Parish Ministry

Bless Your Hearth

07.01.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

Long ago, when Israel was exiled to Babylon, the Lord saw the distress of his people and promised: “My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isaiah 32:18). A home is an important place. It ought to be a place where you feel safe, where you are embraced by loving family, where you show hospitality to friends and strangers, where you rest and are rejuvenated to face the gifts and challenges of the coming day.

In the tradition of King David (2 Samuel 7:29) and Saint Brigid of Kildare, we might seek God’s blessing upon our homes that they will indeed be places of peace, security, rest, and hospitality. In my ministry, I have offered house blessings for families who are moving into new homes and hoping that their homes will be just that kind of place. We walk together through each room of the house, read a verse or two from the Scriptures, and offer a prayer. The children participate by repeating each prayer, line by line. I share these verses and prayers with you now so that you, too, might seek God’s blessing upon your home and family.

For the entryway, foyer, or front porch

Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. -Deuteronomy 28:6

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. May this be a place of rest and of play, of love and of peace. Bless all who pass through this doorway when they come in and when they go out. Amen.

For the living room and/or dining room

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:1-2

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Grant them generous and hospitable hearts that they may share your love with friends, strangers, and even angels. Amen.

For the kitchen

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need. -Proverbs 30:8

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Grant that they might have enough bread for each day, and enough faith to trust you for tomorrow. Feed them with food for their bodies and food for their spirits. Amen.

For the master bedroom of a couple

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. . . .If one offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned. -Song of Songs 8:6-7

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Seal the love between this couple and ignite their passion so that nothing may destroy their bond. Grant them a love for one another that exceeds every other love except love for you. Amen.

For a bedroom

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. -Psalm 4:8

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Help them to trust you amid all the worries of the day so that at night they may sleep in peace. Grant them protection from every outside danger that they lie down in safety. Amen.

For a child’s bedroom or playroom

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. -1 Timothy 4:12

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Bless the children who sleep and play in this room. Give them confidence that you have given them special gifts and talents, and help them to be an example of love and faithfulness among their friends. Amen.

For a bedroom or closet

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. . . .Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love. -Colossians 3:12-14

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. When they rise each morning help them to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, grace, and love and so reflect Christ to their neighbors. Amen.

For a bathroom

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; . . . Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. -Psalm 51:1-2, 10

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Remind them each day as they wash their faces that through Jesus Christ you have forgiven their sins and renewed their spirits by your Holy Spirit. Help them to live joyfully as your redeemed and beloved children. Amen.

In closing, I share with you the prayer of Saint Brigid of Kildare, a woman remembered for her work alongside Saint Patrick for bringing the faith of Jesus Christ to Ireland. She is honored for her work among the poor and for her healing miracles. This prayer is offered in her name:

May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell;
Bless every fireside every wall and door;
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof;
Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy;
Bless every foot that walks its portals through.
May Brigid bless the house that shelters you. Amen.

Prayer for Father’s Day

06.15.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

I do not believe it is obligatory to celebrate cultural holidays in worship, but I am also not opposed to the practice. We have to meet our people where they are. If they are thinking about their dads on June 19, why not offer that to God in our worship? This year, I am also thinking about the 50 fathers who are grieving their sons and daughters killed at Pulse. If I stop long enough, I think about all the fathers who have lost children to gun violence this year. If I stop too long, I may get stuck in the long list of sons and daughters whose lives were cut short for too many reasons. And so we pray.

I wrote this litany as a call and response to some of the stanzas of God of our Fathers. You are welcome to reprint it or adapt it for your setting, provided you do not sell it and you acknowledge me as the author.

God of our fathers, whose almighty hand
leads forth in beauty all the starry band:
We give thanks for fathers and father figures
who reflect your strength and your humility,
your wisdom and your delight, your guidance and your love.
Bless them, Loving Father.

Be thou our ruler, guardian, guide, and stay,
thy Word our law, thy paths our chosen way.
We come to you for forgiveness when we have failed to father well
and for grace when our fathers have failed us.
Bless us, Merciful Father.

From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
be thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
We weep with fathers who could not protect their children
from hunger, violence, illness, addiction, or death.
Bless them, Strong Father.

Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.
We remember fathers and father figures who taught us the meaning of faith
and now rest eternally with you.
Bless them and comfort us, Everlasting Father.

Refresh thy people on their toilsome way.
Lead us from night to never-ending day.
We long for the day when all your children will live in harmony,
free from every hatred, evil, violence, and tyranny,
free to love, serve, heal, and build.
Bless us all, in the name of Jesus, your Son. Amen.

Children’s Sunday Debrief

06.03.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

Andrea Roske-Metcalfe’s “pray-ground” has gotten a bit of national attention recently. I also enjoy Karen Ware Jackson’s blog about creative intergenerational worship. We’ve been tossing around ideas at Eliot for a few months. Last Sunday, Eliot Church celebrated its first “Children’s Sunday.” The plan is that on the fifth Sunday of each month, we will organize our worship service for the full participation of our youngest worshipers. I offer this debriefing of our first one as a resource for others who might like to find new ways to engage children in worship.

The Space

We made only slight modifications to the sanctuary, a very traditional space with fixed pews and a raised chancel. I moved the puplit and Lord’s Table toward the sides of the chancel and placed a projector screen in the center. The liturgist and I sat on the ground level to be closer to the children. We did not use a pulpit or lectern. I placed three child-height tables (taken from our Sunday School classrooms) in front of the front pew and surrounded them with child-sized chairs. Each table had a coloring poster from Illustrated Children’s Ministry taped down on all four sides, to prevent tearing. I put a handful of crayons on each table. Overall the space worked well. The children were close to me and the liturgist. The screen also helped keep their attention and gave a visual for non-readers. The only downside to the tables is that some children were sitting with their backs toward me and the screen.

The Liturgy

Eliot Church already has a pretty relaxed approach to liturgy and a culture of flexibility, so people are generally open to a variety of styles. We kept most of our usual liturgical structure but wrote everything in language accessible to an early reader. For example the opening prayer went like this:

Dear God, We say, “Thank you,” for everything you made. We say, “Thank you,” for making us and giving us your Spirit. We hope our worship will make you happy. We love you. Amen.

Other prayers were led in “repeat after me” style. I worked with the liturgist ahead of time to help her think about how to explain the various parts of worship (prayer of confession, assurance of pardon, etc.) in terms that would make sense to young children. This simple kind of explanation also turned out to be meaningful for adults in the congregation with less experience in liturgy and ritual of the Protestant church.

We also chose songs that reflected the theme of the service and were either already familiar to our children or easy for them to learn. This month we used “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah,” “This Is the Day,” “Every Move I Make,” and “Siyahamba.” We have a collection of children’s instruments which we laid across the chancel. During each song, children could choose an instrument to play and then return it to the chancel after the song was over.

Instead of having me pray on behalf of the congregation, I led the prayers of the people as a sort of bidding prayer. Members of the congregation were invited to say aloud in one sentence something they wished to pray for. Children were also invited to share, though none did. After each request, I said, “Lord, in your mercy,” and the people responded, “hear our prayer.” The children were able to share in that response. Moreover since the congregation was speaking their requests aloud they were less disturbed by any noise from the children than they might have been if I were praying and they expected silence.

The worship bulletin was redesigned using larger font to be more accessible for early readers. (I suspect some of the older members did not mind, either!) I also put together a PowerPoint slideshow to accompany almost every part of the liturgy. Anything that was supposed to be spoken had both the words and an image. One song had a music video. Other songs were images and words. It was not the flashiest production ever, but it seemed to connect well and helped the children focus. Thankfully the adults did not object to the slideshow even though we do not usually use much technology in worship.

The People

I am usually the primary worship leader and that remained true on children’s Sunday. I also chose a liturgist who I knew to be good at engaging children. I met with her a few days before the service to go over her role and help her think about how to talk about the various parts in a way that a child could relate. My music director helped teach a new song to the children. At each table, I had a worship helper – an adult who would help the children recognize what was happening, nudge them to participate appropriately, and help with any behavior issues that might arise. These people were crucial to making the service a success.

The Message

It is important to me that the service also be engaging and meaningful for adults of all ages. I do not want children’s Sunday to become a day when the more mature members decide to sleep in because they feel that there is nothing for them in the service. To that end, I am keeping a sermon but it one that is highly interactive with a message for both adults and children. This week I decided to tackle the Trinity. If you really want to test your understanding of a complicated theological concept, explain it to a child! I am grateful for the help of Joanne Marxhausen’s book “3 in 1: A Picture of God.” Her apple metaphor is not perfect, but it gave me a starting point and an illustration to use with the children. During the sermon, I peeled, cored, and ate an apple! The book’s atonement theology is not quite the same as mine, so I dropped that and substituted my own language about what Jesus means for us. Tackling a difficult topic like the Trinity was engaging for the children and meaningful to adults who also need help understanding this idea. You can watch my whole “story sermon” on Eliot’s YouTube channel.