Loving God, Mother of us all,
You gather us like chicks under your wings;
Forgive us when we do not turn to you.

Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy
 
Saviour God, bearer of our sins,
By your labour pains you bring us to new life;
Forgive us when we settle for less than life in all its fullness.

Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy
 
Life-giving God, spirit of fire,
You nurture us with the strength and power of your love;
Forgive us when we fail to see ourselves and others as children of God.

Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

For all in our world that makes it hard for a mother to care for her children:
For war, poverty, impossible expectations and inadequate respect
We ask forgiveness
Lord have mercy

For all that we have done to damage family relationships
For words spoken in anger, deeds done in distress or frustration
For failure to value what we have been given
And failure to share who we are.
We ask forgiveness
Christ have mercy

For all the ways in which we have distorted your image,
For limiting your love and turning from your presence
And for failing to acknowledge what we owe to you
We ask forgiveness
Lord have mercy

God who loves us, as a mother loves her children
Whose compassion is quick to forgive and slow to anger
Forgive the failings of our world and the sins we have committed.
Restore in us the image of your love
and grant that we may live renewed lives by your grace.
Through Jesus Christ
Amen

Emma Percy

This is a service outline that was put together by those of us at the workshop on 31 January 2015

Either begin with intro or with drama

Intro

We speak often of God as Father.  We have fathers – some of them have been good fathers and some of them haven’t.  Some of us are fathers with varying degrees of success.  We look to God as father to help and inspire us towards the best in fatherhood and to understand what makes for healthy fatherhood and what doesn’t.

We also have need to speak of God as Mother.  We have mothers.  Some of our mothers have been good mothers and some of them haven’t.  Some of us are mothers with varying degrees of success. We look to God as mother to help and inspire us towards the best in motherhood and to understand what makes for healthy motherhood and what doesn’t.

Openning Hymn/Song

Drama

Kids fighting over who’s better – girls or boys – boy saying that God’s a boy…

Then kids saying qualities of their mothers  and fathers – but they’re the same….

My mum cooks for me /my dad cooks for me etc

Reading

Isaiah,  psalm 139  or Janet Morley’s Psalm.

Song

Question

What is it it that you can give away and share and it never runs out

Gospel Reading

Feeding of the 5000  Mark 6: 34-44

Talk

Feeding of 5000 –  Love never runs out

Maybe bring in here our good enough mother stuff?
Bring what we have to god – our offerings are small

Confession

Sometimes our parents fail us.  Sometimes we fail in our care of others.

Like an eagle teaching its young to fly,   catching them safely on its spreading wings,  the Lord kept Israel from falling. Deut 32:11,12

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,  how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34)

Mother God, your desire is to keep us safe.  You put children and the vulnerable into our care to keep safe.  Forgive us our failures.   Give us grace to forgive our mothers and carers where they failed to keep us safe.  Show us where healing can be found.

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I [God] comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” (Isa. 66:13)

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isa. 49:15)

Mother God your desire is to love us body and soul, no strings attached.  Unconditional love for those in our care, is our highest aim.  Forgive us  when we fail.  Give us grace to forgive.  Show us where healing can be found.

Absolution

Prayers

• Could have kids standing up around the church and saying a short prayer (get them to make them up in Trax/Youth Club before)
• Thanks for love shown and pray for healing for those who are lonely, hurt by lack of love… etc
• Give out slips of paper for people to write on – with pen or their finger… Bring up the prayers

Peace

do our peace song with actions?

Hymn/Song

Eucharistic Prayer

Song

Eat this bread

Give out Posies

With Celebration and Thankgiving – Church mediating God’s love to all

Brother Jesus, your touch healed the woman bent double,
And your hands washed the disciples’ feet;
We give thanks for a mother’s hand wiping away a child’s tears,
For a father’s hand leading his daughter safely across a road,
For a child’s arms around his grandmother’s neck,
For the carer’s hands whose task is intimate and personal,
The hand of a friend steadying us in a crisis.

We give thanks for all whose endeavours reflect
our Mothering God, she who carried us from conception
And has held us since our birth,
Who bears our names engraved on her heart.

Brother Jesus, we pray for those who long to be touched again:
For the empty arms of the mothers of daughters kidnapped in North Nigeria
For the empty arms of the women of Gaza whose sons are in prison
For the widow or widower who sleeps alone in a double bed
For the empty womb of the infertile woman
For the single people still craving a lover
For Ebola sufferers whose carers’ hands are gloved,
and who never feel skin on skin
For the women of Rochdale, Bradford and Oxford, groomed
to accept a touch that corrupts and violates.

Mothering God, rise up with the fierceness of a lioness protecting her cubs
Fend off those who would harm children,
And embrace us all in the loving touch of your son, Jesus Christ.

Amen

Can ask this question at the beginning – What is it that you can give away but never runs out?
Answer :  love – but you may get the answer ‘bread’ after this!

Cast

Narrator

Jesus

Peter – enthusiastic  but short attention span and tendency to blame others

Mary – Kind but tired and irritated and feeling guilty about not doing more to help

John – self-righteous,  very pragmatic, maybe a bit OCD

Congregation members ready with extra bread .

Props & Costume

Costume – should be modern day in my mind.

Props – Bread and 2 fish

Script

Jesus and disciples/friends are off stage

Jesus (OS):  Let’s go and get a bit of peace and quiet.

Narrator:  Jesus and his friends went somewhere for a bit of quiet but when they got there, loads of people were waiting.  [Jesus and friends come out and see the congregation staring at them. ] When Jesus saw the crowd he had compassion on them.

Jesus:  Look at them all!  They look lost – like sheep without a shepherd.

John:  Like lost children looking for a parent.

Mary:  Why can’t they just leave us alone for a minute!

Peter:  Now that’s what I call a decent crowd!

Narrator:  So Jesus began to teach them many, many things.   [Jesus stand and mimes talking.  As he does,  Mary and Peter start getting bored.  John is entranced]He told them stories about the lost sheep and the shepherd who went looking for it, he told them about the Good Samaritan who helped  someone who was beaten up by robbers.   He told them how much God loved them.  He told them to feed hungry people,  give clothes to people who don’t have any and help people who are sick or in prison. They were there a long time.

(friends yawn through this, start twitching and then hint at Jesus)

Mary:   We’re miles from town and it’s getting late.

Peter:  You’re a great speaker,  Jesus,  but it’s difficult listening when I’m so hungry.

John:  That was great teaching.   Can you give them a blessing and send them home now?

Mary:  Then they can buy themselves something to eat.

Jesus:  No.  they’re like our sheep.  Like our children.  We’ve got to look after them.  You feed them.

All:  What!

Peter (to Mary):  He was looking at you.

Mary:  No he wasn’t!

John:  Do you have any idea how much that’s going to cost?  That’s got to be 6 months’ salary!  It’s hard enough feeding my own family!

Jesus:  How much food have we got?

They  look at each other panicking. Peter pulls out a half-eaten sausage roll or crumpled packet of crisps.

Jesus:  Go and ask.

They run around the church asking people for food…. They get some and come back.

Mary:  We’ve got 5 loaves of bread.

John:  And these 2 fish.  [they look at the food,  look at the people and look at the floor]

Peter:  We couldn’t  even feed the front row.  This is useless!  I don’t see why it’s our problem!

Mary:  I should have thought about this earlier – we could have done something…

John:   You keep talking,  Jesus.  I’ll go to the nearest cash point,  get as much bread as I can carry…

Peter:  Can you give them a talk about the starving in Africa and how they should be grateful?

Jesus:  Calm down.  It’s going to be ok.   And thank you.

All:  For what?

Jesus:  For doing what you could.  We’ve got 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Narrator:  Then Jesus took the 5 loaves and the 2 fish and looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God.  He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.  He also divided the 2 fish among them all.

Peter, John and Mary start giving out the bread to people.  We have people ready in the congregation who’ve got bread as well.  They start sharing it in their row.

SONG

while food is being distributed.

Narrator:  And everyone ate and had enough.

THE END

This can then be followed by a brief talk/homily about

1. God’s love that never runs out
2. Parents bring what they can. Sometimes those offerings are very small.  But we offer them to God who blesses them.  We also need our community to support us so that our children can be fully fed and cared for

Susie Stead