As the Community gathers the Leader shall offer the following salutation,

May freedom and the courage to live, ~ be, unto you all.

COMMUNITY: AND UNTO THEE.

The Leader shall then say,

Before That Who defines our life, and makes; giving our possibility, let us acknowledge our weakness and our defiance.

And then shall the COMMUNITY say to­tether,

O THOU INESCAPABLE RULER OF ALL OUR BEGINNINGS AND OF EVERY ENDING, WE

ACKNOWLEDGE AND CONFESS THAT OUR LIVES ARE FILLED WITH ILLUSION AN!D

DECEIT; WITH INFIDELITY, INDIFFERENCE AND IRRESPONSIBILITY; FORGIVE US

OUR HIDDEN ENMITY TOWARD LIFE; BOTH OUR HATRED OF OURSELVES AND OUR

HOSTILITY TOWARD OUR FELLOW CREATURES; THROUGH THE SIGN OF THE

POSSIBILITY OF OUR FREEDOM. AMEN.

The Leader shall then say,

I announce unto you the word of your acceptance. you are received people. I command you, therefore, to receive yourselves in the givenness of your past and to open yourselves in courage to whatever situation the future may bring.

COMMUNITY: THANKS BE TOP THEE O LORD.

SERVICE OF THE WORD

And the Leader shall say,

Lift up your hearts.

The Community shall then say the Gloria Patri.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON, AND To THE HOLY GHOST. AS IT

WAS IN THE BEGINNING, IS NOW, AND EVER SHALL BE, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN.

Then shall the Community be seated and the appointed scripture lesson read, Before which the Leader shall say,

Let us hear from the constitution of our Community of free men,

After the Scripture Reading the Leader shall say,

The Lord bless to us the reading of his holy word.

COMMUNITY: THANKS BE TO THEE, O LORD.

SERVICE OF DEDICATION

Then shall the Leader say,

The Lord be with you.

COMMUNITY: AND WITH THY SPIRIT.

Leader:

Let us acknowledge our responsibility for the world in which we live.

Then shall the COMMUNITY say together,

O THOU­WHO ART NOT BOUND BY, YET DOST SUSTAIN, THE VARIOUS CULTURES FORGED BY MEN: WE ACKNOWLEDGE OUR MISSION IN AND TO THE ORDERS OF SOCIETY: THE HOME, THE NATION, OUR COMMON ECONOMIC LIFE, OUR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS, AND ALL OTHER EFFORTS OF MEN TO BRING SUSTAINING ORDER INTO HUMAN EXISTENCE; RENEW WITHIN US A PASSIONATE CONCERN FOR THESE STRUCTURES OF LIFE, AND THE COURAGE TO USE OUR INTELLIGENCE AS FREE PERSONS, CREATIVELY SHAPING THEIR DESTINY, HEAR US, O THOU WHO DOST JUDGE OUR EVERY EFFORT, AND RULE THE FUTURE OF ALL SYSTEMS OF JUSTICE. AMEN.

THOU WHOSE PRESENCE IS EVERYWHERE AND WHOSE MERCY NEVER FAILETH, GRACIOUSLY REGARD ALL WHO ARE IN TROUBLE OR DANGER THIS NIGHT; GUIDE THE PERPLEXED, DEFEND THE WRONGED, RESTORE THE LOST, HEAL THE SICK, BEFRIEND THE LONELY, COMFORT THE SORROWING, AND RECEIV~ THE DYING, AMEN.

The Leader shall then say what follows, after which let the CommunitY study to­tether in the fellowship of freedom.

Enable us, O Lord, to receive the demands of this hour as forgiven and grateful, as free and responsible men, for the sake of ale mankind

COMMUNITY: AMEN.

THE ASCRIPTION ­ Let the worshipper begin this office of the Church by saying

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

THE OFFICE OF CONFESSION

THE CONFESSION ­ 'Then let the worshipper read the appointed prayer of confession for the day or­in any other fashion he elects,­ represent the Body of Christ in the confession of her sins, after which he shall observe a moment of silence

THE LORD'S PRAYER ­ The worshipper shall then repeat on behalf of the whole Church the, Lord's Prayer,' in the awareness that 'we are the people who by God's forgiveness are enabled commonly to address God as Father,

OFFIC E O F THE WORD

THE PRAISE ­ Let the worshipper here offer the praise of the People of God! either through his own prayers of thanksgiving or by the reading of a psalm or hymn of the Church.

THE LESSON ­ The worshipper shall then re ad the appointed lesson from the scriptures of the Christian Community after which he shall engage in a season of reflective meditation.

*THE CREED ­ Then shall the worshipper repeat, as a representative of all who name the name of Christ, either the Apostles '' Creed or the 'Gloria Patri.

THE OFFICE OF DEDICATION

*THE OFFERING ­ Here the worshipper shall offer unto the; Lord the Body of Christ with all her needs for service in the world either through his own prayers of supplication and offering or through reading a collect appointed for the appropriate sacred season.

THE INTERCESSION ­ Then shall the worshipper in communion with the saints of all ages, read the appointed intercessory prayers or offer his own prayers of intercession for the Church and the world giving particular attention to those who suffer outside of the! orders of life,' followed by a moment of quiet.

THE GRACE ­ The worshipper shall then say "'The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all ever more."

I. Let us remember that our worship is always communal. First of all, though we may not be face to face with other Christians, we are ever as men of faith in the presence of the Body of Christ. Secondly, our worship is representational. It is always a service on behalf of the Church and the whole world.

II. It is suggested that whenever possible we read our office orally.

1. It is also suggested that, under proper circumstances, we engage in the dance of the office, rising and kneeling at the appropriate places
2. Each of the three parts of the office involves a service of silence. It is suggested that; particular attention be given to our involvement in the silences.

V. If deletion is necessary due to time pressure, it is suggested that deletion be made, at the points marked by asterisks.

ECUMENICAL INSTITUTE

School of Religious and Cultural Studies

Chicago

SERVICE 0F CONFESSION

As the Community gathers the Leader shall offer the following salutation,

May freedom and the courage to live be unto you a ..

COMMUNITY: AND UNTO THEE .

The Leader shall then say,

Before That Who defines our life, and makes living our possibility,

let us acknowledge our weakness and our defiance.

And then shall the COMMUNITY say to­tether, O THOU INESCAPABLE RULER OF ALL OUR BEGINNINGS AND OF EVERY ENDING, WE ACKNOWLEDGE AND CONFESS THAT OUR LIVES ARE FILLED WITH ILLUSION AND DECEIT; WITH INFIDELITY, INDIFFERENCE AND IRRESPONSIBILITY; FOR GIVE UP OUR HIDDEN ENMITY TOWARD LIFE; BOTH OUR HATRED OF OURSELVES AND OUR HOSTILITY TOWARD OUR FELLOW CREATURF!S; THROUGH THE SIGN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF OUR FREEDOM. AMEN.

The Leader shall then say, I announce unto you the word of your acceptance. you are, received people. ­I command you, therefore, to receive yourselves in the givenness of your past and to open yourselves in courage to , whatever situation the future may bring.

COMMUNITY: THANKS BE TO THEE, O LORD.

And the Leader shall say, Lift up your hearts.

SERVICE OF THE WORD

The Community shall then say the Gloria Patri.

GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON, AND TO THE HOLY GHOST. AS IT

WAS IN THE BEGINNING, IS NOW, AND EVER SHALL BE, WORLD, WITHOUT END. AMEN.

Appointed scripture lesson read,

Then shall the Community be seated and the before which the Leader shall say,

Let us hear from the constitution of our Community of free men,

After the Scripture Reading the Leader shall say,

The Lord bless to us the reading of his holy word.

COMMUNITY: THANKS BE TO THEE, O LORD.

THE DAILY OFFICE

A Contemporary Form

Community gathers in silence, rises

at the three peals facing one another, kneeling with the liturgists and rising again with them, facing the table.

L. We assemble ourselves as the People of HIM.

HIM is He who gives us our life and sends us our death.

L. The Author of life and death is the LORD.

He who is the LORD is our LORD.

L. There are no other lords before HIM.

Let us serve the LORD.

Community faces one another

I say unto you who have chosen to be called the People of the Lord: We have been given life but we have not lived; we have been called to freedom but have found the burden too heavy and the anxiety too painful and have returned to cur illusions about life and have served

other lords. I therefore call upon us to acknowledge commonly our wilfulness and our weakness in denying life, for the beginning of life lies in the decision to _ie; thus it has ever been and thus it

shall always be.

Community kneels

L. I call upon us to offer up our death before the Lord.

"O­Thou­our­Lord, who art before and after all things; the last of all the powers of this world, by whom and before whom everything exists that exists, and in whose hands lie the mysteries of each yesterday, tomorrow and today, we are those who, knowing the wonder­filled dread of thy presence, have lacked the courage of our awareness, vainly striving to hide ourselves

from THEE; we are those who, knowing that life is good, have murmured against our fate, abusing the world about us and all therein; who knowing that life is given to us only in the present' desperately cling to our false images about the past, and our imagined fantasies concerning the

future; knowing that we are received in being, do not choose to be; knowing that we are ml ion' do not elect to be ailed. Have mercy upon thy sick creation, O Lord, O Lord, have mercy upon us. Amen.

Liturqists rise/ facing Community

L. I would now remind you of the WORD by which the People of the LORD have lived, of which People we are this day the posterity. In Jesus Christ your sins are forgiven: which is to say: You are valued as you are; life is good as it is given, the future is open; he who dies shall surely live. This is the one objective and everlasting truth: receive this WORD unto yourselves and be raised from the dead.

Liturgists kneel

L. Our Father who art in heaven

Thou who art the Incomprehensible, ever beyond the grasp of the structures of this world, yet before whom we are given boldness to live;

L. Hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; We acknowledge on behalf of all mankind our holy dread of thee, our utter creatureliness before thy limiting power, and the absolute obedience which is required of us and all creation;

L. Give us this day our daily bread ­ Let us live for this day as good and significant in itself, ever free from the securities of the past, ever open to the uncertainties of tomorrow.

L. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors Let us live under the single requirement, to freely' accept ourselves and to freely receive our neighbor, in every life circumstance which the day may bring.

L. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

C. May those trials, which sorely test our courage to freely live, be received in obedience and freedom.

L. Amen.

C. Amen.

Community rises, facing table

L. I say unto you: Let us rise up as living men.

We rise up to live the givenness of our daily lives.

L. To live is to live before HIM; HE who is; HE who is the WORD; HE

who is the Word of our lives. Such has life always been; such shall life ever be; such is even now our life. Amen.

L. So to live is the praise of the LORD.

C. The Name of HIM be praised.

Community faces one another

C. Left Praise the Lord!

C. Right Praise the Lord in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!

C. Left Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his exceeding greatness!

C. Right Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!

C. Left Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!

C. Right Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

C. Left Let everything that breaths praise the LORD!

C. Right Praise the LORD!

Community faces table

1. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.
2. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

L. Amen.

C. Amen.

Community faces one another

L. Let us expose ourselves to the witness of the People of the

concerning the ways of their life before HIM.

C. Amen.

Community is seated

HERE SHALL THE APPOINTED LESSON BE READ

Community rises, facing table

1. We praise Thee, O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.

C. All the earth cloth worship Thee, the Father­everlasting.

C. Left: The glorious company of the Apostles praise Thee.

C. Right The goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise Thee.

C. Left The noble army of Martyrs praise Thee.

C. Right The Holy Church throughout all the world cloth acknowledge Thee.

L. Glory be to thee, O God.

C. Praise be to Thee, O Christ. ­

L. Amen.

C. Amen.

Community is seated

HERE SHALL THE APPOINTED WITNESS BE OFFERED

Community rises, facing one another

L. Praise the Lord all nations; extol him all peoples;

C. For great is His kindness toward us; and the faithfulness of the Lord is everlasting.

L. Halleluiah!

C. Amen!

Community faces table

Let us sing out our stance before the LORD.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

C. We submit ourselves to HIM that final and unpassing power, our LORD; without whom no thing comes to be and before whom all things pass away.

L. I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord

C. We submit ourselves to That WORD, our LORD; the Word of life as it 1s; which is the only Word of the One who is; the Word by which we live unto life.

L. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;

C. which is in our time as unbound by any time; is comprehended as not subject to comprehension; is grasped, only as having been grasped by it.

L. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; which breaks into our concrete situations with the eternally incredible promise that in every suffering, death and prison house, lies the possibility for life, rendering every human extremity vulnerable to new beginnings.

L. 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. which, everlasting beyond our power, forever rules our future and unceasingly invades our present, to place in question our every thrust of being.

L. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. We submit ourselves to THAT LIFE, our LORD, wherein we live before HIM and the WORD as mission to the world, in dialogue one with another, through which we are continually becoming our acceptance, and ever anticipating new possibilities for living, which is life as it has ever been, is now and will ever be.

1. L. Amen.

C. Amen.

1. L. The LORD has called us to the mission of living.

C. He has laid upon us the burden of this world.

Community kneels

L. Let us, as representatives of all the People of the WORD, take upon ourselves our responsibility in and for the manifold structures of this world, which minister unto all men everywhere and without which no creature lives. O thou who art bound by no order, while maintaining the many cultures forged by men, we express our gratitude for, and acknowledge our mission in and to, the whole realm of nature and the various orders of society: the home, the nation, our common economic life, our educational structures, our religious forms, our international relationships, and all other efforts of men to bring sustaining order into human existence; may all systems of justice and equity and love prosper; awaken us to our sick and destructive responses within them, and renew within us a passionate concern for the worlds of men, and the courage to use our critical intelligence as free persons creatively shaping their destiny. Hear us, O thou who cost judge our every effort and who cost rule the destiny of all mankind. Amen.

HERE SHALL INTERCESSORY PRAYERS FOR THE CHURCH AND THE

WORLD BE MADE

L. Let us especially remember those upon whom a heavy measure of trial has settled, and all those who have fallen out of the orders of this world.

O Thou who art present in every happening as wholly impartial in thy

concern for all thy creatures: we remember before thee all broken

marriages and families, and all who suffer in loneliness and separation;

we hold before thee those denied education and economic privilege; we call to mind those who suffer under the tyranny of others. We particularly remember those who are sick in mind and body and those who face the near approach of death. In the sign of the Word by which we live. Amen.

Community is seated.

1. I call upon us to corporately present ourselves before the LORD, for the sake of our mission in the world.

HERE SHALL THE OFFERING BE RECEIVED

L. Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the nations, proclaim that his name is exalted.

Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on.

You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy, and to the poor in the land.

L. Let us pray.

HERE SHALL THE OFFERING BE PRESENTED

Community rises, facing one another

C. We are ever dependent:

C. O LORD from whom we receive all; and upon whom accept this offering of ourselves before Thee unto the service of kind; use, we beseech thee, our being an] our doing, our gifts and goods, for thy glory and the well­being of thy creation. Amen.

Community faces table

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow; praise Him all creatures here below; praise him above ye heavenly hosts; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

1. L. Amen.

C. Amen.

Community faces one another

May freedom and the courage to live be unto You. And unto you.

L. Amen.

C. Amen.

HERE SHALL THE PEACE BE PASSED THROUGHOUT THE

COMMUNITY

L. Go forth now to your task inthe knowledge of your acceptance before the LORD; be present to life as it is given unto you; have the courage to freely decide as you must decide; and remember your obligation to every creature, in the sign of HIM, the WO ~; our LORD.

C. Amen.

Community kneels while the liturgists recess, rising at the three peals.

THE COLLEGE HOUSE

of the christian faith­and­life community

austin, texas

MID ­ YEAR RETREAT

February 4­5, 1961

THE RECOGNITION

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 say:

Why have you come? What do you seek here at this hour?

community:

we have come to remember our life for we are dead men. we have forgotten who it is that we are. we have come to remember who it is that we can still be!

minister:

it is only in the world that we have been given life.

community:

but we have denied the life which has been given us: the life which we have received from the ONE from Whom all things come and to Whom all must return.

THE DEATH

the community shall bow or kneel, after which the minister shall say:

let us then acknowledge who we are, for the decision to be the dead men that we are is the beginning of life.

community:

We have taken the life which was given us, the life in which we were called to freedom ~ before the ONE Who gives all;

We have taken this life, and in it, from HIM .

But we have ignored the responsibilities.

We have fragmented the world; fenced it:

we have hidden

we have hidden

we have hidden

We have taken no responsibility.

We have become frustrated

We have no life in us,

O LOR D:

Thou, O LORD, gave us a concrete world in which to live in which to be responsible.

We have hidden in the orders.

We have hidden from one part in another.

in politics

we have hidden

in vocations

we have hidden

within ourselves out of fear.

fragmented

We are dead men.

we have hidden

impotent

scared.

Our only hope for life is in THEE:

have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us. amen.

while the community remains kneeling or bowed, the minister shall rise and say:

In the NAME of the LORD, I say to you: Your sins are forgiven;

Your life is good as it is given you; for in facing what you are, in your brokenness, your illusions

your unfreedom, your guilt you are freed to embrace the life of freedom.

This is the one objective and everlasting truth. Take it unto yourself

AND LIVE! !

the minister shall now kneel with the community who joins with him as follows:

O THOU Who art our Father, ; We are humbly thankful for Thy mercy. Accept our gratitude, O LORD, for the life ­ the new life ­ which Thou hast given us. Amen.

then the minister shall say:

Our Father who art in Heaven community: Thou who are the Incomprensible, ever beyond the grasp of the structures of this world, yet before whom we are given boldness to live:

Hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

community: We acknowledge on behalf of all mankind our holy dread of

thee; our utter creatureliness before thy limiting power;

and the absolute obedience which is required of us and all

minister:

creation.

minister: Give us this day our daily bread;

community: Let us live for this day as good and significant in itself;

ever free from the securities of the past; ever open to the

uncertainties of tomorrow.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;

minister:

community: Let us live under the single requirement, to freely accept

ourselves and to freely receive our neighbor, in every life

circumstance which the day may bring.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

community: May those trials, which sorely test our courage to live as

free persons open to life, never come; but if they be given

this day, may we be found faithful and without fault. Amen.

the minister shall offer his witness to the WORD by which we are called to live, after which he shall say:

Praise the LORD for the WORD of the Possibility of Life which was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Amen. community: Praise ye the LORD. Amen.

the community shall rise with the minister, face the Table, and read

responsively their corporate confession:

minister: I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:

community: We submit ourselves to HIM that final and unpassing power, our LORD; without whom no things come to be and before whom all things pass away.

minister: I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, Our LORD.

community: We submit ourselves to that WORD, our LORD is the Word of life as it is; which is the only Word of the One who is;

the Word by which we live unto life.

m: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary;

c: which is in our time as unbound by any time; is comprehended as not subject to comprehension; is grasped only as having been grasped by it.

m: Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;

c: which breaks into our concrete situations with the eternally incredible promise that in every suffering, death and prison house, lies the possibility for life, rendering every human extremity vulnerable to new

beginnings.

m: 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.

c: which, everlastingly beyond our power, forever rules our future and unceasingly invades our present, to place in question our every thrust of being.

minister: I believe in the Holy Ghost; the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

community: We submit ourselves to that life, our LORD, wherein

we live before HIM and the WORD; as mission to the world in dialogue one with another, through which we are continually becoming our acceptance, and ever anticipating new possibilities for living, which is life as it has ever been, is now and will ever be. Amen.

THE PRAISE

then shall the minister say;

You have been given life. Arise! For to live this life is to praise the LORD. community: We arise to live our lives as they are given to us.

the community shall rise facing the Table, as the minister says:

Praise ye the LORD!

community: The LORD'S Name be praised!

the community shall sing the GLORIA PATRI:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

then shall the community face each other and say the following:

We praise Thee, O LORD for the life which is given us; For its joys and pains For the frustrations with which we are tried For the possibility implicit in frustration For demands

(for possibility)

For grief

(for possibility)

We praise Thee for our death

which brings urgency to our lives.

We praise Thee for our death

which gives significance to our lives.

We praise Thee for the world in which we live which brings us threats (and possibility)

For the whole of Thy creation

we praise thee, O LORD

Let all the peoples of the world

Praise the LOR D.

the community shall now be seated and the appointed Old Testament Lesson shall

be announced and read:

the appointed New Testament Lesson shall be announced and read, after which the minister shall say:

May this reading from our past be relevant to us today, for the sake of

our calling to live as free men in the world.

community. Amen.

CHRISTIAN FAITH­AND­LIFE COMMUNITY

WORSHIP SERVICE FOR RETREAT

at

SEVEN­ACRE:S RANCH

February 4­5, 1959

INVOCATION: In the name of that which is made manifest­in all creation, the

Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe.

CALL TO COMMUNITY: Brethren, let us in quietness become conscious of living; conscious of how we define ourselves; and conscious of our response and approach to life as it is given to us.

SILENCE

COMMUNITY: In response to that which confronts us in our self­conscious understanding of worship and life, we realize we don't accept ourselves in each moment or life as it relates to us. We must confess that in our state of finite, potential being and understanding, we try to give life meaning and value and to make ourselves supreme over life by giving ultimacy and permanence to things, institutions, ideas, and/or principles, instead of living as "loved" men of faith, who have the self­acceptance and life­acceptance and courage to use one's creative intelligence freely in response to each moment and situation.

PARDON: God gives newness of life to those who are humble and serious. He has had mercy upon us.

COMMUNITY: Father, may Your Name be honored ­ may your Kingdom come! Give us each day the bread we need, and forgive us our sins, for we forgive anyone who owes anything to us; and keep us clear of temptation. Amen.

SCRIPTURE LESSON: May we pour from this earthen vessel a valid self­understanding of life. The scripture lesson for today is taken from chapter .

WITNESS

COMMUNITY: Praise God and thanks for the gift of life ­ (stand, hands joined): I dare with fear and trembling to believe that creation is good an that it is possible by the Grace of God to live and die as a whole, integrated personality responding in the moment and creating wit the structure of life.

PRAYERS:

COMMUNITY:

Let us be still and meditate. If anyone is so inclined to lead the community in a thought, or if anyone wants to bring some thing, event, or person to the consciousness of the community. let him do so.

Let us pray especially for students, who have chosen to increase their: knowledge: of creation. Let our mind's be open and receptive and our hearts alive and warm. Help us to: realize how: fortunate we are for: the givenness of; our ability and the economic surplus of this country and state: Give us a hunger and desire to struggle and strain to expand our own minds and to increase our, and possibly man's, collective knowledge of himself and the universe.

COMMUNITY: (stand,. hands joined) And we prepare to conclude this drama of corporate worshipping consciousness and enter again the other activities of living, let us dedicate ourselves to live as Christian men and women, understanding ourselves in a dynamic living and dying universe that is good, giving ultimacy. to nothing finite, all "wholly" responding. to­ the. "now''.. We promise to strive to fulfill our responsibilities within all the orders of life knowing that this includes being the best students we are: capable of, informed, intelligent opinion­shapers, and responsible members of a family.

BENEDICTION: May the strange peace and assurance of faith go with you. May you live with enthusiasm, seriousness, fullness, and dedication,' and yet "hang loose".

T HE LI FE

then the minister shall say:

You came here as dead men

but you have been given life.

community: We have been called to live: to be responsive and sensitive; to embody the possibilities which the LOR D has given us.

the community shall kneel or bow as the minister says:

Let us take upon ourselves the urgencies of this world.

community: O THOU Who has given us life that we may live in this world in the structures of this world enable us to be responsible: in politics in the social order in education in vocation; to the people of this world may we have compassion for the starving the sick the estranged the oppressed the imprisoned. Enable us to fulfill the mission to which THOU has called us in spite of anxiety neuroses fear; accepting the demands, the urgencies, our frustrations our impotence our fragmentation as the possibility for new life.

In the NAME: of HIM Who gave us life. Amen.

the community shall be seated and the minister shall rise and say:

Let us symbolize our decision to live before the LORD through

the giving of our gifts, which represent the giving of our lives

to the Life to which we have been called.

While the gifts of the community are gathered and brought to the Table,

the minister shall read the offertory sentences which follow:

The decision to live is the decision to devote the whole of one's being to the living of the life of freedom.

To devote our being to involvement in but not slavery to the world. to responsibility for but not slavery to the orders of the world. to compassion for but not bound to the friendship of the people of the world.

the community shall stand facing each other and say the following:

O LORD, we accept the charge which Thou hast laid upon us; accept these gifts which symbolize our lives given to the Life of Freedom in Christ. Amen.

the community shall face the Table and sing the Doxology:

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

then shall the minister say:

Let us go now, into the world where we have been called to live.

Grace sufficient unto the life to which we have been called be unto you

from God the Father, Who meets us in the contingency of our lives,

and the Son, Who gives us the possibility for living, and the Holy Ghost, Who is the ever present power of Being. into the world where we have been called

community: Amen.

the community shall kneel or bow in prayer each departing as he is lead

by the spirit of God.

CHRISTIAN FAITH & LIFE: COMMUNITY

SERVICE OF. WORSHIP

The Leader shall open our Common Worship by saying:

In the beginning the Word was .

And the Word was with God,

And' the Word was God

Community: He was with God in the beginning.

All things came to be through him,

And without him not one came to be.

Leader: What came to be in him was Life;

And Life was the Light of mankind,

Community: And the Light is shining in the Dark; The Dark did not conquer it.

Leader: The Light, the true Light

That illumines all mankind,

Was on its way into the world

.

Community: Was in the world, which came to be through him,

Leader: And the world did not know him came to his own, And his own did not take him to themselves. Yet he gave to as many as took him The power to be Children of God; Gave it to those with faith in his Name, Who were not begotten of blood, ' Nor the will of the flesh, Nor a man's will, But of God.

Community: And the Word became flesh And pitched his tent among Full of grace and truth. '

Leader:

We saw glory

The Leader shall then say:

Let us be bold to confess our sins before Almighty God remembering the words of our Lord "Come unto me all ye that are heavy­laden.

The Community shall join together in saying what follows after which there shall be silence:

Have mercy on me, .0 God, according to thy steadfast love; according to thy abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever. before me. ­ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in, thy judgment.... Hide thy face from my: sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, God, and put a right spirit: within me, Cast me not away from thy presence, and thy Holy Spirit from me.

The Leader shall now say:

Let us be bold to take unto ourselves the Word of God's love for us, remembering how the Scriptures say: To you, who were spiritually dead.

Christ has given life even though we. were dead in our sins God was so rich in mercy that: He gave us the very life of Christ. Thus he shows for all time the tremendous generosity of the grace and kindness He has expressed towards us in Christ Jesus. It was nothing you could or did achieve ­­ it was. God's gift to you, No one can pride himself that he earned the love of God. The fact is that what we are we owe to the Hand of God upon us. We are born afresh in Christ, and born to do those good deeds which God planned for us to do.

The Community shall now say the following:

"Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief"

And now shall the Community Praise God in singing:

Before Jehovah's awe-full throne, Ye nations, bow with sacred joy;

Know that the Lord is God alone, He can create, and He destroy.

His sovereign power, without our aid, Made us of clay, and formed us men; And, when like wandering sheep we strayed, He brought us to His fold again. We'll crowd His gate s with thankful songs, High as the heavens our voice praise; And earth, with her ten thousand tongues, Shall fill His courts with singing praise. Wide as the world is His command; Vast as eternity His love; Firm as a rock His truth shall stand. When rolling years shall cease to move. Amen.

The leader shall say:

Let us hear the Word of God, as it is written in the book of

chapter beginning at verse

After reading the reading

O Lord. Amen.

Give us ears to hear Thy Word,

Here an appointed member of tine' Community shall offer on behalf of the Community a response of witness to the gracious activity of God or the whole Community shall say what follows:

Leader: We are the people of the new covenant.

Community: This is the covenant I will make with the house of

Israel, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind,

And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people And they shall not teach every man his fellow­citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord

For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their iniquities,

And their sins will I remember no more.

The Leader shall now say:

Let us pray.

And the Community shall join with the leader in saying:

Our Father in He even,

Thy Name be hallowed;

Thy Kingdom come;

Thy will be done;

As in Heaven, so on earth;

Give us the bread of life today;

And forgive us our debts,

As we have forgiven our debtors; And do not bring us to ordeal;

But save us from, evil for Thine is the kingdom, the power to the ages. Amen.

The Leader shall now say:

O Lord, our God, Creator of all that is Ruler of all thy works, Father of every creature hear our prayers of thanksgiving and concern for this world that Thou hast given unto us.

And shall he say: O Lord we thank thee for the whole realm of nature and for the good

every creature which we see through Thee,

Community: AND UPON THIS NATURAL WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE, WE ASK THY BLESSING. REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN THY INFINITE MERCY OUR DIFFICULTIES IN, UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATING SO MANY FELLOW BEING

Leader: O Lord, we thank thee for our homes for every friendship and for those who care for us.

Community. AND UP ON ALL TIES OF LOVE WE ASK THY BLESSING. REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN THY INFINITE' MERCY THE HOMELESS ONES AND EVERY FORSAKEN MAN.

Leader: O Lord, we thank Thee for our nation and every civil­institution which orders this world.

Community: AND UPON ALL NATIONAL STATES WE ASK THY BLESSING. REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN THY EVERLASTING MERCY ALL WHO ARE IN PRISON AND THOSE WHO SUFFER IN BONDAGE AND TYRANNY.

Leader: O Lord we thank thee for all the means of 'material existence and the various vocations through which men live together.

Community: AND UPON THESE ECONOMIES OF' LIFE WE ASK THY BLESSING REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN THY INFINITE MERCY, THE VERY POOR AND ALL OUTCASTS OF SOCIETY.

Leader: O Lord we thank thee for our universities and for all processes of education.

Community AND UPON OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS WE ASK THY BLESSING. REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN' THY INFINITE MERCY THE, IGNORANT AND THOSE WHO ARE DENIED OPPORTUNITIES TO KNOW.

Leader: O Lord we thank thee for the people of God and for our several churches.

Community. AND UPON OUR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES WE ASK THY BLESSING. REMEMBER ESPECIALLY IN THY INFINITE MERCY ALL MEN OF' OTHER FAITHS AND RELIGIOUS PERSUASIONS.

Leader: Hear these and all our Prayers O Lord for the sake of thy love in Jesus Christ and for the sake of our need of thy everlasting grace.,

Then the Leader shall say what follows:

Out of love, for God and for our neighbor; let us present our gifts' unto the Lord remembering how the Scriptures say:

"Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need

and shutteth up his compassion from him, how swelleth the love of

God in Him?"

And the Community shall then say:

O THOU WHO PROMPTS US NOT ONLY TO PRAY FOR THY CREATION BUT ALSO TO SERVE OUR FELLOW MAN WITH WHAT WE POSSESS; OH LORD THOU WHO CLAIMS NOT ONLY OUR FAITH BUT ALL THAT WE ARE AND HAVE, RECEIVE THESE OUR GIFTS AND USE THEM FOR THE SERVICE OF

MANKIND.

The Leader shall now close our common worship by saying:

The grace that comes through Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love that is the Father, and the fellowship that is ours in the Holy Spirit be with you.