Once again it is the "what shall I do for Remembrance Sunday" time of year. Looking back over the stuff for the last couple of years, and having had one or two requests for more info about stuff I've used, I have cobbled together a PDF file of the last two, which people are welcome to use or adapt. I do not claim to have acknowledged all the sources, and you won't find prayers of intercession because in my church these are led by folk on the rota. What you will find is a couple of attempts to do something a bit creative. The down side is you get my 'reflections' (complete with typos)
I've also included part of a PowerPoint from last year (which still has our CCLI number included) of some photos I set to run automatically while a CD played in the background - I used the Barber Adagio for Strings, but plenty of other things would be suitable too; it would be a small matter to edit the embedded music hyperlink thingy. Again, sources are not acknowledged, so please don't sue me if I've breached some long forgotten copyright.
In return, does anyone have anything that I could pinch?
Comments
Thanks for these - I only have an all-age service powerpoint from last year but if you want to see it let me know!
All contribtions gratefully received. I have a germ of an idea now about 'swords and words' - Matt 10:34/Ephesians 5:17/Matt 26: 52/John 14:27. Whether I'll run with it, I'm not yet sure.
Is this any help?
http://andygoodliff.typepad.com/my_weblog/2005/11/remembrance_sun.html
Hi Andy - definitely! Thanks.
Hi Catriona,
Thanks for your resources. Last year, I told six very brief stories of people and places caught up in war. Including the relative of one of our members and a picture of a local street where a bomb dropped during WW2, together with a couple of contemporary images and one of the Royal Mail stamps celebrating VC winners. The images appeared on the screen but also I put it in little photoframes and stuck it to barbed wire.
Later in the service I invited the congregation to sign a flipchart as an act of commitment to be 'people of peace.'
A description and photo by our church youth worker is here:
http://weirdhippy.wordpress.com/2006/11/page/2/
What does a pacifist whose congregation includes active members of the TA, plus the chaplain of the local barracks, and who has just been asked to provide a reference for 2 young members' applications to join up do for Remembrance Day?
I'll read all these resources with interest.
Thanks Andy P - looks excellent.
Thanks Andy J that's a tough one, and partly why I'm contemplating some (apparent) Biblical ambiguities for this year. Check SoF words electronically using a search on 'war'- it's scary how much seeming glorification there is by means of military imagery. I've already been told off once this year for challenging use of war/military language in songs, and I'm not a pacifist. Can we (as churches) maybe learn to agree to disagree on some things, that to remember is to critique as well as to commemorate? Can you give references to their good character, point them at military chaplains and offer a prophetic voice? The quoetation in Andy G's post (link above) is quite profound
There sure is a lot of Andy's here. Andy J you have my sympathy. As a pacifist I struggle every year to be true to my convictions whilst recognising that others don't share those convictions. It is made more interesting in my context because we have a BB/GB parade on Remembrance Sunday which makes it even harder to explore some of the ambiguities that this day throws up. I would love to see the full sermon that Andy G highlights but the link doesn't seem to work anymore.
When hunting down new images for this year, I found some excellent - as in thought provoking - stuff here, espcecially image number 9. Take a look.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7041330.stm