 |
|
Liturgies for High Days - Dorothy McRae-Mcmahon, Pub SPCK Publishing ISBN: 978 0281058747 £12.99
Dorothy McRae-McMahon specialises in writing liturgy using contemporary, colloquial and inclusive language. A few years ago I was delighted to discover this minister of the Uniting Church in Australia had published her Liturgies for the Journey of Life. It was a wonderful collection of liturgies that I have used again and again in ministry. Well, that’s not exactly true, as I have tended to use individual prayers and ideas from her book, rather than the complete liturgies as written. Her subsequent books, although written in the same vein, have been to me slight disappointments, mainly because I think the freshness of her approach has become familiar. And yet, such is her freshness that I was pleased to receive Liturgies for High Days and Liturgies for the young in years both published by SPCK in the last six months.
To be fair, McRae-McMahon stresses in both books that they will ‘give ideas to people, that they will adapt prayers and symbols for their own contexts’. The important thing is that they should make these liturgies their own. However, I am sure I am not the only worship leader who, short of time, reaches for the collection and has used prayers as printed. Sometimes this works – her ‘calls to worship’ and ‘benedictions’ are normally fine but you might come unstuck doing this with her intercessions. Much more preferably, give yourself time to plunder the books for ideas and to adapt what she has to the theme of your service. For this, I found the liturgies for High Days rich with ideas and new ways of seeing what has become over familiar. I especially liked her Advent material that sees the coming of Christmas from both mid-winter and also mid-summer perspectives. At Pentecost, she writes: ‘Forgive us, O God. Stand before us in light and fire to warm our lives’ as if the coming of the Spirit will temper the chill autumn air. The ‘fire’ image itself is appreciated in ‘fire of the life of God burning around us’, ‘the flames of the Spirit rising into the air’ and the ‘coals of glowing life remain when we think they have long gone...’
As well as liturgies for the main Christian festivals and High Days, there are five liturgies for the Eucharist, and another five for special occasions like ‘opening of meetings’ ‘Social Justice Sunday’ and a ‘service of commitment’. For those who already know McRae-McMahon’s work, these are welcome additions; for those for whom they are unknown, Liturgies for High Days is a worthwhile starting point.
Two words of caution: firstly, these are liturgies that in the main spring from what could be called a ‘liberal theology’; and secondly, there is a tendency, by being colloquial, that the language used domesticates God and Jesus. I think there are times when in worship we might wish to talk of a familiarity between God and us, but there are also times when we need to reflect on the distance between us and God.
Liturgies for the Young in Years - Dorothy McRae-Mcmahon, Pub SPCK Publishing ISBN 978 0281057894 £9.99
I found it more of an issue with Liturgies for the young in years, especially with material written for the five to seven year olds. Jesus as friend, confidant and protector may be difficult for some children, for example the child who has lost a parent or who has been abandoned in other ways. On the other hand, my experience of this age group is that they can understand wonder and mystery much more directly and imaginatively than older children and adults. They may also teach us adults how to cope with difficult experiences.
However, this is a brave and adventurous collection and tackles the hard questions that younger people raise today. There are liturgies for ‘Grieving a Suicide’, ‘the World – a sacred space’, ‘Hard questions’ and ‘Making Choices’. There are two ‘family services’ and two ‘For parents and teachers’. There are reflections and questions as well as prayers of adoration, confession, intercessions and so on. Used carefully, and adapted for your context, perhaps recognising children’s resilience a little more, this collection may be useful for the leader of worship for children but give yourself plenty of time for thought about how you might use this material.
Martin Hazell
|
The United Reformed Church is not responsible for the content of external websites.
|
