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Celtic Service Notebook Please do not reproduce or photocopy this guide or materials it includes. The guide is available free of charge online for any who wish to explore how to introduce a contemplative service like the Celtic service in their own settings. Reproducing portions of the guide, however, might involve using copyrighted material (see below), and the guide is periodically updated, with new editions posted on our Web site at ststephensRVA.org/celtic-guide. A note about copyrighted material: Permission to reprint copyrighted material must be obtained by each church or other entity planning to use it. Permissions to reprint materials for use in our Celtic service were given to St. Stephen’s Church; these rights to do not extend to others. THE CELTIC SERVICE + St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church + Richmond, Virginia 2 Introduction Dear Friends, It is our pleasure to share with you some of the resources we use in crafting the Celtic service every Sunday evening at 5:30 at St. Stephen’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. This service was begun in 2002 at Church of the Holy Communion, in Memphis, Tennessee, and Diana Butler Bass featured it in her book, Christianity for the Rest of Us. It took hold in Richmond in 2005, when the rector from Church of the Holy Communion moved to St. Stephen’s, and it has continued to grow and evolve here. Because we make every effort to keep this service fresh and alive, elements of the service are constantly under review and changing, but the basic structure and underlying assumptions have remained the same for some time. Our goal is for this service to be a fresh expression of ancient Christian worship and theology, not a modern novelty unhooked from the larger Church. We always use the Gospel lesson appointed by the Revised Common Lectionary, and we are indebted to worshipping communities around the world, ancient and new, for many of our prayers. The Celtic service at St. Stephen’s Church can often have the largest attendance of our six Sunday services, and we thought it was a great compliment when the noted author and speaker on Celtic spirituality, John Philip Newell, phoned his wife, Ali, after his experience of this service and suggested that she consider offering a Celtic service like this one in her role as chaplain at Edinburg University in Scotland. This service has filled a deeply felt need for many. We see people who have little or no experience with Christianity, those who gave up on the church long ago, and others who are members of other churches or adherents to other religious traditions but who have discovered something uniquely healing about this Christo-centric worship. The service includes Holy Eucharist, significant periods of silence, calming music, candlelit ambience, real-life reflections/meditations by laity in place of the conventional sermon, and the laying on of hands for healing by trained lay people who are called to this ministry. The reputation of this service has grown to the point that some therapists and other medical professionals have recommended it to some of their patients. Not surprisingly, the service requires a great deal of work and careful preparation. It requires many people embracing the vision and joining in its implementation prayerfully. Setting the ambience with care is vital, and we require anyone who is participating in a liturgical role to arrive at least one hour ahead of time for a period of liturgical review, silence, and prayer, as we submit ourselves to God’s loving and healing presence and anticipate the arrival of hundreds of people that evening. We pray for ourselves and for all who will be worshipping with us. We pray that God will center us in God’s peace and love, so that we will be able to welcome each person gracefully, and so that we can be instruments of God’s peace, healing, and love. Then, after this period of liturgical preparation and prayer, all liturgical ministers are to be in their seats in the church fifteen minutes prior to the beginning of the service. This is a time for us to be still in silent prayer or meditation. The result, we have found, is that people who arrive in this embracing, candlelit environment where the ministers are already meditating and praying find themselves drawn into a place of stillness and prayer themselves. Over the years, worshippers have been arriving earlier and earlier for this time of silence that precedes the service, and a carefully chosen opening prelude then gently brings us out of the silence. THE CELTIC SERVICE + St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church + Richmond, Virginia 3 Our main piece of advice for you, if you decide to offer a contemplative service like this, is that you require all who will be helping to lead the service to engage in such contemplative, prayerful preparation. We pass on to others what we know ourselves. The instrumentation for the service is normally classical–violin, cello, flute, oboe, harp, classical guitar, along with an accompanying piano. The music is often classical, as well, with a generous representation of music from Celtic traditions, both Old World Celtic (Ireland, Scotland, Wales) and New World Celtic (Appalachian derivatives). We have found it important when using Celtic music to emphasize those pieces that have an undertone of joy and hope. We have also found that the same service can contain very diverse musical expressions, as long as they are carefully placed. For example, we have had in the same service a Baroque adagio by Albinoni, along with a contemporary riff on a traditional hymn arranged by someone like Anne Krenz Organ, and a cello/flute/piano arrangement of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun.” Renaissance polyphony also works beautifully with this service, adding a transcendent, monastic element that feels right at home in this environment, but this requires a highly trained choir that we do not normally have at this service. Our usual musical leadership comes from a solo instrument, with piano accompaniment, and a cantor to lead congregational singing, singing obbligatos, and often singing a solo piece while the table is being set for Communion. We recommend two additional resources that will help you understand the vision and practice here in Richmond, both of which are available on our Web site at ststephensRVA.org/celtic. The first is a segment from the PBS series Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, “New Christian Contemplatives.” The second is a video about the service we produced in house. On the same page, you’ll be able to watch recording of the most recent service. This comes with our hope that our experience here in Richmond will be helpful to you and your church. Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions. Sincerely, The staff and people of St. Stephen’s Church THE CELTIC SERVICE + St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church + Richmond, Virginia 4 Table of Contents I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 3 II. Curating the Celtic Worship Service.................................................................................................. 7 III. Guidelines for Reflections ................................................................................................................ 13 IV. Opening Elements ............................................................................................................................. 14 a. Examples of Opening Poems ...................................................................................................... 14 b. Opening Prose................................................................................................................................ 33 c. Opening Confession & Other Openings for Lent ................................................................... 35 V. Prayers for the Evening ..................................................................................................................... 36 VI. Prayers of the People ......................................................................................................................... 39 VII. Graces .................................................................................................................................................. 52 VIII. Eucharistic Prayers ............................................................................................................................. 53 IX. Post-Communion Prayers ................................................................................................................. 63 X. Dismissal .............................................................................................................................................. 64 XI. Blessings............................................................................................................................................... 65 XII. Appendices .......................................................................................................................................... 68 d. Media about the Celtic Service .................................................................................................... 69 e. Bulletin Samples ............................................................................................................................. 73 f. Music ............................................................................................................................................ 129 1. Hymns .....................................................................................................................................

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