Mark Geldard - From Advent to Harvest: Resources for Worship in a Complex World

First published in Great Britain in 2014

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge

36 Causton Street

London SW1P 4ST

www.spckpublishing.co.uk

Copyright Mark Geldard 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

SPCK does not necessarily endorse the individual views contained in its publications.

The author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the external website addresses included in this book are correct and up to date at the time of going to press. The author and publisher are not responsible for the content, quality or continuing accessibility of the sites.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken or adapted from the Good News Bible published by The Bible Societies/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd UK and are copyright American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992, 1994.

Extracts marked REB are from the Revised English Bible, copyright Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press 1989.

Every effort has been made to seek permission to use copyright material reproduced in this book. The publisher apologizes for those cases where permission might not have been sought and, if notified, will formally seek permission at the earliest opportunity.

Permission is given for a reasonable number of photocopies to be made of the following for the purpose of producing a handout for members of the congregation: the stories in To the foot of the cross ().

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780281070930

eBook ISBN 9780281070947

Typeset and eBook by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

To Di and our family

Contents

I am deeply grateful to the many people who have helped me in writing this book. I would especially like to mention my wife, Di, Angela Bate, Liz Jones, Nick Matthews, Pauline Shelton and also Rima Devereaux, Tracey Messenger and the staff at SPCK.

This book is a collection of resources for use in worship throughout the year. It incorporates drama, various forms of visual interpretation, reflective readings, stories and music. Some of the items could be used in place of a sermon. Other items offer a programme for a whole service. In terms of the range of themes covered within the book, the Contents pages probably speak for themselves. Thus the primary focus in this introductory section is on practical matters.

The first point that I want to make here is that the resources in the book are all relatively simple to use. If you dont possess some of the skills needed to make use of an individual item for example, particular IT skills then it is pretty likely that somebody in your congregation will.

There are a number of specific practical matters that it might be helpful to touch on at this point.

Use of space

In putting these materials together, I have tried to be conscious of the varied character of church architecture. One or two of the dramas particularly, perhaps, Christmas and Epiphany tableau and Palm Sunday procession might require a full creative use of the varied spaces available to you: choir stalls, chancel steps, pulpit, lectern, aisles (or the comparable areas in less traditional or non-Anglican church buildings). However, if you are struggling for space, you will find that these items can accommodate some reduction in scale.

PowerPoint

Four of the items in this book make use of PowerPoint presentations: Advent revisited, Upside-down people Dramas 1 and 2, Your kingdom come and The problem of suffering. You will find the four presentations fully prepared on the website that accompanies the book. You just need to go to and download the relevant resource. The website has been developed and will be maintained by the author and a specialist team in order to provide additional material for those using the book.

Simultaneous text

If you are using Christmas: One of us, Pentecost: The Spirit of Jesus or Harvest: A twenty-first-century celebration, you might like to consider supporting the spoken word through simultaneously displaying the text on a screen. You have the publishers permission to scan the text for this purpose. However, please note that this permission is restricted to these three items.

Handouts

In some worship contexts, it is, I feel, more appropriate to hand out leaflets containing key elements of a script than to display these on a screen. To facilitate this, you have permission to photocopy:

• the personal stories in Good Friday meditation: To the foot of the cross
• the text of Complex lives.

COPIES

In the case of some items, several people need to have a copy of the script. In this respect, you have the publishers permission to make a reasonable number of copies of Advent revisited, The Pharisee and the tax collector, Palm Sunday procession, Pentecost: The Spirit of Jesus, Harvest: A twenty-first-century celebration, Upside-down people Dramas 1 and 2 and Gazumped!

Music: hymns, songs, background music

I make no claims to be an expert in musical matters. From time to time, I have suggested particular items of music but you might well have better ideas of your own. However, I do believe that we need to be adventurous in making selections of music that are both inspirational and inclusive embracing the traditional and the contemporary, the classical and the popular.

Voices

There is sometimes a question about whether it is best to use one voice or more than one in the delivery of Bible readings, reflective readings, narration, etc. There are arguments on both sides here. Using a number of voices certainly helps to maintain freshness. But, equally, the use of a single voice can sometimes facilitate continuity of emphasis and meaning.

I have made occasional specific suggestions in cases where I believe there are particular benefits to be had from deploying more than one reader.

I have greatly enjoyed developing resources of this form in my own ministry among fairly typical Anglican congregations made up of a broad mix of people.

Perhaps one of the greatest joys of using this type of material is the way in which it provides so many opportunities for members of the congregation to harness their own particular creativity, skills and enthusiasms in areas such as IT, photography, music, organization and drama.

Introduction

Advent revisited starts with an exploration of the uniqueness of the human story and proceeds to consider what it means for this story to have an outcome. It brings together reflective readings and photographic images; it could be used for a meditation during the early part of Advent or perhaps as a reflective sermon.

Preparation

Photographic images: to complement and interpret the text

This item includes a PowerPoint presentation. To download the fully prepared presentation, please go to <). The contents are set out below.

Image 1 teenagers in a classroom

Image 2 somebody using a microscope in a laboratory

Image 3 endless rows of books in a major library

Image 4 a person operating a computer

Image 5 a colourful embroidery

Image 6 handmade furniture

Image 7 composite image a satellite in orbit and a spectacular bridge