Welcome Gentle Friends and Colleagues. I am delighted that you have decided to journey through the Christian year with A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church. We begin Advent with the first annunciation in the scriptures, we meet God our midwife, we see Christ take the form of an enslaved person and we witness another annunciation that raises some questions. Come, ponder and post and I will drop in from time to time.
Updated to include this week’s and last week’s psalms set to music at Holy Trinity Lutheran in Port Angeles, Washington.
Translation, Wil Gafney; Music, Noel Smith
Translation, Wil Gafney; Music, Noel Smith
Susan and Michael Jackson
October 31, 2021 5:45 pmLooking forward to potential conversations
Kristine Johnson
November 1, 2021 7:45 pmI am so excited to use these new readings during Advent. I would love to collaborate on collects for these weeks, using themes and language from the texts. Let’s start with Advent 1. An obvious theme is annunciation. I am also struck by how God seeks us out. “God found Hagar in the wilderness.” “My God, rescue me,” expresses confidence that God will find the forsaken. The idea that we can have Christ’s own mind is mind-blowing to me – that God can be so present with us. And of course, the angel came to Mary (too bad we don’t have the actual experience of the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, but there is something about it being so precious and holy).
I’ll start: All-seeing God, who seeks us out and calls us by name: Open our hearts to joyfully receive your annunciations to us, that we may bear your good news into the world, through the power of the Holy Spirit, who with Christ lives and reigns with you, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Thoughts?
Sarah Thomas
November 15, 2021 7:59 pmI love the idea of collaborating on collects. I’m going to work on one and will share it by end of the week. Will use yours as a jumping-off point. Thank you! Also working on Prayers of People and final blessing, so share ideas, too, if you have them!
Wes Bergen
November 2, 2021 8:00 amI have a question. When you read the story of the annunciation in Luke 1, do you think Mary had a choice? The angel doesn’t sound like they are asking a question, yet Mary’s reply might suggest that she thinks she has a choice. Or is she graciously accepting the inevitable?
Sarah Thomas
November 19, 2021 3:51 pmOk here’s a try:
O God who sees and God who hears, open our hearts, that we might receive your annunciations of hope and liberation in the darkest of places, through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Sarah Thomas
November 19, 2021 3:52 pmOops. I meant to put this comment in the thread about the Collects.
Sarah Thomas
November 22, 2021 7:15 pmUgh. I’m still learning. I just realized I used “darkness” here as a negative association. What would work better? Maybe: “hope and liberation in the bleakest of places.” Thank you.
Wil
November 22, 2021 7:24 pmI use bleakness, gloom and, shadow in the Lectionary.
Wil
November 2, 2021 8:55 amWes, that is a legitimate question. I have addressed here as have others. https://www.wilgafney.com/2017/11/26/did-mary-say-me-too/
Wes Bergen
November 2, 2021 5:27 pmThanks. We lived in Ghana for 2 yrs where I taught at an AIC seminary, so I got a small glimpse into a world where women were both powerless and powerful at the same time. I’m going to check with some of my students (via FB) to see what they say.
Sue Brizzolara
November 14, 2021 6:43 amI always wonder if the angel invited other women, before Mary, who said, “Sorry, but no. I’m not putting my life on the line…..” We always picture Mary as the first, but there may have been another…or others….before her……
Wil
November 14, 2021 7:55 amThat’s an interesting question. There is a rabbinic tradition that God asked every nation on earth to be their people and that Israel was the last one. The traditional also says that God picked up Mount Sinai and held it over their heads making it an offer they could not refuse.
Leslie Callahan
November 17, 2021 1:41 pmDid anything come of the idea of collaborating on writing collects for Advent? We traditionally have litanies for the lighting of the advent wreath, and of course we’ll have to start from scratch with the new readings.
Wil
November 17, 2021 4:26 pmLooks like Sarah is going to have a go at it and report back. Please feel free to do the same.
Tracy Spencer-Brown
November 18, 2021 2:16 pmCALL TO WORSHIP
** is bolded for a responsive reading.
Advent 1, 11/28/21
Rescue me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
**from the clutch of .the cruel and the ruthless
For you are my hope, Sovereign, WORTHY ONE, my trust from my youth.
**My mouth is filled with your praise, all the day, with your glory.
Let us worship God!
Jennifer Harris Dault
November 22, 2021 10:46 amHas anyone put together readings for Advent candle-lighting?
Wil
November 22, 2021 11:19 amExcellent idea! Following closely.
Sean W Gladding
November 30, 2023 10:10 amHi Jennifer,
we’re beginning the Year W Lectionary this Sunday, and here’s the advent candle liturgy I wrote for Advent I:
As we journey to Bethlehem this year, we long for the hope that Christmas brings.
As we watch the evening news and scroll through social media,
we see the immense pain and suffering that so many endure.
We also know that for all the suffering that we do see,
there is so much more that goes unseen:
In places that rarely make the news.
In places where the suffering goes on and on, and the world loses interest.
In homes that no one visits.
Perhaps even in our own lives.
We may wonder, “Does God not see all this pain, all this suffering? Does God not care?”
Let us listen to the voices of Hagar and Mary, two seemingly insignificant women,
who nonetheless could declare, “God has seen me.”
We light this candle as a sign of hope, that God does indeed see our suffering,
and has not left us to suffer alone.
LIGHT CANDLE
As we journey to Bethlehem this year, let us heed the words of the women
who remind us that we serve a God who sees, and a God who responds. Amen.
Adele Crawford
November 22, 2021 11:08 amOK, here are some ideas for music responses:
“Canticle of the Turning” — use the refrain, sing it 2x
It’s a great hymn all around, the Magnificat set to an Irish folk tune with an upbeat feel (as opposed to the really placid and passive views of Mary we often get). Don’t sing it too slowly. It’s not lyrical; it’s raucous. 🙂 Would LOVE to sing this with an Irish folk band in church! The refrain could be good for candle lighting “My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fire of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn!” Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QeTmRCpW4
Bonus: If it’s unfamiliar to your people, you could use it as candle lighting and have your choir sing the whole hymn on 3rd or 4th Advent w/cong joining in on chorus.
“We Are All Meant to be Mothers of God” — use refrain
Written by my friend, composer and musician Paul Vasile, this song sets Meister Eckhart’s words “We are all meant to be mothers of God, for God is always waiting to be born.” The whole song is beautiful, meditative, and especially powerful in a man’s voice, I think. Would make a beautiful solo in a Lessons & Carols or Advent vespers or Sunday service. The refrain is quite singable and gives people the chance to have its words ‘stick’ in their heads throughout the week:
“We are all meant to be mothers of God,
for God is ever waiting to be born.
We are all meant to be mothers of God,
to give God a face, to give God a voice,
to give God a place in this world.”
Listen to it in Paul’s blog post: https://www.paulvasile.com/blog/2015/12/23/we-are-all-meant-to-be-mothers-of-god
“Open My Heart” — simple repetitive refrain that can be layered
I am a huge Ana Hernandez fan. HUGE! And this is one of my favorites of hers. “Open my heart” are the only words. She’s written a simple three note melody that truly anyone can sing. She’s also written two harmony parts, one lower and one higher, which you can use to enhance the experience, but honestly the single melody is just great on its own. I’ve used it lots. Again, it’s ‘sticky’ so it rings in listeners’ and singers’ ears throughout the week. Bonus: it’s a paperless music song :-). You can see/hear Ana teaching it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6SkffFSsOE
And you can hear Ana singing it with her friend, amazing soprano Ruth Cunningham (of Anonymous 4) in a gorgeous rendition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-BDAS5DYa4
And find sheet music here: https://ana-hernandez-105676.square.site
“If In Your Heart” — simple repeated short song
Also Ana Hernandez, and also paperless music, this tune sets the words of Angelus Silesius “If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then God will once again become a child on earth.” . You can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k1jpp2lhYM
And find sheet music here: https://ana-hernandez-105676.square.site
Wes Bergen
November 22, 2021 5:45 pmAdvent 1 – Hagar, Mary and Hope
Candle Reading
Reader 1 – This week we light the candle of hope (lights the candle)
Reader 2 – This single candle also reminds us of people who are alone.
Reader 3 – Hagar, servant of Sarah and Abraham, alone in the wilderness.
Reader 2 – Mary, alone when the angel came to her,
Reader 1 – And we also remember those around us who are lonely:
Reader 2 – People lonely in their homes,
Reader 3 – People lonely in the classroom,
Reader 1 – People lonely at work.
Reader 3 – May this candle call us to reach out, to be the hoped-for friend to someone this week.
Rev. Katie Aikins
November 24, 2021 10:51 amI’m so appreciative of this thread and conversation, and of this wonderful new lectionary. Thank you Dr. Wilda Gafney. We are using the readings in our church starting in Advent as well.
Just to share an idea, we are writing a new prayer each Sunday for lighting the advent wreathe. And we are spelling out H-O-P-E over the four Sundays, each candle representing another letter and with each story shared from the women in Scripture, hope grows.
Here is the prayer for the first advent candle this coming Sunday, and we make the H from Hagar in bold in each sentence:
Lighting of the Advent Wreath
Hagar’s All-Seeing God,
Thank you for making visible what others sought to dismiss, ignore, and hide.
Hagar’s Inscrutable God,
Help us trust you when we are having difficulty understanding your ways.
Hagar’s Wellspring of Life,
We recognize you are the source of all things good.
Hagar’s Fount of Life,
Guide us to that which leads to life – for ourselves, our neighbors, and all creation. Amen.
Wes Bergen
November 25, 2021 9:18 amI’ve also been thinking about the “blessing” of the angel to Ishmael. It has usually been treated as a non-blessing, like Esau’s. I’m wondering, however, if it isn’t exactly what Hagar needs to hear. She may fear that her son will be absorbed into Abraham’ patriarchal household, and she will lose him as an ally. The angel assures her that her son will be a stubborn, free person, like the wild asses of the wilderness. Maybe Hagar gets the message that she should go back, but be prepared to train her son to fight for/with her, which he does. This interpretation makes it an interesting parallel to Mary, who also seems prepared to raise her child as one who fights for justice (see Magnificat)..
I assume that some scholar has said this somewhere already, but don’t know where.
Wes Bergen
November 25, 2021 9:23 amalso note that Hagar wins the Queen Mother battle over Sarah. Currently 14 million Jews, 400 million Arabs.
Wil
November 25, 2021 9:42 amI do a fairly deep dive on Hagar from both Hebrew biblical and Islamic sources in Womanist Midrash.
Beth
November 27, 2021 12:01 pm***[This comment has been edited to remove The hypothetical spelling of the divine name which is generally regarded as offensive and anti-Semitic; See the relevant section in Womanist Midrash.]
I loved taking on the stories of Hagar and Mary in my meditations for my sermon this week! One part of my research that completely stumped me was whether or not Hagar was fully ethnically Egyptian, in language and religion. Did she worship the Egyptian gods? I see midrash that says that she rejected the Egpytian gods for Yah[***], but to me, that may be a way of maintaining purity of religious pedigree for some theologians. I guess I’d like to imagine Hagar as Egpytian in every way. Did anyone else find anything interesting on this aspect of Hagar?
Kristin-Luana Baumann
November 27, 2021 12:44 pmI feel that Christian tradition often aligns with Abraham and Sarah’s position in regard to Ishmael: We don’t wan’t him anymore. But God does want him. God delivers Hagar and Ishmael, and their lives have worth and purpose in God’s view. If God makes Ishmael the forefather of one nation, and Isaac the forefather of another, the opportunity for sibling love between those nations/faiths arises.
Katherine GrayBuck
November 27, 2021 10:41 pmHow about music? Church of the Apostles is delighted to join in Year W for Advent. Our music director, Lacey Brown, who also publishes under the name Poor Clare, recorded an original Gospel Acclamation based on these texts. There is a heartbeat sound beneath the music- meant to evoke the fetal heartbeat that hums beneath many of these pregnant women’s stories. https://m.soundcloud.com/poorclare/god-who-hears
Lacey freely allows churches to use her music, but please get in touch to let her know. It’s a joy to connect. Lacey@apostleschurch.org
Elaine Ellis Thomas
November 28, 2021 6:12 pmI wrote a collect for this morning (Advent 1). If I finalize next week’s early enough, I will share it, too. I have held off on working ahead because I am hoping to get some of my people to take part in the writing. You are welcome to use any of them with attribution (The Rev. Dr. Elaine Ellis Thomas).
God of grace-filled beginnings, you brought new life and hope to your servants Hagar and Mary. Plant also in us these seeds of life and hope, that we may prepare our hearts for the Advent of your Christ, in whose most Holy Name we pray. Amen.
Adam Hange
November 23, 2022 11:42 amThank you to all the “early adopters: who led the way through Year W in 2021-2022. Our church will be beginning Year W this coming Sunday, along with a small group of other UCC churches and pastors across the country. I’m so grateful for the wisdom and creativity shared in this space.
nick utphall
November 28, 2022 3:51 pmSeconding Adam’s note of gratitude. Excited to see some pre-community for those of us who are beginning now.