Liturgical Nerds » Christmas

New Things in the New Year

expatminister — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:37:26 +0000

Well, many of you are thinking about the last year or decade tonight…or the new one that begins at midnight! We’ve been reflecting on the past as well as thinking about the future.

We are excited about possibilities for the upcoming year. We’re especially looking forward to our Lent series, which this year will focus on the mystery of Christian Initiation: catechesis. This will be anchored by some guest bloggers, most notably Taylor Burton-Edwards OSL, Director of Worship Resources for the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church.

We’re still looking for field reports on innovative, contextualized, tradition-catapulted-into-contemporary-situations worship; the first of these will be coming up at the end of January, on a baptismal liturgy for firefighters…in the firehouse!

If you are interested in writing for LN, please contact us at liturgicalnerds [at] gmail [dot] com or hook up with us on Twitter @LiturgicalNerds — we look forward to this new year together, in the holy name of Jesus Christ:

Almighty God,
whose blessed Son was circumcised
in obedience to the law for our sake
and given the Name that is above every name:
give us grace faithfully to bear his Name,
to worship him in the freedom of the Spirit,
and to proclaim him as the Saviour of the world;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Collect for the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus from Common Worship

Merry Christmas from the Liturgical Nerds!

expatminister — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:30:37 +0000

We aren’t your usual elves: we’d probably wear thick glasses & well-versed in Latin litanies. But we bear tidings of good news & great joy for all the world! May the peace of Christ reign in your life & home as well in our world.

A reading from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 11 (NRSV):

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

Eternal God,
in the stillness of this night
you sent your almighty Word
to pierce the world’s darkness with the light of salvation:
give to the earth the peace that we long for
and fill our hearts with the joy of heaven
through our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!
[Collect for Christmas Night from Common Worship]

Christmas liturgical banner

expatminister — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:36:18 +0000

Just in time for Christmas (though don’t put it up before Thursday!), another web banner that will let you share the Christmas spirit for all TWELVE days. Remind your visitors that Christmas isn’t just a day, but an entire season. Proclaim the centrality of Christ’s Incarnation all the way up until Epiphany. Whether your Christmas is happy or merry, share the news on your site or blog!

Just remember, the banner’s protected under our Creative Commons license!