LET there be silence as the Community gathers for the Office. At the appointed hour the ministers shall enter and kneel in prayer. As the ministers arise, let the Community stand and face the Table. The minister shall then begin the Office by saying

WE HAVE BEEN CALLED . . . out of the World:

isolated individuals who have forgotten who we are,

YET

a COUMMUNITY who remembers again what we can be!

community

WE have been called out of the World:

to symbolize before ourselves

all men:

what it means to have life in the

WORLD

minister

it is only in the WORLD before

all that is given THE ASCRIPTION

that we have LIFE.

community

we have come to ACT OUT and

PERCEIVE again:

what it means to live in

this WORLD

minister

THEN LET US ACKNOWLEDGE WHO WE HAVE CHOSEN TO BE!

Then the Community shall face one another after which the minister shall say,

WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN OUR LIFE DAILY:

our families with their health and perversion

our Studies with their boredom and ecstasy

our Desires with their needs

and

explosions

our Societies with their nourishment and

oppression

our Neighbor as enemy and friend

the Burden of ALL Mankind

* the Sick to heal

* the Starving to Feed

* the Outcast to Take-in

* the Prisoner to Comfort

(we have been given our life

daily)

to FIGHT ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

to ENDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

to FACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

PENITENTIAL SENTENCES

Structures!

Values!

Ethics!

Hostility!

Status!

Covenants!

Laws!

Battles!

Death!

Joys!

Guilt!

Suffering!

(we have been given our life daily)

but..

BuT...

BUT!

we are scared . .

The Community shall then kneel or bow and the minister shall say,

O LORD, we have come to offer THEE our death.

The Community shall then repeat the following prayer of confession:

O THOU, WHO ART THE PASSINGNESS OF ALL THINGS:

we have refused:

­­­ to say THOU to what­is

­­­ to meet THEE as the limits

of our creatureliness

­­­ to recognize THEE as the

starting point for all our

LIVING

­­­ to acknowledge that the giver

of our

FATE SUFTERING

Guilt Conflict

DEATH

art THOU

OUR GOD AND FATHER

GENERAL CONFESSION

we have tried to hide our lives from THEE

(in the anxiety of our insecurity)

by pretending:

/ that fulfilling our desires gives us

the happy life

/ that Striving for our

Morality or Success in

work or society

yields us...historical significance

/ that our minds...finally solve life's meaning

/ that our past acts...prove our worth

/ that our future dreams...bring chance for life

(not present NOW)

we live in

illusory hope

we have tried to escape from THEE

(in our dread of what­is):

* by withdrawing from certain areas of life as not being a part of the GOOD

* by sleep, laughter, cynicism, and trivial talk

* by wrapping the cloak of Religion about the

center of our lives

* by feverishly denying that DEATH is a part of

LIFE.

Amen! Amen!

Then, while the Community remains kneeling or bowed, the minister shall rise and read what follows:

I call the WORD OF POSSIBILITY to you now;

it is the foundation of our historical Community

it was and is delivered to us as the picture of

Jesus as the CHRIST.

WORD OF PARDON

H E A R T H I S W O R D !

: when we face the fact that we are bound in illusion

we are delivered from illusion

: when we face the fact that we are not free...

we are free

: when we become who we are. . .

we have the opportunity to become what we are not

: when we embrace our deaths...

we embrace our Life

: when we receive the emptiness of all life...

our Lives become meaningful

: when we Live this moment...

our guilt does not bind us

: when we receive our actual life...

then our lives are significant

: when we love all of life...

then every Moment brings Life...

in communion with this historical

Community in

all ages

* YOU are accepted as YOU are

* YOUR life has ultimate significance in this world

* YOUR life is good as it is given

* YOUR future is open

This is the one objective and everlasting Truth

RECEIVE IT UNTO YOURSELF. . . AND LIVE!

The minister shall now kneel with the Community and then say:

Our Father who art in Heaven:

Hallowed be Thy name Give us this day our daily bread.

Thy kingdom come

Thy will be done on earth And forgive us our trespasses,

as it is in Heaven as we forgive those who

trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

LORD'S PRAYER

For THINE is the KINGDOM and the POWER and the GLORY, FOREVER AND EVER.

Amen.

The minister shall then say,

I say unto

YOU VERSICLE

(who have opened your eyes

to your

illusions):

LIVE!

LIVE!

LIVE!

The Community shall then say:

to live the givenness of our lives

up

rise

Let us

The Community shall then rise facing the Table as the minister says:

To live is to

1ive before the Giver, THE LORD:

Thou who IS

Thou who is

the Word of possibility

Thou who is

the response of our lives.

The Community:

Such has life always been

Such shall life ever be

Such is our life now. The Minister:

Amen. To live

is to glorify

God.

THE Community:

Praise the Lord!

The Minister:

Let us praise the Lord

as we symbolize the response

of our LIVES.

Then shall the Community facing one another, read responsively the following:

minister:

For the situation that

traps

and suffocates

us

and offers new possibilities for giving PRAISE

Community:

We praise THEE,

O Lord!

Minister:

For:

the events that control our lives

the enemies and fulfillments of our plans

the giving and voiding of our hopes Community:

We praise THEE,

O Lord!

Minister:

For:

the gifts of the earth

the denseness of perceiving nature

the calamities of natural events Community:

We praise THEE,

O Lord!

Minister:

For:

conflict and suffering

hostility

pain and humiliation Community:

We praise THEE,

O Lord!

Minister:

For:

daily existence

fears

non­being

death Community:

We praise THEE,

O Lord!

Let every breath we take

be a response to

our life

and

our death,

and

our praise be unto

THEE,

O Lord!

Amen!

The Community shall now be seated and the appointed scripture lesson for

the day shall then be read, before which the minister shall say,

SCRIPTURE LESSON

Let us now open our lives

to the witness of our fathers

as they bring to us

THE WORD OF POSSIBILITY of living

before this same

. . . Last Reality

Community: Amen! Amen!

After the reading of the scripture, the minister shall say,

May our lives be open to

hear and embody

this WORD OF POSSIBILITY

in our

life situation

Today.

Community:

Amen! Amen!

Then shall the Community rise, face one another, and read responsively the

following:

Minister:

Let us praise the LORD PRAISE

as we dare to dance

in the midst of life

(given at each moment) Community:

We dare to dance

in the midst of our

work

with its

* rewards

* drudgery

* frustration

* meaninglessness

* tastelessness

* emptiness

* success

* ambiguity

* power

Minister:

Let us be open

to dance before

ALL of Life Community:

We dare to live in the

presence of ALL people:

* our families

* strangers

in:

* rapport

* estrangement

* fellowship

* nausea

Amen!

The Community shall then be seated and the minister shall offer a witness to the Word, after which he shall say,

Praise the LORD

that the Word of Possibility is present today,

that we are never left without witness

that all the world hears of His goodness and love.

Community: Amen'

THE WITNESS

Praise the Lord!

Then shall the Community rise, face one another, and read responsively the following

Minister:

Let us praise the Lord!

as we enter into the Joy of

1 i v i n g

ALL Life.

Community:

We receive with Joy,

O

Lord,

the guilt­shame­embarrassment

that

this moment

brings...as a possibility for life.

Minister: PRAISE

We receive with Joy,

O

Lord,

the condemnation­the dirty feeling­the humiliation

that is a part of the life that is Good.

Community:

We receive with Joy,

O

Lord,

the wealth­privileges­friendship­bodily desires

in a world where there is

poverty­arbitrariness­estrangement­asceticism

Minister:

Let us receive

ALL OF L1FE

with joy.

Community:

We receive with Joy,

O

Lord,

our ambiguities­bad consciences­conflicting morals­broken codes

frustrated principles

as artifacts for the molding of the

Good LIFE. Amen.

The Community shall then, with the minister, face the Table, and read their

corporate confession in unison: THE APOSTLES' CREED

I believe in God the Father Almighty

Maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;

Born of the Virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

Was crucified, dead and buried,

He descended into Hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven;

And sitteth on the right hand of God the

Father Almighty,

From thence He shall come to judge the

quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Forgiveness of Sins,

The Holy Catholic Church, The Resurrection of the Body;

The Communion of Saints; And the Life everlasting.

Amen.

Then shall the minister say:

The LORD has called us .. to the mission of Living. VERSICLE

Community:

He has laid upon US

the burden

of this world!

Minister:

Let us respond to the LORD

As we respond to his creation,

which response has been symbolized to us

as the HOLY SPIRIT

by the historical community

HE

brought into being.

The Community shall then kneel or bow and the minister shall say:

Let us (as representatives of all the People of the Word)

Take upon ourselves

our responsibility in and for

this World.

O

Lord!

Give us passion for...all of life

Give us the HOLY SPIRIT

Then shall the Community say together one or more of the following prayers at

the direction of the minister:

Compassion

O Lord, may we be lovers of the world in Thee.

May we in passion for the life of this moment,

Neither be tied to pest claims,

Nor to our future plans; INTERCESSORY PRAYERS

But be released to live fully,

The only moment we have,

The Now.

May we seek not only the best in life,

But the most of life given in the present

Neither let us hang on to the present,

But be ready to leave it and to love

To the fullest the next moment.

As all the faces of the world are brought before us,

May we not be closed to any of them;

But in freedom affirm what we choose today,

and what we choose tomorrow.

Amen.

Thou giver of every structure of life,

And the plight of all men,

May we in freedom take up all the positions in life

Open to us.

Our rules in

The family

Work

Nation

Religion

International relations

And our roles to all

Broken structures and

Out cast men.

May we see our offices,

Which demand order and discipline

As ones in which all of our life

Can be expressed and lived,

Whether the expected outcome is

Great or Small,

Life or death;

And even when we see in the

Beginning

The end of our roles.

Amen.

Strength

O Tbou, who coat set us in accordance

And in opposition to our brothers,

And to the structures of society;

We go out to shoulder the burden of our teak

This day.

May we pour our whole lives into our

Mission,

Regardless of

Outside opposition

Our own weariness

Our psychological frustrations

Our sufferings and

Condemnation from without and within

Ourselves.

Grant us a tenaciousness,

That will not let go until

The final battle closes,

And a nonchalance

That the final battle dose not depend

Upon our existence.

May we act with a power

As if the destiny of all of life

Depended upon us,

But with a detachment that

Nothing we do lasts.

Amen.

The Community shall here individually make known any particular claim forgotten or hidden, or that has newly arisen, and lead the Community in special prayers for the world' at the close of which the minister shal1 say,

LET US PRAY

for responsible action

in the world.

Community:

O Thou (who cost call UB to a life of ambiguities,

where no standards of man

values of our making or

morals from any source

are final):

Grant that we may pour our whole life

into the creation of

THIS Moment.

May we be open to all that is:

our critical intelligence

cultural forms

neuroses

intuition

ethical principles

dreams

goals

anticipations

covenants

claims of every sort.

Grant that with the tools of life that we are given,

we may create out of Nothingness

the moral act of our response to

live Life in Thee.

We pray before the picture of

JESUS as the

Christ.

Amen!

The Community shall be seated and the minister shall rise and say what follows:

I call upon us:

to symbolize the corporate offering of

our

lives,

to the Life we have been given to

Live.

Community

Let us offer ourselves

unto the world

before the Lord,

and to the WORD

of

Possibility

Amen.

When while the gifts of the Community are gathered and brought to the Table the minister shall relate out of his own experience, literature, or from the news media of the world claims made upon us today after which he shall say:

Let OFFERTORY SENTENCES

Us

Pray.

The Community shall here rise and shall say:

O Lord from whom we receive a11: PRESENTATION OF OFFERING

Accept this offering of ourselves before Thee

For the service of mankind;

Use, we beseech Thee, our being and our doing

our lives of freedom,

For thy glory,

And the affirmation of Thy

Creation.

Amen.

Then shall the Community face the Table and sing:

DOXOLOGY

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

Then shall the minister say:

May the reality of life

Break your illusions

And the word of acceptance

Be present to you.

THE PEACE

Community:

May this understanding

undergird

all our Life.

Minister:

You are free ... to live in the Lord.

Community:

We go to be involved...

with the World.

The Community shall, face one another, and then the minister shall say:

The Word of Possibility go with you

Live freely before the Giver of all things

Respond to this Word in all of Life.

Community: Amen! We go. THE BENEDICTION

The Community shall then kneel or bow in silence, each departing as he elects.