“The Ancient Story Is Our Heritage:
A Family Christmas Eve”
December 24, 2011
Dr. Rev. Gretchen Woods
7 p.m.
Prelude:Allegro non troppo by Felix Mendelssohn
Choral Introit: “Angels We Have Heard on High”
trad. French
Chalice Lighting: from G. Woods
Opening Words: from Alfred S. Cole
Opening Carol: #239 “Go Tell It On the Mountain”
Child Dedication:
Reading: “For So the Children Come”
by Sophia Lyon Fahs
Children to be Dedicated:
Calvin Scott ShepherdClara Corinne Shepherd
Daisy May ShepherdGlory Ann Skinner
Ava Grace Stinson Cole Thomas Stinson
Sung Response: #338 “ I Seek the Spirit of a Child”
Reading: from Luke 2
Anthem: “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Gustav Holst
Reading: “Christmas Sonnet” by Sara Walther
Christmas Carol: #244 “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”
(verses 1 & 4)
Homily: “The Ancient Story Is Our Heritage”
Christmas Carol: #245 “Joy to the World!”
Offering/Offertory: Berceuse by A. Iljinsky
Sharing the Light of Christmas
Passing the Flame – Candlelight for Community
Closing Carol: #251 “Silent Night”
Benediction: from Sydney Wilde-Nugent
Postlude: Chorus of Joy by Rob Roy Peery
Celebrants: Rhonda Adams, Steve Adams, Richard Atwater, and Barbara Howe
Chalice Lighting:
Like people the world around, we kindle a candle on a dark and cold night, inviting light and warmth. We retell stories of long ago: stories of a holy birth, stories of hope for a better future, stories of love that conquers fear. May our little flame join those around the world to create a new and different energy that will bring our stories to fruition. So Be It! Blessed Be! (G. Woods, 12/2009)
Opening Words: from Alfred S. Cole (Richard Atwater)
Into the bright circle of life and light, which is the Christmas season, we have come. Out of the routine ways of living, and the drab little ruts of habit, we have come to warm our hearts and minds at the cradle of the child. May something of the beauty, mystery, and promise of this lovely old story fall like silver rain upon the broken dreams, the hates and fears of all. Once again may we pause, look up, and in the far-off distances hear that old, old music. The music of hope, brotherhood, sisterhood, and blessed peace!
Reading: “For So the Children Come” by Sophia Lyon Fahs
(Barbara Howe)
For so the children come and so they have been coming.
Always in the same way they come
born of the seed of man and woman.
No angels herald their beginnings.
No prophets predict their future courses.
No wisemen see a star to show where to find the babe
that will save mankind.
Yet each night a child is born is a holy night,
Fathers and mothers –
Sitting beside their children’s cribs
Feel the glory in the sight of a new life beginning.
They ask, “Where and how will this new life end?”
Or will it ever end?”
Each night a child is born is a holy night –
A time for singing,
A time for wondering,
A time for worshipping.
Luke 2: (Rhonda Adams)
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was
governor of Syria.)
And all the world went to be taxed, everyone into his own city.
And Joseph also went up to Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour,
which is Christ the Lord.”
And this shall be a sign unto you:
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth good will toward men.”
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.”
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.
Reading: “Christmas Sonnet” by Sara Walther (Steve Adams)
And now, the greatest miracle of all,
Recurrent, silent, glorious as the sun;
Once more the lovely mother in the stall
Sings to her babe, the helpless holy one,
Immortal, changeless, and with light suffused.
The ancient story is our heritage
Of beauty in a noisy world, confused
With greed and cruelty and senseless rage.
The quiet message lives. Oh wondrous gift
That, punctual in darkness, brings the song
Of angels and the shepherds eyes that lift
As do our hearts, in worship! We who long
For peace and goodwill for humankind
That Christmas Star will seek and find.
(adapted)
Sharing the Light of Christmas
Reading: “Christmas Is a Time for Candlelight”
By Tracy Pullman
Christmas Eve is a time for candlelight.
It is a time when one desires nothing more
than family and soft music
Who can say what passes through our hearts
on Christmas Eve?
Strange thoughts, undefinable emotions,
and sudden tears –
All this and more, unbidden, come without reason.
And we burn our candles
for this Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is not (just) a time to be merry,
But quietly glad.
It is the proper time to wish upon a star.
It is the time to watch children with excited, happy eyes
Troop off to bed to await the miracle of dawn.
It is a time of wonder, of thankfulness
that life is still being created anew out of darkness.
It is a time of quiet awakening to beauty that still
Lives on though the strife of a war-torn world.
And we burn our candles
For this is Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is a time of heartbreak,
When those who not at their own fireside
are most missed.
Christmas Eve is a time of blessing
When all the heartbroken world gives thanks
For the quiet beauty of rest,
When one is closest to one’s companions
And is not then enemy to any person.
And we burn our candles
For this Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve is a time of memory,
When one remembers past happiness and love,
And often sighs for the good that might have been.
Peace on earth, and now comes the memory
of the story of the first Christmas
so old, yet so new.
We lose ourselves in legend, and dream of storybook people:
Tiny Tim and the Other Wise Man
Live again in the memory of human hearts.
And we burn our candles
For this Christmas Eve.
Benediction: from Sydney Wilde-Nugent (read by G. Woods)
May we go into the world of the unknown, confident that we carry within us the renewed light of love, peace, and joy, our own creativity and growth. As we move through life to the rhythms of the earth and sky, may we find comfort in the knowledge that, indeed, the spirit of our own divine child is born in us today. So Be It. Blessed Be!
SERVICE OF NAMING AND DEDICATION
ALL SOULS UNITARIAN CHURCH, INDIANAPOLIS
Minister:
the Rev. Dr. Gretchen Woods
DEDICATION SERVICE
From time immemorial, human beings have celebrated the miracle of our children’s lives. We marvel at the beauty and purity of each child, believing that "every conception is immaculate." For we know that, in every child who is born, under no matter what circumstances, and to no matter what parents, the infinite potential of the human race is born again.
We come now to a special moment of celebration and recognition, a time to dedicate the children of families in our religious community. The children who come to us become our intimate companions through the long journey of life. Theirs are also the hands in which rests the whole future, theirs the minds and hearts in which what has been of deepest concern to us will live on in new forms.
This is the time when we seek to express our highest hopes for our children; a time, also, when we may renew our own commitment to the religious values we have chosen.
WE NOW INVITE OUR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES TO COME FORWARD.
TO THE PARENTS:
By bringing your children into the presence of this company in an act of dedication and naming, you now recognize publicly what you have already resolved in your hearts: that you will nurture them in body and mind and spirit and help them to grow in wisdom and in faith. You acknowledge that you will teach them to seek after truth and to do that which is good. Yours is both an awesome responsibility to fulfill and a joyous privilege to perform. Will you do this to the best of your ability?
RESPONSE: We will.
TO THE CONGREGATION: (read by Gretchen Woods)
We too have a responsibility to each child who comes before us this day, even as we share in the joy and delight of their young lives. May we rededicate ourselves to an active concern for the children in this community and for all children. It is our duty to guide them by teaching and by example that they may walk in the way of wisdom and truth and justice. It is our reward to see the beauty around us reflected in their eyes.
Please rise: Will you do your best to continue in the creation of a sustaining community of faith, memory, and hope that will nurture this child and all children?
RESPONSE: We will.
Please be seated.
DEDICATION: to the parents:
Please tell us your child’s name and something special about him/her.
We dedicate this child, his/her thoughts, his/her vision, his/her speech, to the work of all of life. May s/he serve, with all her/his mind and heart and strength the ideals of truth and beauty and goodness, and may s/he grow in nobility and firmness of purpose day by day and year by year. In token of this special moment we present her/him with this rose as a symbol of her/his part in the ongoing process of life.
PRAYER (read by Gretchen):
As we contemplate the miracle of birth, as we renew in our hearts the sense of wonder and joy, may we be stirred to a fresh awareness of the sacredness of life and the divine promise of childhood. May we so live that all our children will be able to acquire our best virtues and to leave behind our worst failings. May we pass on the light of courage and compassion, and the questing spirit; and may that light burn more brightly in these our children than it has in us. (adapted from Robert Marshall)
So Be It! Blessed Be!
Gretchen Woods11/13/181