting and treasuring. A small bowl on each table will be available for participants to place their beach glass and reflect on what it means to provide safe sanctuary and appropriate boundaries. Thursday, July 27, 2006 Evening Prayers Archeology Those who collect beach glass often become archeologists. Each precious piece has a story. Often the glass is very old and one must take time and care to find the truth behind it. Tonight we acknowledge the power of truth-telling - of claiming and telling one s own story as a path to healing. We hear one woman s story - the Samaritan Woman - and how she came to understand that her own worth relied on no one but her own well of living water inside, given by God. The containers filled with beach glass on the worship centers are now filled with water. Beach glass has a frosty finish that clears and shines when it comes into contact with water. What becomes clear for us as we dare to claim our stories and when our brokenness is met with living water? The small bowls with beach glass on each table now get water poured into it as we pray for deep peace.
Friday, July 28, 2006 Morning Prayer and Praise Different Pictures Beach glass is often used in mosaic work. On this morning we celebrate that what sometimes feels stained can become stained glass and, together with the gift of community, can create new and different pictures of our lives - different than the ones drawn for us or imprinted upon us without our permission. Worship centers will feature beach glass layed out in various designs and participants will do the same at their tables. Friday, July 28, 2006 Service of Word and Table Treasure Beach glass begins as something discarded. After it is tossed about by sand and sea, it becomes (and is literally considered) a mineral gem. We acknowledge that suffering is not necessary we are created whole gems, daughters and sons fashioned and treasured by God. But when pain comes and something sacred is tossed aside, or finds itself lost in a [ship] wreck, this is not the end of the story. There is healing in our communion with the One who gathered up all people at the table of love and forgiveness. The glass containers on the worship centers now have the beach glass pieces glued on the outside and they serve as cups for our feast.
Saturday, July 29, 2006 Morning Prayer and Praise Restoration How do we make something beautiful out of the process of healing and the difficult work of accountability and binding together that which has been torn apart? How do we claim the promises of God for reconciliation and restoration, and make signs of that promise to each other? Pieces of fine copper wire will be given to each participant and they will make a pendant out of their piece of beach glass, as many artists do, by wrapping the wire around it and creating a small loop for a chain. Then they will be asked to exchange this creation with others letting go of the treasure - gifting others. It isn t easy, this act of trusting another with a sacred gem once again. But it is part of the healing. Saturday, July 29, 2006 Closing Worship/Sending Forth Beachcombers From image of God as Beachcomber - as one who searches us out and knows us - to our own imago dei as those who are called to seek out brokenness. As we prepare to leave we commit ourselves to stand side by side with all who have been harmed. And we reaffirm our commitment to do all the good we can to prevent harm. People are invited to take home their beach glass - annual conferences are invited to take one of the decorated containers that has been used as a communion chalice - as reminders of this commitment.
A List of Resources Used in Do No Harm Worship: If a source is not listed, it is from The Faith We Sing songbook (www.cokesbury.com). Holy Vessels, Holy Substance Gathering Chant by Phil Porter. Used with permission. Source - New Century Hymnal, #742. Sacred the Body words by Ruth Duck. Words 1997 Pilgrim Press. Santo, Santo, Santo Argentine folk song. Shattered God Weeps words by Shirley Erena Murray. 1996 Hope Publishing Co. We Lay Our Broken World words by Anna Briggs. Wild Goose Publications. Source - Common Ground: A Songbook for all the Churches, #143. Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, spiritual. For Safekeeping Gather Us In words by Marty Haugen. 1982 GIA Publications. Pray for a World words by Ruth Duck. 1996 The Pilgrim Press. Source - Circles of Care: Hymns and Songs, # 47. Prayer adapted from Roll Away the Stone: Lenten Reflections at the Close of the Ecumenical Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women, eds. Caryn Douglas and Ted Dodd. Archeology The Peace of the Earth Be With You words Guatemalan text, trans. Christine Carson. Source - Common Ground: A Songbook for all the Churches, #121. Water, River, Spirit, Grace words by Thomas H. Troeger. Words 1991 Oxford University Press, Inc. Samaritan Woman monologue by Marjorie Zoet Bankson, adapted, This is My Body: Creativity, Clay and Change (San Diego: LuraMedia, 1993), 81-86. First Witness wording adapted from Faith Rogow, Healing Ritual for Abused Jewish Women, www.ritualwell.org (other wording by Marcia McFee) O-so-so words by Geonyong Lee. Different Pictures Sing for God s Glory words by Kathy Galloway, adapted Kathy Galloway. Source - Common Ground: Songs for All the Churches, #111. Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying words by Ken Medema 1973 Hope Publishing Co. I Will Change Your Name words by D. J. Butler 1987 Mercy Publishing. Prayer for the Day adapted from Lord, Hear Our Prayers, MCC Domestic Violence Worship Resources. Goodness is Stronger than Evil words from An African Prayer Book, selected by Desmond Tutu. Treasure Womb of Life words by Ruth Duck 1992 GIA Publications, Inc. Invitation to the Table (On Shalom) adapted from www.ritualwell.org.
Put Peace into Each Other s Hands words by Fred Kaan Hope Publishing Co. Source - Common Ground: Songs for All the Churches, #103. Great Thanksgiving and Prayer of Thanksgiving adapted from June Christine Goudey, The Feast of Our Lives, The Pilgrim Press. Gloria 3 [responses, adapted] Source - Songs and Prayers from Taizé, 26. Halle, Halle traditional Caribbean. Restoration Something Beautiful words by Gloria Gaither 1971 William J. Gaither. United Methodist Hymnal. You are Mine words by David Hass 1991 GIA Publications, Inc. Beachcombers Draw the Circle Wide, The Common Cup Company (www.commoncup.com). Love is the Touch words by Alison M. Robertson Alison M. Robertson. Source - Common Ground: Songs for All the Churches, #80. Spirit, I Have Heard You Calling by Thew Elliott. Source - Shaping Sanctuary. I m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me African-American spiritual. Sources for materials used: Vases and bottles: various thrift stores Beach glass (recycled tumbled glass): Crystal River Gems (http://crystalrivergems.com/products/glass/beachseaglass/seaglass.html) Copper wire: The Whimsie Studio (http://www.whimsie.com/craftwire.html) Bowls and candles: IKEA (www.ikea.com)