Introduction
This article tries to be a reflective description of the process of preparing a short religious service to be held at Marling Court, Hampton, on 30 November 2014. It also contains the text of the service.
The preacher, and logistics
I am a 60-year-old Catholic who is blessed by being recently married, semi-retired and an aspirant deacon. To that end, I have tuned myself in to the church's liturgical prayer, attending Mass more than once a week and praying the divine office. As well as working for a non-profit organisation, I am an assistant to a hospital-chaplain. The latter responsibility has predictably brought me close to the old and infirm, as has my experience of visiting my mother in a care-home similar (and close) to the one where I shall be preaching. On the faces of the elderly and sick, I see expressions of bewilderment and distress. Although they are in a safe place (hospital or residential home), they seem more worried than those living in the outside world. They are perhaps confronting the reality of their past lives, the loneliness of old age and the imminence of death. Just when they might relax and enjoy life, they are anxious. This anxiety is something that I would like my work with the elderly to address.
Events and others' unavoidable circumstances conspire so that it's less than a week before I preach and I still lack an outline. Although this is regrettable, it puts me in a situation which is similar to that in which many preachers find themselves (according to what some have told me): the event has been in the diary for some weeks but the text isn't yet worked out. I've heard of preachers who prepare their Sunday-sermon on the Saturday-evening; others don't seem to prepare at all. I don't want to make this my habit, but I may one day be called upon to preach at short notice. I therefore decide to see the shortage of time and the age of my listeners as useful challenges. Another, more unusual, problem is that I lack access to the hymn-book which the care-home uses. I must therefore arrive at the institution early to ensure that the book contains the material I want to use.
The congregation and the service
I've already identified that some of my listeners will have impaired cognition. I must also acknowledge that few, if any, will come from my own (Catholic) tradition. I must therefore speak in a generic-Christian way, avoiding even the sign of the cross or the short form of the Lord's prayer. I decide to conclude with the grace-prayer which I believe is ecumenical, if not widely known among my fellow-Catholics. The customary service at this residential home may have a pattern but it is not prescribed. The officiant is free to create his or her own worship and, as I understand it, this often consists of hymns, scripture-reading, reflection and prayer. Having attended just such a service in the same care-home, and having seen it being well-received, I propose to include such elements in the service that I shall lead.
Spiritual preparation
This project has been the frequent subject of my prayers, and I am tempted to miss my customary visit to church for Mass and eucharistic adoration. Such a visit will (with walking-time) easily consume two hours out of the day that I have allocated for this work. I realise, though, that this project needs to have God as its focus and that I must humbly trust in him. There may be no startling inspiration as I kneel in church, but I can at least expect his blessing on what I do. When I do go to church, I am pleased and relieved. The entrance-antiphon speaks of God's peace and the liturgy (and prayer afterwards) calms and inspires me
The main text
In keeping with recommended practice, I choose (even before setting objectives) to try to let holy scripture speak to me. I begin with the Gospel from the (Catholic) lectionary for the Sunday in question, which is the first in Advent (with readings from cycle B). This proves to be Mark 13: 33-37. Inspiring though that text is, I decide that, for my first speech to an elderly congregation, I am uneasy with such an eschatological theme - "keep watch", "stay awake". Experienced preachers at care-homes may be able to mention death in a way that does not unsettle the residents, but I would prefer to portray Advent as a time of eager anticipation. As well as the message of divine peace at today's Mass, morning-prayer contains Romans 14: 17-19. I choose this as my main text since it mentions peace twice and also contains a practical application.
Objectives
Practising what I preach, I try to determine what I want to happen as a result of my preaching-event. I short, I wish to allow my listeners to register that Advent has begun and to be able to approach Christmas with the hope of receiving Christ's peace. I also want to allow the Holy Spirit to work on us all, and to give God glory through worship.
Approaches, techniques, aids to communication and duration
I have read inter alia Buttrick, Craddock, DeBona, Hilkert, Long, Lowry, Macpherson, Untener and Wright. I enjoyed all these authors' works and am consequently left with a range of approaches. To make a shortlist, I ask myself whether I want to make use of:
approaching a familiar text in an unfamiliar way
other techniques which present the listener with a surprise, problem or paradox
the use of a narrative plot
proclaiming the bible in a very direct way, minimising my own comments thereon
beginning the sermon from the listeners' point of view and working from there to general principles
identifying a key bible-passage and/or a defining phrase which epitomises my message.
I choose to decide on the use of such techniques as my preparation proceeds, not least because at least some of the major works on preaching are less than prescriptive on what works best. As well as speech (ex tempore, from notes and from a script), we can also communicate through music, body-language and aids such as handouts, images (printed and projected) and even drama and dance. For this task I have considered handing around Christmas-cards, but I do not want any of the residents to misunderstand and think that I am giving them to them. Instead, I decide to produce a printed handout with a few, large words from scripture and maybe an image or two. I would much like to use PowerPoint but would not want to do so on my first such outing. One aid to communication is, of course, dialogue and I shall plan-in opportunities for that.
On the matter of duration, I always prefer brevity (despite the impression perhaps given by this article). However, a service such as this needs to last long enough to enable the congregation to engage with the subject matter and to make those taking part (including the carers who have to help incapacitated residents to be there) to feel that their attendance has been worth the time and effort. Through rehearsal, I shall determine how long my material runs for, with a view to perhaps only slightly exceeding. I confess to being relieved that hymns can be used to fill time, and I equally acknowledge that dialogue can be hard to achieve with even the youngest and keenest of audiences.
Structure
The works of Buttrick et al. are, of course, about sermons and/or homilies but, in the case of my forthcoming visit to Marling Court, I am actually being asked to prepare a significant part of a religious service - pretty well an entire liturgy. This gives me the privilege of designing the whole shape of our worship, of which preaching is just one part. Here is an outline of such a shape:
takeover from my senior colleague's introduction (ad lib.)
brief self-introduction and engagement with the listeners
description of my objectives for the service and its structure
reminder of God's presence and of his power to act in and through his people
meditative silence and opening prayer
upbeat hymn
scene-setting for Advent (ideas: visits, anticipation, childhood)
scripture for Advent
hymn
distribution of handout, and main bible-passage(s) about peace
sermon/commentary
hymn (ideally relevant to the scripture and preaching)
worship followed by intercessions
Lord's prayer, summary and grace prayer
closing hymn, if time available; farewells.
Script
[Thank Rev Duncan Macpherson for his introduction.] My name is Paul Danon and I attend St Theodore's Catholic church in Hampton. I live in Sunbury and my 90-year-old mother lives in a home much like this one in Hampton. I hope you're all well today. In this little service, I'd like to talk about what day it is today and about the major Christian feast that's coming up. I'd also like us to understand and experience some of God's peace. We'll sing some hymns and pray some prayers, asking God to bless and help us. I hope that, by the end of this session, we shall know more of the peace of Christ.
In St Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says "where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Let us pray: Lord Jesus, we do indeed gather in your name, confident that you are close to us now. You know our thoughts and hear the words we speak. And let's take a moment to realise that Jesus Christ, the son of God, is with us here in this room now. [pause; then hymn] Now, does anyone know what day this is in the church's year?
Advent is a period of just under a month, when we look forward to one of Christianity's greatest feast days. Can anyone tell me what that is? And what does Christmas-day celebrate?
Here's how St Luke tells about the birth of Jesus: "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ... And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."
Now, that could just be the story of anyone's birth in slightly unusual circumstances. This wasn't just an ordinary baby, though. Luke also tells us that an angel appeared to some shepherds and said: "I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."
So Advent isn't just the preparation for an ordinary birthday. It's about the arrival in this world of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. And it's Jesus who's also with us here now as we worship. [hymn]
May I ask how many of you are looking forward to Christmas? Now the shops have had Christmas-things in them since Guy Fawkes' night, but today is the official start of the pre-Christmas season. Can you tell me [staff included] how you celebrate Christmas at Marling Court? Also, I'm sure you have memories of Christmas as a child.
Here are some sheets of paper with bible-passages. The first one is taken from St Luke's Gospel and it's just after the angel has told the shepherds about the birth of Jesus. It says: "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'" The word I want to emphasise from that passage is peace. You could say that this peace was the first Christmas-present.
In St John's Gospel, Jesus says: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." So this peace, then, is something that Jesus wants us to have; it's something that we can ask him for. When we come to pray a bit later, we shall do that - ask Jesus to let our hearts be untroubled and to banish all fear.
Also on the sheet, we have an extract from the sermon on the mount where Jesus says: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." So here is something else we can learn from the bible about peace: peace isn't just something which Jesus gives us; it's something that we can do ourselves - we can be peacemakers. I wonder if anyone could give us some examples of how we might be peacemakers?
One example of peacemaking is forgiving someone else. Is there someone in my life who's hurt me and whom I could forgive now? Another type of peacemaking is being kind to others. Can I make acts of kindness and, thus, bring Christ's love to them too?
Here's our fourth quotation from scripture, which is from St Paul's letter to the Romans: "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating [or] drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification."
Well, this Christmas there's going to be a lot of eating and drinking going on but we're told that that's not what God's kingdom is about. Rather, it's about making "every effort to do what leads to peace". I'd suggest that this sort of peace isn't the same as when it's nice and quiet in the building here or when two armies stop fighting at the end of a war. Rather, this peace is something inside us and something which God gives us. Once he's given it to us, we can pass it on to others.
In a moment, we'll ask God for his peace and for all our other needs, but let's sing [hymn].
Let us pray. We begin by worshipping God, because that is what we are here to do. This is from Psalm 145: "I exalt You, my God the King, and praise Your name forever and ever. I will praise You every day; I will honor Your name forever and ever. I will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty and Your wonderful works." [ex tempore in praise of God]
And now we come to our own needs. At the end of each prayer I shall say "Lord, in you mercy" and will you reply "hear our prayer"? [practise]
Lord, help us to celebrate this Advent season with joy in our hearts. Bring us healing from illness and protection from harm. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, bless and protect our family and friends, especially those whom we never see. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Jesus, we pray now for your peace in our hearts. Let our hearts be untroubled and banish all fear. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
And, Lord, help us to be peacemakers ourselves. May we forgive those who have hurt us and be kind to everyone we meet. Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Let us pray in the words that Jesus himself taught us: our Father ...
So, today we've heard about the peace of Christ and about being peacemakers ourselves. Let us pray the grace-prayer together: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore. Amen. [hymn]
Reflection after writing the text
I am hopeful that my dialogue-approach just might elicit something from the congregation. If none of the residents speaks, I hope I might be rescued by the staff-member and/or by Rev Macpherson, my mentor. The first Sunday of Advent is too good an opportunity to miss and I did not want mention of it to pass, especially if the care-home is about to put up its tree and decorations. I'm using the feast-day as a way of hopefully getting my hearers' attention and of turning the meeting's mood towards happy anticipation of a good event. I want to appropriate all the secular hoo-hah about Christmas (which the residents will no doubt see on their personal television-sets) and point the congregation's attention to its being the feast of the nativity. When I describe the nativity, I hope I add a slightly new angle by pointing out that Luke's account of the actual birth mentions nothing extraordinary except the holy family's lack of hotel accommodation. It's the shepherds who are told of that birth's significance, and I hope I use that point to illustrate how this was no normal birth. Having got their attention and hopefully established Christ as my subject, we take a hymn-break after which I start my talk on peace. Maybe what I have done here is to start with the popular and familiar idea of Christmas and lead the congregation towards my main theme.
My albeit meagre communications-aid - a handout with bible texts on it - is supposed to enable my listeners to focus on the otherwise familiar texts as they are read out. I am considering asking a colleague to do those three readings on peace. I suppose my main point about peace is that it is not only given to us by Christ but we can also pass it on! This is perhaps the clinching sentence which I should now go back and add [I did, twice]. During my speech about peace, I refer to the profane (shopping, Guy Fawkes' night, eating and drinking) both to keep the sermon relevant and to contrast the profane with the sacred. As a final point, I say that divine peace isn't the same as a lack of noise or conflict. I then repeat that it is God-given and is for sharing with others.
I precede the intercessions with some quasi-charismatic praise. I chose to do this to prevent the service from being too much of a pedagogical transaction with some requests tacked on the end. My reading has taught me the importance of the need for religious services always to constitute worship, and not just teaching. The praise may also reflect my penchant for attending services with a eucharistic aspect to them. I (perhaps unliturgically) insert a reminder of my peace-theme between the Our Father and the Grace. This is hopefully to leave my listeners with a useful message for the week ahead. Those same listeners will also be left with a sheet of bible-readings, which they might even keep and reflect on. My own prayer is that such a manifestation of God's word might bring a little peace into some troubled elderly minds.
Personal, circumstantial note
The preparation of this material has been accompanied by practical and spiritual challenges to my own peace of mind. It is maybe an example of the word of God's coming to life in the preacher's hands; of the passage's leading me down a new road. Challenges have come my way more or less as soon as I embarked upon my application for the diaconate. I suspect that the good Lord is testing my vocation to that privileged (yet also service-oriented) state, more or less making me cry out for his peace.