Calm and Bright - worshipdesignstudio.com

1 Calm and Bright : Overview of the worship Scripts from Dr. Marcia McFee This Advent/Christmas series is designed to give you everything you need all words, hymn and song suggestions, choral and band suggestions, leader introductions, etc.! But also please know that if you want to adapt to fit your current order of worship , you can easily lift any of the suggested material and place it in a more familiar structure. This overview will give you a sense of what's included each week in the order of worship . The package also includes ideas for Visuals and Media, Small Group Resource ideas and individual/family prayer practices to complement the series.

2 The order of worship is the same each week. This goes with the concept I teach that repetition is a good thing and a solid foundation is necessary in order to be creative within it. Doing series can give you the opportunity to try on a slightly different order of worship for a season but keep it the same during that season, therefore offering some sense of familiarity and a rhythm. Advent 1 includes a communion prayer as it falls on the first Sunday of the month. If you do communion weekly, adapt my scripts by using that script as a model for the other week's communion prayers. Then add a communion station to the time you will light candles and bless mission kits each week.

3 As always, adapt the communion prayer to fit your tradition. This season, we have endeavored to make the worship multi-generational-friendly in case you want to try having children in the service throughout (if you don't normally do that). We are providing a template for children's worship guides, with the rhyming prayer responses and things to watch out for during the service. We are also providing a how- to and guide for at-home Advent wreaths with battery-operated tea lights for families to use during the season. Using the same prayer responses at home will delight children as they are able to join in with these on Sunday mornings.

4 And all generations can delight in the small group mission kit activities in fact, being intentionally multi- generational in these groups may be a blessing to your experience! The Anchor Image (main metaphor) for the series is the star and its light. My prayer is that this season of focusing on the need for God's calm and Bright peace and light . will offer a guiding light to your congregation in its mission of making this world a better place. And my prayer is that these resources will make your season of preparation and leadership more calm and more Bright . Peace & Passion, Dr. Marcia McFee 1.

5 Order of worship GATHER. The visual space is set with the symbol of stars predominating a sign of God's guiding presence leading us to Christ. Stations are set up in the sanctuary enough to allow for people to light candles during prayer time. A display representing the mission kits worked on each week is set up around a manger, a symbol of the gifts we bring to continue the work of Jesus in the world. Prelude We have not made musical suggestions for this moment leaving it at the discretion of your musicians to set the tone as people arrive. Welcome and Announcements Advent is a joyful time of hope and anticipation, so make this welcome upbeat, hospitable, and brief.

6 If you wonder about how to make announcements move along, check out my blog about that HERE. At the end of announcements, I have created a little transition into the threshold that includes inviting people to take a deep breath (this is a way of slowing down the energy into a more reflective state) and to imagine a star- lit sky above them (you might even have one in the form of projections on the ceiling). After a pause, the journey begins with And in this moment, all is calm, all is Bright .. Threshold A threshold moment is a concept I teach that introduces people to the journey and the theme of the day at the beginning of the service so that everything is seen through that lens.

7 For this series, we have created a Threshold Song that includes a little echo of just the first line of Silent Night, Holy Night. The song sets up the idea that just like now, the world into which Jesus was born was torn and divided, and yet, God's promise then as now is one of peace and light. Each Sunday of Advent is based on one of the verses of Silent Night, and the congregation softly speaks the corresponding verse for the Sunday (we want to save that special moment of singing it for Christmas Eve). Prayer of Opening Two readers who accompanied the light into the sanctuary during the Threshold Song (can be from a family if this is your Advent tradition) offer a short prayer that includes the word [peace, joy, love, hope] for the week.

8 Please note that this series has those four out of traditional order to best correspond to the verses of Silent Night. Don't worry, this isn't sacrilege to change it up :). 2. I have endeavored to make some of the congregational responses generational-friendly with rhyming poetry that is brief enough for children to learn: Response of the People: Fill us with your peace and light, make the world so calm and Bright . Opening Hymn/Song We have chosen hymns (for more traditional/classic worship ) and songs (for more modern/contemporary worship ) as suggestions. But you can also feel free to adapt our suggestions, using something more beloved by your congregation if you choose.

9 Passing the Peace Each week the congregation is invited to say something specific to each other, based on the four words [peace, joy, love, hope]. Children come forward at this time. PROCLAIM. Discovering the Light As usual, our WDS Guest Expert, Mark Burrows, has written engaging and fun and easy-to-put-together scripts for this time with children. He has created a way for children to think about what new babies need and relate it to peace, joy, hope and love. If you use projected media, we have provided short funny clips of babies that play in the midst of each one. If you do a separate Family Christmas Eve service, you can purchase a puppet play by Mark that takes the place of the sermon in that service.

10 It features four animals that were present at the birth. Delightful! You can get that HERE. Scriptures The scriptures for this series are inspired by the message coming out of each of the verses of Silent Night. One reader will offer them, and there is a moment in the middle of the reading when the music for the anthem/band song will begin under the second half of the reading. It will be important to have the reader rehearse this with the musicians to be sure they can be heard and that they get used to reading with music (we have more about this in the Music Notes document). Witness to the Light in Music This title is describing what is commonly called the anthem or special music.