Liturgical Material for local use


Church House Publishing and Methodist Publishing House have created two new modules for users of Visual Liturgy 4.0 for Common Worship and Visual Liturgy 4.0 for the Methodist Worship Book.

One module contains the content of the Methodist version of Visual Liturgy for use by Anglicans, and the other contains the Anglican version for use by Methodists.

This avoids the need to buy both complete editions of the software.

To benefit from these modules, users will need to already have Visual Liturgy 4.0 for Anglicans or Methodists installed. They cannot be used as stand-alone products.

Either the whole service or extracts may be used

The printed text ofThe Covenant, The Affirmations and The Commitments should accompany the full Order of Service.

The Greeting

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
See, how good and joyful it is:
To live together in unity.

Hymn
Tune: Dundee

Come, let us join our friends above
That have obtained the prize,
And on the eagle wings of love
To joys celestial rise.

Let all the saints terrestrial sing
With those to glory gone;
For all the servants of our King,
In earth and heaven are one.

One family we dwell in him,
One church, above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death.

Jesu, be thou our constant Guide;
Then, when the word is given,
Bid Jordan's narrow stream divide,
And bring us safe to heaven.

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 and others

Prayers

Let us pray.

Come, Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful people,
and kindle in us the fire of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Act of Penitence

When we have brought discredit on the gospel
Lord, forgive.
Christ, have mercy.
When we have broken the unity of the Church
Lord, forgive.
Christ, have mercy.
When we have failed in our love for others
Lord, forgive.
Christ, have mercy.
May God who is both power and love,
forgive us and free us from our sins,
heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,
and raise us to new life in Christ. Amen

A Collect

Gracious God,
send your Holy Spirit
upon your church and people,
that they may build each other up in holiness and peace;
through Christ our Lord. Amen

From John Wesley's A Collection of Forms of Prayer, 1733

A Reading from Saint John's Gospel

Jesus said: Father, the glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

 

An Address

 

Hymn

Tune: Vienna

Christ, from whom all blessings flow,
Perfecting the saints below,
Hear us, who thy nature share,
Who thy mystic body are.

Join us, in one spirit join,
Let us still receive of thine;
Still for more on thee we call,
Thou who fillest all in all.

Closer knit to thee, our Head,
Nourished, Lord, by thee, and fed,
Let us daily growth receive,
More in Jesus Christ believe,

Never from thy service move,
Needful to each other prove,
Use the grace on each bestowed,
Tempered by the art of God.

Love, like death, has all destroyed,
Rendered all distinctions void;
Names, and sects, and parties fall:
Thou, O Christ, art all in all.

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

The Prayer of Thanksgiving
(for use when the service is non-eucharistic)

Let us pray:

Ever-living God,
you are the hope of the world
and the joy of the nations.
In wisdom and love
you have brought forth the wonders of creation
and fashioned us in your own image.
Blessèd be God for ever.

Ever-living God,
you have caused the light of your glory
to shine forth in the face of Jesus Christ
and through the preaching of the gospel
you have called into being
one holy, catholic and apostolic Church
throughout the world.
Blessèd be God for ever.

Ever-living God,
you have blessed our nation
through the ministry and witness of the Church of England,
and by its saints, its divines and its parish life.
You have renewed the life of the nation
by raising up your servants John and Charles Wesley
and through the ministry and witness
of the people called Methodist.
Blessèd be God for ever.

Therefore with the Church of all the ages,
with apostles, evangelists and martyrs
and with all the angels in heaven
we give you thanks and praise.
Blessèd be God for ever.

An Act of Intercession

Let us pray:

Remember, O God, your holy Church throughout the world.
Pour out your Spirit on the bishops, clergy and people
of the Church of England
and upon the ministers and congregations
of the Methodist Church
that together we may renewed for mission and service.

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Remember, O God, the families of the nations
scattered across the face of the earth.
Pour out your Spirit upon Elizabeth our Queen,
and upon all rulers and governments,
that from east to west peace and justice
may be established among all peoples.

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Remember, O God, those who have been pioneers and apostles of Christian unity.
Pour out your Spirit on those who now follow in their footsteps,
and unite us with them in one communion and fellowship

Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Looking for the coming of the kingdom, we say together:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

An Anthem may be sung

An Act of Dedication

An Anglican says:

All who belong to the Church of England, I invite you to say with me:

Our brothers and sisters
of the Methodist Church
we thank God for you.

In the name of Christ,
we the members of the Church of England
dedicate ourselves
to share our life with you.

Guided by the Holy Spirit,
we look forward to the years ahead
in a common life of worship and mission,
and of ministry and service.

A Methodist says:

All who belong to the Methodist Church, I invite you to say with me:

Our brothers and sisters
of the Church of England
we thank God for you.

In the name of Christ,
we the members of the Methodist Church
dedicate ourselves
to share our life with you.

Guided by the Holy Spirit,
we look forward to the years ahead
in a common life of worship and mission,
and of ministry and service.

The Peace

We are the body of Christ.

In the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body.

Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and builds up our common life.