Lent Order of Worship
with Taize songs
copyright Lisa Frenz 1999
Below are some worship resources which you are welcome to use at no charge. Please just use a copyright acknowledgment "Copyright Lisa Frenz. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission."
Notes: The Taize refrains are often used in this service as an "ostinato" or repeated chorus under a spoken or sung verse. For this to be effective let the congregation become comfortable with the "ostinato" by singing it several times before starting the verse(s). The music for the Taize songs can be found in GIA's two volumes of Taize music, as well as many hymnals.
I would recommend that Community Announcements be done prior to the service or after the Message.
There is no blessing at the end of the service. If you wish to add one I would recommend the traditional "The Lord Bless you and keep you..."
Lights should be dim. Lots of candles would also be appropriate.
Order of Worship
Pre-service Music
Optional Choir Anthem
P: Peace be with you.
C: And also with you.
ALL (sing repeatedly): O Lord, Hear My Prayer
Text: Psalm 102:1-2; adapt. Taize Community, 1982
Music: Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
(Psalm 27 Spoken over the ostinato):
P: The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?
A: One thing I ask of the Lord, only that do I seek:
to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to frequent His temple.
P: Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; have mercy on me, answer me. In Your behalf my heart says:
“Seek My face!” O Lord, I seek Your face. Do not hide Your face from me; do not thrust aside Your servant in anger; You have ever been my help. Do not forsake me, do not abandon me,
O God, my deliverer. Though my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take me in.
A: Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a level path.
Hebrew Scripture:
Silence
ALL (sing repeatedly): Jesus, Remember Me
Text: Luke 23:42
Music: Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
(Psalm 51 Spoken over the ostinato):
P: Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
A: For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.
P: Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin I was conceived.
A: Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
P: Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
A: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
P: Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
A: Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.
P: Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.
A: Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
P: O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Confession
[Optional Ostinato to "Jesus, Remember Me" by the Cantor:
God’s peace is ours for we are God’s. In the coldest of days, in the warmest of nights, God’s love is ours.]
P: In the dark of night God calls to us; beckoning us on, seeking us out, calling us to peace, to quietness, to wholeness.
C: The world is dark around us, filled with coldness, terror and restlessness.
P: It is a darkness of our creation: Greed, hatred, envy: brokenness.
C: Take us and heal us of every evil. Bring us back into the comfort and closeness of your embrace, O God.
P: Your cleansing love, O God, purifies our darkness restoring it to us: Warm, comforting, restfuP: complete.
C: In the dark of our night we hear God call, offering love and strength and forgiveness.
P: With God the darkness brings comfort not fear, love not hatred, righteousness not punishment. Walk in the darkness of your life as in the light, for both the dark and the light belong to God, as do you.
C: Amen.
Prayers
ALL (sing repeatedly): Our Father
(Taize Volume 1 page 23 - ALL, page 24 - Cantor)
Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
Our Father, who art in heaven.
Or The Lord's Prayer may be spoken.
Silence
New Testament Lesson:
Psalm of the Day
Holy Gospel Lesson:
Music for Meditation
Message
Theme Song:
Silence
A: The End is God’s. The Beginning is God’s.
P: The Storm is God’s. The Peace is God’s.
A: The Depths are God’s. The Heights are God’s
P: The Dark is God’s. The Light is God’s.
A: For all times, all things and all ALL belong to God.
P: Travel with God to the end from the beginning.
A: Walk with the Lord of your salvation.
P: Continue with God during the storm as well as the peace.
A: Walk with the God of your deliverance.
P: Journey with God through the depths and the heights.
A: Walk with the Lord of your restoration.
P: Tarry with God in the dark and the light.
A: Walk with the Lord of your assurance;
P: For all times, all things and all ALL belong to God.
C: Amen.
Offering
Silence
Greeting of Peace
ALL (sing repeatedly): Stay Here
Text: Matthew 26:38, 45; Taize Community
Music: Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc.
Taize Volume 2 page 65
(Spoken over the ostinato):
Isaiah 42:1-4
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;....
He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
OR
Isaiah 49:1-6
Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away!...
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
OR
Isaiah 50:4-9
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, ...
It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
OR
Isaiah 52:13-53:11
See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up,
and shall be very high....
Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
P: For in the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus Christ, took the bread, and after giving thanks, blessed it, broke it giving it to all to eat saying, “This is my body which is broken for you.”
After the supper, taking the cup, he blessed it and gave it to all to drink saying, “This is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you.”
Remembering this life saving grace and incredible sacrifice, we join with all creation in praising your name, now and forever.
C: Amen.
ALL (sing repeatedly)Eat This Bread
Text: John 6; adapt. Robert Batastini, b. 1942, and the Taize Community
Music: Jacques Berthier, 1923-1994, Copyright Administrator: GIA Publications, Inc
Distribution of Holy Communion
Dismissal from Holy Communion:
P: May the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ be for you the food of everlasting life, sustaining, upholding and keeping you always in the grace of God.
C: Amen.
Song of Thanksgiving:
P: Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
C: Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.
P: Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.
C: Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
P: O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise.
C:For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Music for Meditation
You are invited to stay and mediate and pray, or leave quietly.