Birthings and blessings : liberating worship services for the inclusive church

196 Pages·1991·12.6 MB·English

by  Mitchell, Rosemary Catalano

an
ft
Liberating Worship
Seri^Lced
p.
for the
I
' Inciiidlve Church
R05HMARY CATAIANO MITCHEU
and
GAIL ANDERSON RICCIUTI

BIRTHINGS
and
BLESSINGS

BIRTHINGS
and
BLESSINGS
Liberating Worship Services
Church
for the Inclusive
ROSEMARY CATALANO MITCHELL
cind,
GAIL ANDERSON RICCIUTI
CROSSROAD NEW YORK
.
Scripture quotations from the Revised Standard Version, copyright © 1946,
1952, 1971, by the Division ofChristian Education of the National Council
ofthe Churches ofChrist, U.S.A. Used by permission.
The Inclusive Language Lectionary, Years A, B, and C, pubHshed by the Di-
vision ofEducation and Ministry ofthe National Council ofthe Churches of
©
Christ, U.S.A., copyright 1983, 1984, 1985.
1992
The Crossroad Publishing Company
370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017
©
Copyright 1991
by Rosemary Catalano Mitchell and Gail Anderson Ricciuri
All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the wTitten
permission ofThe Crossroad Publishing Company.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
Typesetting output: T^XSource, Houston
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitchell, Rosemary Catalano.
Birthings and blessings liberating worship services for the inclusive
:
church / Rosemary Catalano Mitchell and Gail Anderson Ricciuti.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8245-1126-3
— —
1. Women Prayer-books and devotions English. 2. Liturgies.
I. Ricciuti, Gail Anderson. II. Title.
BV4844.M48 1991
264'.0082—dc20 91-15439
CIP
. . .
—
To our forcmothcrs in faith, past and present
all those women whose lives have inspired and strengthened ours
across centuries or across dinner tables
. .
to Margec, Jean, Elayne, Madeline, Carla,
Jan, and Great Aunt Ruth,
whose vision, intelligence, and grace
call forth our best. .
and to our husbands, Joe and Anthony,
whose strong partnership and liberated spirits
have been our encouragement
. .
this book is lovingly dedicated.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
Princeton Theological Seminary Library
http://archive.org/details/birthblessOOmitc
1
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
9
INTRODUCTION
11
Part I
Women, Word, and Song
1 BIRTHING (Advent) 19
2 THE HOLY EMERGES FROM THE DARKNESS 26
(Advent)
3 THE JOURNEY IS HOME (Advent) 32
4 SOPHIA: THE WISDOM OF GOD (Epiphany) 37
5 THE WOMEN OF MARK (Lent) 44
6 A WOMEN'S SERVICE OF PENITENCE (Lent) 51
7 WALKING HUMBLY WITH OUR GOD 57
(Ordinary Time)
8 BLESSINGS (Ordinary Time) 63
9 THE DISMISSED WOMAN 69
The Banishing of Queen Vashti (Ordinary Time)
10 PROPHETIC VOICES (World Communion Sunday) 75
1 WEAVERS OF THE WEB 83
(Ordinary Time/Summer Solstice)
85
8 CONTENTS
Part II
Inclusive Worship
for the Church Community
12 THE WORD MADE FLESH 93
(First Sunday after Christmas)
13 CREATION IN THE WILDERNESS (Lent) 99
14 LENTEN LIFE (Lent) 104
1 THE SERVANT KING (Passion Sunday) 113
16 THE WITNESS TO LIFE (Easter) 118
17 THE BAPTISM OF MADELYN CLAIRE BROWN 125
(Pentecost/Bringing a Child into the Faith Community)
1 THE MASK OF THE PHARISEE 132
(Ordinary Time/Reformation)
19 THE JONAH IN US 139
(Ordinary Time/Despair and Deliverance)
20 CATCHING A GLIMPSE OF GOD'S BUSINESS 150
(Ordinary Time)
21 ANOINTING (Ordinary Time) 154
WISDOM
22 (Dedication ofTeachers) 160
23 NEW THINGS WE NOW DECLARE 166
(A New Year's Celebration)
Part III
A Women
Retreat for
24 POWER, LOVE, AND A SOUND MIND 175
(based on 2 Timothy 1:5-7)
AFTERWORD
191