Welcome
WW 5
Be still, for the
presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here;
Come bow before
him now with reverence and fear:
In him no sin is
found, we stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the
presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here.
Be still, for the
glory of the Lord is shining all around;
he burns with holy
fire, with splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the
sight, our radiant king of light!
Be still, for the
glory of the Lord is shining all around.
Be still, for the
power of the Lord is moving in this place;
He comes to
cleanse and heal, to minister his grace,
No work to hard
for him. In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the
power of the Lord is moving in this place.
Music David Evans
Prayer:
We pray tonight for those who have never been served
justice, respect, love, acceptance. May we be your servants, Holy God.
…we sing
Kneels at the feet of his friends,
silently washes their feet:
master who acts as a slave to them.
Yesu, Yesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve the
neighbours we have from you.
Prayer:
We pray for the different, for those who tread
cautiously in a new land and for those who welcome them in
…we sing
Neighbours are wealthy and poor,
varied in colour and race,
neighbours are near us and far away.
Yesu,
Yesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve the
neighbours we have from you.
Prayer:
We pray for our world, for those who spread hatred and
fear when we need shalom. May we live in your way, in your love Jesus Christ.
…we sing
These are the ones we should serve,
these are the ones we should love;
all these are neighbours to us and you.
Yesu,
Yesu, fill us with your love,
show us how to serve the
neighbours we have from you.
Words © Tom
Colvin Music Ghana folk song TiS 640
A time of Reflection these readings were put on
the walls around the church for people to read and reflect on. Water and candles were used for
remembrance. Music played and a
powerpoint of photos and quotes looped for around twenty mins. Scarves were there for those who wished to
wear them
Reading 1
A Sabbath Prayer
We cannot merely pray to you, O God, to end war;
For we know that You have made the world in a way
That man must find his own path to peace.
Within himself and with his neighbor.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end
starvation;
For You have already given us the resources
With which to feed the entire world,
If we would only use them wisely.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God,
to root out prejudice;
For You have already given us eyes
With which to see the good in all men,
If we would only use them rightly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end
despair,
For You have already given us the power
To clear away slums and to give hope,
If we would only use our power justly.
We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end
disease;
For You have already given us great minds
With which to search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.
Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For strength, determination and will power,
To do instead of just pray,
To become instead of merely to wish."
Jack Riemer Likrat Shabbat
Reading 2
On March 15, 2019, we awoke to news of 49
killed and dozens injured in shooting attacks at mosques in New Zealand, which
had long been considered a haven from such violence. After shock and sorrow,
our immediate desire was to bring light, love, and healing to these tragic
circumstances.
At such times prayers bring
consolation and guidance, too. We asked Habib Todd Boerger, a 2018-19 Fellow with the Practicing Democracy Project, if he would compose a dua — a
Muslim petitionary prayer — for the victims. He sent the following heartfelt
response, for which we are deeply grateful.
And so we pray this news ...
Beloved Lord, Beloved God,
Here we are Lord, before you,
with our hearts hurting, as yet more senseless acts of violence have taken the
lives of many, and the pain of their loss ripples through their families, loved
ones, communities, and across the world.
We beseech You on behalf of
those who were killed — mercy, forgiveness, peace.
We beseech You on behalf of
their loved ones — patience, strength, healing.
We beseech You on behalf of
those who participate actively or inactively in acts of violence — guidance,
truth, awareness.
Beloved Allah, all glory and
praise to You, You have taught us in Your Holy Qur’an (5:32) that taking the
life of one person is like taking the life of all humanity, and that saving the
life of one person is like saving the life of all humanity — please give us
awareness of the sanctity of life; please give us gratitude for the gift of
life; please help us to preserve the gift of life for us all.
Beloved God, please help us to
behave with respect, with compassion, with humility, with kindness, with
politeness as regards our differences.
Please help us to leave our
differences to You for You to decide upon.
Please help us focus on common
ground rather than on areas of dissent.
Please help us to remember that
we are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, that we are all brothers and
sisters — that You created each of us, and that You
created our differences so that
we might better know ourselves and each other, and thereby grow in knowledge
and understanding of You.
Beloved God, You have sent us
many messengers with the message of Your Oneness. If we know our respective
religions well, we know that there is only one religion — the religion of love
and peace and mercy and justice and freedom for all without separation.
We beseech You on behalf of all
those who are hurting, on behalf of all those who are oppressed and those who
are oppressing, on behalf of all of humanity – to bring us to know our
religions well — so that we know this oneness and this love, and so that we
live out this love with all of Your creation. Amen.
Reading 3
Pray for the families and friends
of those killed in the attacks
on Christchurch mosques
Pray for the injured,
for their recovery in body, mind and spirit;
for those who treat them
for those who care for them
Pray for police and ambulance staff
who responded so quickly,
as they process what they saw,
and what happened to them,
that they may be able to rest and recover
Pray for medical and nursing staff
those who operated on the injured,
those who care for people recovering,
for strength to keep working and healing rest afterwards
Pray for teachers who sat with the children in their care,
offering them comfort and reassurance,
now processing their own response
Pray for parents comforting their children,
for wisdom in responding to their questions and their fears,
for lots of hugs and time spent together having fun
Pray for the Muslim community in NZ
as they support one another to regain a sense of security,
that they feel supported and valued as New Zealanders who belong here
Pray for the perpetrators of this violence
and all who align with them –
that they may learn to love
and not to hate,
that they may learn to welcome and not to fear
Pray for New Zealand,
as we learn this new truth about
ourselves,
that we reach out to neighbours who are different from us,
responding with care and compassion not with fear and vengeance
Rev Anne Thompson
Reading 4
Presbyterian Church Moderator, Rt Rev Fakaofo Kaio,
adds the voice of the Presbyterian Church of
Aotearoa New Zealand to those railing against
today’s violent shootings in Christchurch.
“We are deeply, deeply shocked. There are really no words
to adequately convey the gravity of this situation where people have lost their
lives and been injured in such a senseless and violent manner.
“In New Zealand this sort of violence is unheard of,
and we must stand together as a nation against religious
violence.
“There is strength the diversity, and many of us will
have neighbours who are different to ourselves. We need to learn their names,
break bread with them, and work to understand their values and their faith,
because this how the hatred and fear that breeds such violence will be
eliminated.
“We will be praying for today’s victims and their
families, and we will also pray for God’s blessing upon the Christchurch
community,
who will be particularly affected by this terrible
tragedy.
“I call on all of
our parishes and faith communities, to please have a moment of silence before
worship this Sunday.
The love and power of God shall reign through all the
world.”
Prayer:
Holy God of mercy and compassion, pour down your embrace
Holy God of mercy and compassion, pour down your embrace
and love on all the world.
In places of strife, violence, and death.
We pray for the communities in Christchurch.
We pray for the communities in Christchurch.
The victims of this horrific tragedy,
their families and
the whole of New Zealand.
May your grace and power surround us all.
Giving strength and courage in the face of hatred and evil.
In Jesus we pray.
Amen
May your grace and power surround us all.
Giving strength and courage in the face of hatred and evil.
In Jesus we pray.
Amen
Reading 5
A PSALM OF THE HEART
written in the horror of the unfolding story while in
lockdown iin Christchurch on the afternoon of Friday 15 March 2019.
There are no words Holy God –
You are a God beyond denominations, beyond faiths,
all encompassing, all loving
Yet I sit here in this lockdown, physically safe but
spiritually shell shocked
For they have shot down the mosque –
the invidious, unknown ‘righteous’ have killed
your children,
sprayed them with bullets and with hatred.
How dare they?
How could they? Why have they?
The young man in the room with me – a minute from
entering the mosque for prayers.
A nice ordinary friend, co-worker, husband almost
dead for his faith……
How have we come to this? What have we allowed
that we might have stood up against? Where is your
justice Lord for those mown down in prayer?
As a Christian I feel ill!
As a companion in faith I feel helpless!
The gnashing of teeth, the rending of cloth,
the lament of the heart – it is not enough
God, help us
Margaret Garland
Reading 6
The Hospitality of Abraham
Oh God,
The unthinkable happened
one man on a shooting spree
in mosques, in New Zealand, in Christchurch
killing fifty people,
maiming many
while they prayed.
But God,
When time has moved on,
and victims have been named and buried
and the time for flowers and vigils will be past,
what then can we do to make a difference?
What can I do?
When I think about it God,
haven’t you already tried to show us what to do
through the Abraham who unites us all
Jew, Christian and Muslim;
Abraham who entertained angels without knowing it?
You taught us to offer hospitality the stranger
food and shelter and friendship
safety from danger.
What about it, God?
On the one hand
it seems another of your crazy ideas,
on the other
what have we go to lose?
What might we gain if we learn the names
of neighbours and strangers
and break bread with them
and learn their stories?
God of Abraham and Moses
We pray for your help
to love our neighbour
in a way that we never have before
God of Abraham and Moses
We pray for your help
Tui Bevin~ Lent #2 ~ 21 March 2019, after the 15 March
Mosque Massacre in Christchurch
Reading 7
The National Church Leaders gathered in Wellington today (Tuesday 19th March 2019)
to express their profound horror at the terrible violence towards Muslim people
in Christchurch mosques last Friday. We are deeply saddened by these tragic
events and we strongly condemn these acts of racial hatred and murder. We feel
very deeply for our fellow New Zealand faith community, which was so cruelly
attacked as worshippers peacefully gathered for prayer.
We
extend our prayerful and heartfelt sympathy to the Muslim community here in New
Zealand, and around the world. The whole Christian church community in New
Zealand is praying for the Muslim community: praying for the healing of the
wounded, comfort for the bereaved, and for God’s peace upon all who have been
traumatised.
At this
time of deep shock, grief, and anxiety, we ask and pray for all New Zealanders
to stand united, to have great love and compassion, and to show unfailing
respect and kindness for all people who live in this society of Aotearoa New
Zealand, regardless of ethnicity or religious affiliation. We believe there is
absolutely no room for racial hatred in our land, and we are determined that we
must stand together as one people, united as human beings created by God, and
as fellow New Zealanders. May goodness overcome evil, and peace and goodwill
prevail.
Litany of Commitment to peace:
For God’s shalom,
harmony, wholeness, completion, fulfilment,
we give ourselves to God
For the hard work
of wrestling peace from chaos, of standing before the violence, for being
makers of peace in times of trouble,
we give ourselves to God
For peace with who
we are, peace with who we are not, peace with our loss and peace with our hope
we give ourselves to God
Giving ourselves
to praying for the other, living for the other, working for the sake of the
other
we give ourselves to God
Declaring this
house to be a house of peace,
declaring
ourselves to be a people of peace,
we give ourselves to God
We make this
commitment in the name of the Prince of Peace.
Amen
WW no 2: 2
E te Atua aroha mai,
E te Atua aroha mai,
E te Atua aroha mai,
Ake ake tonu e, ake ake tonu
e.
E te Atua manaaki mai,
E te Atua manaaki mai,
E te Atua manaaki mai,
Ake ake tonu e, ake ake tonu
e.
E te Atua awhina mai,
E te Atua awhina mai,
E te Atua awhina mai,
Ake ake tonu e, ake ake tonu
e.
O God love us – forever
and ever
O God bless us – forever
and ever
O God help us – forever
and ever
Arr. Nicola & Guy Jansen, Tune Kum By Ya AA 31
Litany of love
Beloved; let us love another ‐
because love is from God.
Lest the sufferer feel that no one cares, let us love one another.
Lest we allow the
violence to define who we are, let
us love one another.
Lest we become what we hate, let us love one another.
Lest the redeeming
work of God not be done, let us
love one another.
Lest God fade from our landscape, let us love one another.
Sending out
Go in the blessing
of God, knowing the grace of our Lord
WW 32
May the mystery of God enfold us,
may the wisdom of God uphold us,
may the fragrance of God be around us,
may the brightness of God surround us.
May the wonder of God renew us,
may the loving of God flow through us,
may the peace of God deeply move us,
may the moving of God bring us peace.
Words Joy Cowley
Music Ian Render
We go when we are ready…..
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