Workshops,
Worship Services and Sermons
Sex
and the Bible
This workshop
was done in two venues. First at the
One of the
biggest and most un-churchy topics is sex.
I have yet to read or hear of any resource that adequately creates a
Christian sex-ethic. This ethic must
necessarily address a critical power analysis and the ways Christianity has
been used to perpetuate a patriarchal bias against women and non-heterosexual
individuals.
Focus Group (Version One)
This first version of a focus group was done with young
adults at First Church Somerville. It was a huge success. We gathered together at a young adult’s
home. We had food, shared in
conversation and talked. Eventually
towards the end of the meal we shifted gears slightly to talk more explicitly
about our own faith and our own feelings about the church. The conversation was lively, filled with
wonderfully touching and personal stories.
Everyone felt that the meeting was fruitful and helped to build us as a
community.
Focus Group (Version Two)
This second version of a focus group was used at the Board
of Directors meeting of the Massachusetts Conference of the UCC. This format requires a larger group of people
for lively small group discussion.
Outline (at the end of the Board of Directors Meeting)
Sermon
Talkback
This talkback
was used at
This service was
given on
A popular
service among young adults is the Taizé worship community. Using a similar spirit of silence, chants and
community prayer, this service was a powerful prayer opportunity for many in the
community.
Though
Protestant churches do not traditionally celebrate Ash Wednesday, First Church
Somerville has a tradition of a very unique and wonderful worship service. This service involves silence, individual
prayer, and four stations that engage all the senses and ends with a short
vespers service. Credit for this service
style must go to Rev. Kirk-Davidoff. It
was hoped that this service would provide a unique worship opportunity for
young adults in the area. Booking
arrangements in a local theater prevented it from happening in a more central
locale. Future hopes of a similar
service for specifically young adults continue; this service is a likely
possibility.
The Board of
Directors invited Rev. Kirk-Davidoff and myself to lead a Friday night worship
service, and a workshop immediately following.
The worship service began with a highly traditional set-up. Chairs placed in straight rows, to mimic
rigid pews. A cloth-covered table, with
candles and large cross set up the altar as a very holy place. And the music began in a very traditional
nature.
After an opening
quote and prayer, the tenor of the service began to shift. The congregation was directed to the brightly
colored cards placed on their chair. On
each card they were to right a trait, role, attribute, job, something that
identified a piece of who they were. And
then they were invited to locate where in the room they placed that: All the
way to the altar? In the congregation?
Or was it something they left behind, altogether?
The result was a
power (and colorful) clustering of cards in the middle, in the front and at the
back. At the completion of the service,
after a short homily and dramatic reading of the Parable of Feasts, we
reassembled the Body of Christ.
Congregants were invited to bring all their cards to the front and a
blessing was given over all the cards, symbolizing the unity that the community
could achieve.
After the
worship service concluded, the workshop began immediately. This gave a chance for people to respond
directly to the exercise of the cards, to the sermon, and to share their own
personal stories.
Outline (Service and Workshop)
First Church Somerville (Young Adults version 1)
Board of Directors/Pilgrim (Young Adults version 2)