Welcome to the 2^nd Sunday creative worship service in November. Whether you are online, or in the St Johns building there will be a lot that seems strange.

Set this time aside to rest from the strain, don’t ignore it as the challenge of encountering the unfamiliar can be healthy and helpful, but rest. You are not in this alone, and we have the heritage of the Church spread throughout time and space to draw on. Take time to become aware of your feelings, your thoughts, your breathing, and the peace of God be with you.

I. INVOCATION

V O God, make speed to save us;

R O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning is now, and shall be for ever.

Amen.

II. PSALM

Psalm 46

Another (extended) version of this playlist can be found here if you are online, have a bit more time, and don’t mind a bit more metal)

Time for Reflection Activities

The psalm for this Sunday is followed by a playlist of music videos on the theme of refuge. The following activities have been chosen to suggest a wide range of ways to respond to the psalm. Have a look at the headings and have a go at one or all of them. They will be available online at least unitl the 2nd Sunday in December!

In the St Johns building we will be providing clay, but these reflections activities could be carried out using a wide range of materials at home.

Some Questions

Where do you find refuge? What are the foundations you build your life on? When have you felt alone? When has God been your refuge?

Want to make something with an obvious use?

Labyrinths can be used to help guide your meditation, they can be a visualisation of calming down and placing things in order. Becoming aware of God at the heart of your life.

Roll the clay into a ball
Flatten it and roll it out as a disc
Make a dot in the middle
Lightly draw 5 circles radiating out from the dot
Use these lines to trace the path into the centre
The white lines in the picture are the path your finger takes!
For a comprehensive discussion about labyrinths have a look at the Scottish Episcopal Institute Journal (Winter 2019) (This links to a downloadble pdf file)

Like to work with texts?

You could use this time to write references or words on clay pebbles, stones – or even a wall to remind you of texts you find helpful.
The Cornerstone Standing Stones Legal Refuge Assurance

Graphical Truth, meditation on meaningfulness

If you draw a right angle, wrong, the house will be insecure.

You can discover and explore truth with a bit of string and a straight edge, and these are the foundations on which archetecture is based.

Roll out a flat sheet of clay and take some time exploring the making of patterns (or a pencil, ruler and pair of compases on paper).

There is a pattern of circles within which all the Euclidean solids can be formed – perfectly- and this is constant within the human expereince of physical time and space.

So when you look at a building, perhaps you can wonder at the amazing ability given to Humans? Can it be a way to sense less physically accessible truths?
Perhaps you could make a more permanent reminder of this as a clay mandalla – or a window frame?

Or of course, do your own thing …

III. CANTICLE AND PRAYER

Magnificat

1. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord:

my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;

2. for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant:

from this day all generations will call me blessed;

3. the Almighty has done great things for me:

and holy is his name.

4. He has mercy on those who fear him:

in every generation.

5. He has shown the strength of his arm:

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

6. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones:

and has lifted up the lowly.

7. He has filled the hungry with good things:

and the rich he has sent away empty.

8. He has come to the help of his servant Israel:

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

9. the promise he made to our fathers:

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning is now, and shall be for ever. Amen.

Silence or words

Kyrie

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Lord’s Prayer

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.

Do not bring us to the time of trial

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory

are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

Collect

Lord, God almighty, come and dispel the darkness from our hearts, that in the radiance of your brightness we may know you, the only unfading light, glorious in all eternity.

Amen.

Please send in photos of your response! :

e-mail quartz@wordsmithcrafts.co.uk and we will collate them for display online
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