Space for the Cross

Today of all days being Good Friday was the day to wait at the cross and consider.

At the end of our Good Friday service this morning we were invited to spend more time in silence either watching the cruxifiction screen from the Jesus of Nazareth video in another room or spending quiet time in a room where  a large wooden cross was set 
up, at the foot of which were nails and a hammer.

Many churches may be used to this sort of opportunity for quiet reflection in worship.
Our church is new to this and several were very moved by the opportunity for silence.

Thanks to God for His immeasurable gift in Jesus.

24/7 Prayer at Beverley Minster

Just returned from celebrating a friend's birthday in Beverley.

Included a visit to Beverley Minster for the Palm Sunday service as our friends are the vicar and his wife. The service included a donkey derby with a live donkey crash.

The front legs were formed by a brownie blindfolded with a donkey mask and then steered by another youngster as the back legs. Two rival teams competed round the congregation but one set of back legs had defective steering and crashed the blindfolded brownie into a stone pillar. 
Only a bloody nose resulted.
(I thought there was only one donkey in the Palm Sunday story.)

I returned the following day to look at the examples of prayer stations set up for 24/7 prayer throughout the week leading up to Easter. Have a look at the photos on Flickr.

The Beverley Minster network of churches includes a 
fresh expression of church known as the Minster Way.
The work to build community in a recent housing develoment to the north
of the town includes a listening service based in a health centre.

More links on stations

I seem to be spending all my free time searching the internet for examples of liturgy, ideas and resources from “emerging church” sites.
Here are some more links relating to stations.

1. So many good examples from “hold this space” by Cheryl Lawrie
An Alternative Worship Project of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania.

•  Ash Wednesday
• Elijah
• Seeds of Worship
• Dead Man waiting

2. Two examples from the worship café in UK

• Stations
  
• A quieter example with liturgy
  

3. The future shape of church (FSOC) offer up their ideas freshly and simply
 

4. Abbotsford Parish Church, “ a wee congregation in Clydebank, Scotland” have pictures of      examples of stations during advent and other times
 

5. Most people think of stations of the cross when you mention stations.
     here are pictures and words from Franciscans in Jerusalem.
 

6. A starker multi-media approach using flash animation.
    Pinched from Jonny Baker’s worship tricks.

Lee Abbey and prayer stations

I recommend a week away at Lee Abbey in North Devon if you want peace and quiet and time to reflect. I know North Devon having visited many years with family living close by. In the summer of 2006 I was sitting in the car park to Lee Bay looking up at the Abbey enjoying the beautiful scenery with my wife and her parents. I had thought to myself that I would like to spend some time at Lee Abbey perhaps on my own. I had thought of it as a Christian retreat centre but wasn’t sure spending a week away in silence was what I needed. When I saw that Jonny Baker was due to lead a series on “Re-imagining Worship”, the combination of the beautiful surroundings and hearing directly from Jonny was irresistible. Having mis-read the title for the week as re-imaging worship I thought this would be more about using multi-media in church. What I soon discovered was that there was a lot more than that being opened up for me. The community have links with other communities like Iona and draw on the contemplative traditions of music and liturgy, much of which was taught aurally. One singing workshop was about the way other parts of the world do not rely on written forms to pass on their music and therefore pieces of music evolve as they are passed on. Jonny led morning sessions and there was free time in the afternoons to enjoy the beautiful scenery with guided walks available for those who wanted to enjoy them. Evenings were varied and included a great evening of story telling from a Birmingham based theatre company. We spent one evening developing themes for a service using the idea of “stations” t be used two evenings later. Using the inspiration of the Rembrandt’s painting of the “Return of the Prodigal”, 5 groups created parts of a worship space for others to explore. Read about a previous use of this idea in Jonny Bakers Worship tricks. Lee Abbey chapel was a quiet place available at the end each day for a short contemplation and simple prayers were led offered with quiet music playing and helpful projected images. They created prayer stations which were available to visit through the last day. Follow this link for more about their creative ideas for prayer stations.