This liturgy was written for the Churches Together Carnival Service in Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK. It was designed for a varied congregation - of people who would be familiar with church services - those for whom coming to a Catholic church would be unusual - and those for whom any church service would be unfamiliar. It is light-hearted and the Scripture is embedded within the text - but the great themes of Creation - Incarnation - Redemption are present.

Our setting included a rainbow stretched across between our galleries and a PowerPoint presentation of the Creation and flood sequences.

There are a lot of readers! This allows many people to take part - but you could manage with just a few! We chose hymns/ songs that would be familiar to most people there - or were easy to pick up. After the Intercessions, the Carnival princesses brought in helium balloons and distributed them to the congregation. The Mayor, Lady Mayoress, Carnival Queen and Princesses led everyone out and across to the Recreation Ground where the balloons were released.

 

Opening Responses
   
Leader   

In the beginning, all was darkness

and God said,

"let there be light"

ALL  

AND BECAUSE GOD HAD SAID IT

THERE WAS LIGHT.

 

Leader   

In the beginning, all was silence

and God sang the song of creation

ALL  

AND BECAUSE GOD SANG
ALL THE STARS AND SPHERES

VIBRATED TO THE MUSIC OF GOD.

 

Leader 

In the beginning, all was still

and God laughed

ALL  

AND BECAUSE GOD LAUGHED

THE WATERS TOOK UP

THE ROAR AND THE RIPPLE OF IT;

AND EBBED AND FLOWED

AND SEEPED AND SWIRLED

AND DELIGHTED IN THE WAYS OF ITS BEING.

 

Leader  

In the beginning, all was dull

and God painted

ALL  

AND BECAUSE GOD PAINTED

THE SKY BECAME BLUE -
AND PURPLE - AND PINK
AND RAINBOWS HANG THERE.


THE GRASS BECAME GREEN

AND THE TREES BECAME MANY

AND FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

DANCED IN THE DRIPS

AND SETTLED LIKE JEWELS

ON THE EARTH.

 

Leader 

In the beginning, all was unconscious

and God breathed

ALL

AND BECAUSE GOD BREATHED

MEN AND WOMEN WOKE UP FROM THEIR  SLEEPING.

THEY BREATHED OF THE VERY LIFE OF GOD

AND STOOD IN WONDER

BEFORE THE WORK OF GOD'S HANDS.

THEY BEHELD THE GLORY OF GOD

IN ALL THAT GOD HAD MADE            

AND THEY SAW THAT IT WAS VERY GOOD.

 

Telling the Story  
Reader In the beginning God saw all that was made
Reader    And indeed it was very good
Reader  And God wanted to share it all with human beings
Reader  And indeed…
Readers    God had a problem!
 
Reader  

Human beings stopped gazing in wonder –

and forgot to see God in the majesty of Creation

Reader  They stopped seeing a thousand shades of green
Reader       and blue
Reader           and yellow
Reader           and red…
Reader  and became content with drabness.
Readers  God’s beloved human creatures lost the plot!
 
Reader      And God looked at his beloved human creatures and wondered:
God 

What was I thinking of?

My beloved people have eyes – but they do not see.

My beloved people have ears – but they do not hear.

Could I have been so mistaken?

 

Reader   And God was sad because his dream for  humanity seemed just to be fading into a puff of grey cloud…
Reader   and the grey cloud seemed to be getting larger…
Reader    and larger
Reader  as it filled with God’s tears
Readers   And God realised what was going to happen!
 
God     If all my tears fall, there’s going to be a flood!
I must warn my people!
 
Reader  But most human beings were content with  being the centre of their universe
and had forgotten the voice of God.
Reader       All except one!
Reader   Or two
Reader    OK – a whole family had not forgotten the voice of God…
 
Reader   They looked at the sky and saw that it was getting grey
Noah Looks a bit grey over there –
Mrs Noah Doesn’t look very promising.
 
God       

It’s going to rain!

Noah   Looks like rain
Mrs Noah   Looks like a monsoon
Reader  (aside) Looks a bit like an English summer!
 

God                           

It’s going to rain… and rain…
There are 40 days of tears locked up here.
 
Noah

Looks like a lot of rain

Mrs Noah    Looks like there could be a flood
God   There is going to be THE Flood
Build an ark! 
 
Noah   Man the lifeboat!
Mrs Noah Children, the lifeboat!
Children  Animals – into the Ark!
Noah and Mrs Noah     Who said anything about animals?
God   I did!
 
Reader 

And just as well God did…

for the tears of God’s sadness for the pain of the world fell on the earth

and a flood filled the earth and washed evil away –

for a time.

Reader                      

And to remind his beloved human creatures of his love for them,

God set a rainbow in the sky.
 

Reader  But people forgot again and over the centuries God sent messengers to try and remind people that he loved them:
 
Prophets – directed by God
God    Moses…
Moses 

God says:

I am a God of tenderness and compassion,
slow to anger,
rich in kindness and faithfulness.
 

God  Isaiah
Isaiah 

God says:

Do not be afraid – I am with you!

When you pass through fire and water, I shall be with you,

I love you and you are precious to me.

 

God  Hosea       
Hosea  

God says:

I took my people up in my arms:

but they did not know that I healed them.

I led them with the cord of human kindness,

with bands of love.

I was to them

like those who lift infants to their cheeks,

I bent down to them and fed them.

Yet my people are bent on turning awayfrom me…

How can I give you up?

 

God  Jeremiah
Jeremiah

God says:

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

 

God  Micah
Micah 

What does the Lord require of you?

To do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

 

God  

So many prophets –

so many messages…

 

Reader And still people didn’t understand!
God    

In the beginning I created the heavens and the earth –

and human beings to enjoy it with me…

 

Leader       God spoke
ALL   AND THERE WAS LIGHT!
Leader   God laughed
ALL   AND THE WATERS RIPPLED WITH THE MUSIC OF IT.
Leader    God painted
ALL  AND THE UNIVERSE SPARKLED WITH FRESHNESS AND LIGHT.
Reader    And God said,
God  

I so love the world…

 

I so love the world that I shall send my Son

the Word through whom everything has its being will come into the world –

the Word will take flesh – and live among my people.

 

Reader 

But the world –

though it had its being through him

did not know him.

 

Reader 

And some took the Son of God

who had spoken words of love

of peace

of joy.

 

Reader  

Some took him – nailed him to a cross

and he died.

 

Reader  And the heart of God was broken –
Reader  

In pain beyond tears,

God mourned his Son…
 

Reader But death could not hold God’s Son:
Reader

for Jesus –

though he was in the form of God

did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

Reader   

And being in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death –

even death on a cross.

 

Reader 

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

 

Reader  

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee shall bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth.  

Reader

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

 

Reader 

And our churches   stand as reminders –

that God loved the world so much        

that he sent his Son into the world

not to condemn it but to save it.

 

Reader     

Jesus took all the sin and pain of the world to himself –

and the cross that could have been a symbol of the defeat of good became a sign of its triumph.

 

Reader   And we can share that triumph –
 
Leader  We can echo God’s laughter –
ALL and bring joy to the world
Leader  We can join in God’s song –
ALL  AND DELIGHT IN CREATION.
Leader     We can join in God’s painting
ALL AND CREATE BEAUTY AND HARMONY.
Leader 

We can be fully conscious of the needs of our earth:

ALL   

OF THE WONDERS IN OUR WORLD

AND THE NEED TO PRESERVE THEM;

OF THE CHALLENGES THAT FACE ITS PEOPLES

AND OUR ABILITY TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH THEM:

TRANSFORMING SADNESS AND DRABNESS

INTO HOPE AND DELIGHT.

   
Intercessions  
   
Blessing  
 

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