Service of Holy Communion The Lord be with you Kia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou The Lord bless you Ma...

Service of Holy Communion

The Lord be with you Kia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou The Lord bless you Ma Ihowa koe e manaaki

May the God of the weaving threads be with you all this morning And also with you

Here we begin another chapter in the life of the Uniting Congregations of Aotearoa New Zealand, weaving together the fabric of our individual parish lives and those of our Partner Churches. In all its different colours and textures In all its changing form and flow

Here we mark the work completed since the last forum And hope in anticipation for the new things to come.

Here we celebrate each person, each congregation, each Partner Church as a thread in the weaving. Here we cherish the moments spent engaging with one another in workshops, in dialogue groups and in friendship at meal times.

God, the weaver, making patterns spinning threads throughout our days joy and sadness interwoven strands of sorrow, strands of praise, help us to discern your weaving in the multi-coloured maze.

Teach us Lord to trust your guidance when the pattern is not clear and to feel your strength and comfort when lifes fabrics torn by fear Help us sense that in the dark times lightening love is always near.

When we see the pattern changing and a new direction starts let us know your love unbroken wind through life in all its parts by the threads of love and friendship closely woven in our hearts.

Though we never see the picture with your sense of space and time help us, Lord to take our places in our faiths continuing line as all lives are interwoven in our final grand design. Majorie Dobson Majorie Dobson

CONFESSION Let us not pretend that, as we see our life and ministry as weavings, there are no tears, mends, holes, tangles and knotted places: silent hurts and angers that make sad gaps in our relationships with one another and in our relationships with our parishes and wider denominations: (silent reflection)

Threads of lives moving in opposition to each other, or pulled so tightly they nearly break, thin patches and frayed edges of tiredness, tangles that seem impossible to unravel, disappointments or failed expectations that fade the fabric and discolour its beauty. (silent reflection)

We are human, O God Give to us your grace Give to us your loving forgiveness. Amen

God is present in grace among us woven within our lives like a strong golden thread of transforming possibilities. We are forgiven Thanks be to God.

Come dream the pattern in your mind come spin the joining thread. Come link the parts to form a tent a tent for sharing bread

Our loving takes both warp and weft and weaves their threads as one to form a web of tenderness as vibrant as the sun.

With God we pitch this sacred tent a canopy of grace. A space where pilgrim folk can meet to laugh and to embrace Bill Wallace

AFFIRMATION AND COMMITMENT Here is beauty and variety, many things can be created from this fabric. We are a cloth of many diverse colours made from many gifts and graces

We are the people flowing forth from the Creator surprising ourselves with those things which can be done. We are raw material for rewarding relationships as our lives interweave, contributing one to the other, holding each other firm when one is weak or breaking.

We are each worthy of being respected and cared for essential to the pattern, skilled in our various ministries, vehicles for unexpected wisdom and skills,.....

sources of laughter and sharers of tears, working with each other that, one day, this world may be a place where all people live in justice, freedom and peace. This is our hope, this is our faith, Christ Jesus will be our company and the Spirit gives life to the weaving.

Intercessions

In a world of inequality we pray for the poor: so many denied the essentials of life food and water, shelter, education and healthcare. Provide the resources they need to build a better future, and stir those like us who have plenty not to be content to make token gestures of support but to promote a fairer and more loving world. God of all, May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Intercessions In a world of religious tension, where faith so often polarises rather than unites, inciting hatred, persecution, violence, war, we pray for dialogue, respect, and reconciliation a willingness to see beyond differences to shared values and aspirations. God of all, May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Intercessions In a world of racial inequality we pray for those who still face discrimination, rejection, hostility, or abuse; their customs, convictions, or simply the colour of their skin blinding people to the common humanity we share. Break through the barriers of bigotry and ignorance, so that each may be accorded their true worth. God of all, May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Intercessions In a world of political instability we pray for societies, countries and continents divided from within wrestling with factional in-fighting, sectarian conflict or civil war. in-fighting, sectarian conflict or civil war. Grant the ability to look beyond ideology and to work for the common good in partnership with those of contrasting convictions. God of all, May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Intercessions In a world of conflict we pray for the Church, called to embody unity in Christ yet all too often divided itself. Move through your Spirit to create openness to different traditions, diverse experiences, diverging emphases, so that variety might mean strength rather than weakness, openness to new ideas rather than entrenchment in old. God of all, May your love bring hope, healing and harmony.

Commissioning of Standing Committee

Standing Committee has the responsibility of doing the work of Forum. That is to promote and support Cooperative Ventures, local Ecumenical Projects and Joint Regional Committees.

It presents reports and recommendations on behalf of the Forum to the national courts of the Partner Churches as well as encouraging unity through sharing new understandings in worship, spirituality, theology, mission, inclusiveness and cohesion.

It relates the quest for unity to other developments within the Church and other related agencies. Standing Committee consists of equal numbers of elected representatives from Uniting Congregations and appointed representatives from the five Partner Churches.

Janet Taege: Do you commit yourselves to the responsibility that goes with this role? Standing Committee Members: In faith and hope we offer ourselves to God. In joy and wonder we honour our calling and, surrounded by prayer, we commit ourselves to this ministry. God is with us and God is within us. Amen

Janet Taege: Will you as members of Uniting Congregations uphold the Standing Committee in prayer and support the members as it carries out its duties? Members of Uniting Congregations: We will with Gods help

The peace of Christ be always with you. And also with you E te whanau, we are the threads that make up the fabric of the Body of Christ, the Church By one Spirit were baptised in one body

Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Amen. We are woven together by the love of Christ (The peace is shared with those around us)

There is no bread like the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Let us bring our offerings to God with joy and thanksgiving.

Rejoice for God has called us from darkness into light, from darkness into light, a people of thanksgiving, a people of delight. For we are Christs own body, made up of many parts, united in one Spirit poured into many hearts

The ministry of loving Is given to us all. The call to prayer and service is every Christians call, and every man and woman whoever was baptized brings gifts the church has need of to witness to the Christ.

So some have gifts of healing, some dream, some plan, some teach, some make the stranger welcome, some reconcile, some preach. While all these priestly people must serve God faithfully, some are ordained to mirror and shape our ministry.

The deacons show us Jesus Who came to wash our feet. They serve Christ at the edges Where church and world must meet. Among Christs joyful servants, These are ordained to lead In caring for the outcasts The sick, and all in need.

The priests are men and women Who shape our common prayer, Who take the bread and break it, And bless the cup we share. They teach good news of Jesus, Of peace for all the earth, And tell how God forgives us And blesses our new birth.

And now we pray: Christ Jesus Give your abundant grace To all who know they need you, To all who seek your face. Bind up the wounded, lead us To grow in holiness, And send us, for your names sake To heal, forgive, and bless.

We give you glory: Jesus, Our shepherd. Servant, priest, and to the one who sent you, who calls us to this feast, and glory to the Spirit who teaches us your ways: One God, true, loving, holy how good to give you praise. Elizabeth Smith Elizabeth Smith

The work of human hands is respected of God: the bread, risen in the warmth, the bread, risen in the warmth, the wine, crushed in its bitter sweetness. All that we offer is received and transformed into new possibilities Blessed be God forever.

Jesus was always the guest in other peoples homes- upsetting polite company, befriending isolated people, welcoming the stranger. He was always the guest. But here, at this table, He is the host.

Those who wish to serve Him must first be served by Him, those who want to follow Him must first be fed by Him those who would wash His feet must first let him make them clean. For this is the table, where God intends us to be nourished where God intends us to be nourished.

This is the time when Christ can make us new. So come, you who hunger and thirst for a deeper faith, for a better life, for a fairer world. Jesus Christ who has sat at our tables now invites us to be guests at his.

What we do here, we do in the imitation of what Christ first did. We take this bread and this wine the ordinary things of the world which Christ will make special and as he said a prayer before sharing let us do so too.

God is with you And also with you Lift up your hearts We lift them to God Let us give thanks to the God of all creation It is right to offer thanks and praise.

It is indeed right................ It is indeed right................ And so we proclaim your glory, as we say: And so we proclaim your glory, as we say: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might God of power and might Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the highest.

Among friends, gathered round a table, Jesus took bread, broke it and said, This is my body broken for you.

And later he took the cup of wine and said This is the new relationship with God, This is the new relationship with God, made possible because of my death. made possible because of my death. Take this, all of you, to remember me. Take this, all of you, to remember me.

Merciful God, send now in kindness your Holy Spirit to settle on this bread and wine and fill them with the fullness of Jesus. And let that same Spirit rest on us, converting us from the patterns of this passing world until we conform to the shape of him whose food we now share. Amen

The Bread we now break is a sharing in the body of Christ The Bread we now break is a sharing in the body of Christ We who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread The cup of blessing for which we give thanks is a sharing in the blood of Christ May the blood of Christ keep us in eternal life

Bread and wine; the gifts of God for the people of God May we who share these gifts be found in Christ and Christ in us. (The bread and wine are distributed.)

Christ who has nourished us is our peace. Strangers and friends, male and female, young and old he has broken down the barriers to bind us to him and to each other.

Having tasted this goodness, let us go with Christ and let us go with Christ and dedicate the weavings of our lives, our ministries, our relationships and partnerships to God.

May God breathe into our work energy, truth and courage, that we may be faithful, humble people who are truly gracious to each other and truly committed to the vision of life with which God call us on. Amen

Giver of life, inspired by your creative love May we help create a new world with you. Bread of life, nourished by your healing love; May we help create a new world with you. Spirit of life, filled with your compassionate love; May we help create a new world with you.

Longing for light, we wait in darkness Longing for truth, we turn to you Make us your own, your holy people Light for the world to see Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts Shine through the darkness Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today

Longing for peace, our world is troubled Longing for hope, many despair. Your word alone has powr to save us. Make us your living voice. Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts Shine through the darkness Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today

Longing for food, many are hungry Longing for water, many still thirst Make us your bread, broken for others Shared until all are fed. Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts Shine through the darkness Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today

Longing for shelter, people are homeless Longing for warmth, many are cold Make us your building, sheltering others Walls made of living stone. Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts Shine through the darkness Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today

Many the gifts, many the people Many the hearts that yearn to belong Let us be servants to one another Making your kingdom come. Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts Shine through the darkness Christ be our light! Shine in your church gathered today

SENDING OUT SENDING OUT Loving Christ, You call us to be your hands, to do your work in the world You call us to be your feet to lead others in the ways of justice and peace. You call us to be your tongue, to tell the story of your love. Grant that we may have the ears to hear your call the strength and determination to follow you and the grace to live as your people Amen. Amen.

Go in peace to weave Gods mission and ministry into all that you are and do. Amen. We go in the name of Christ.

Service of Holy Communion The Lord be with you Kia noho a Ihowa ki a koutou The Lord bless you Ma...

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