Easter Dawn Service A

There is an 2023 updated version of this post with more stuff - see archive at left.

Bible readings: Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6,Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43, John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10

About the images:
Above left:
This is the little suburban lake we use for our dawn service. This is my photo and permission is given for it to be used for worship and related activities.
Above right:
This is the brake drum fire we use to cook the bread on at our dawn service.  It leaves no mess in a suburban park. This is my photo and permission is given for it to be used for worship and related activities.

Middle Left: Making bread, cooking fish.

Middle Right: Another excellent free image form Church Galleries - see my link column at left.  This site is one of the few I gladly subscribe to; however, the site is down at present.

Lower Left:  The Sea of Galilee: this is my image so please feel free to use it for worship and related activities.   

Once again we will be cooking fish and middle eastern flat bread over an open fire beside a small lake at some unearthly hour of the morning. But it is something that is too beautiful not to experience. And you don't need a lake or a beach - any bit of water will do :)

Covid19 Update: Well, we won't be doing the above after all but why not do this in your own backyard if you have one or on a barbeque or even on the stove in a kitchen with a nice lake photo somewhere nearby.  Use my photo of the sea of Galilee above if you want to. 

Poem/Meditation: I'd had Enough
By Ruth Burgess in Dandelions and Thistles: Biblical Meditations from the Iona Community by Jan Sutch Pickard (ed.) Wild Goose Publications, 1999, ISBN 1901557146, page 79 (pictured at left).

Taize Service: Breakfast With Jesus

Found in Worship Feast: 20 Great Services in the Spirit of Taize, Abingdon Press, 2004, page 28

Good Friday A (April 10)

There is an 2023 updated version of this post - see archive at left.

Bible Readings: Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22, Hebrews 10:16-25 or Hebrews 4:14-16, 5:7-9, John 18:1-19:42

About the images:
Upper Left and right: These images are free from the Hermano Leon site which you can find via my links at left. This is a really great lectionary based clip art site.
Middle Left: This image is free from the Image Bank site which you can find via my link at left.
Middle Right: This is a free image from the Cerezo Barredo site.  It is a little hard to navigate if you are an English speaker but he has lovely sketches such as this one accessed at the bottom of his web page sorted by lectionary year. 
Lower Left: This is a photo of the pit under the church of St Peter in Gallicantu in Jerusalem.  The plaque on the wall says:  "Excavations in 1889 uncovered 3 Byzantine crosses engraved in the orifice at the top, 7 red and 4 black oxide crosses on the walls, and the silhouette of a praying figure on the lower south wall. These findings, along with the ruins of a church and a significant number of mosaics, coins and religious objects, testify to the presence of a 5^th-century church. Prompted by the dungeon like appearance of the pit and prompted by its proximity to Caiaphas’ palace—thought to have been located in this general area—the Byzantines recalled here Jesus imprisonment overnight as he awaited trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin"

Start the service
by projecting images from Jesus life to music. I used about 20 images and backed them with 'In Mcdonalds" by Burial on his album, Untrue (pictured at left).

Poem: The Pain of Peter
Found in A Bloke Called Jesus by Norman Habel and Pro Hart, Rigby, 1982, ISBN 0727017586, page 32. (pictured at right). As the title suggests, this goes with the gospel reading.

Poem: The Politics of Pilate
Found in A Bloke Called Jesus by Norman Habel and Pro Hart, Rigby, 1982, ISBN 0727017586, page 34 (pictured at right). As the title suggests, this goes with the gospel reading.

Listening Song: Thief
By Third Day on their album, Third Day (pictured at left). This is a song about the men on the cross with Jesus.

Listening Song: Walk Him Along
by Leigh Newton - download found at www.leighnewton.com This is basically a crucifixion song.

Drama: Stages on the Way
Found in Stages on the Way by Wild Goose Worship Group, Wild Goose, 1998, ISBN 1876357363, page 44 (pictured at right).These stages represent different aspects of Jesus' journey towards the cross as seen by a variety of bystanders.

Drama: The Signal
Found in Mega Drama 1 by Verena Johnson (Ed.), Open Book Publishers, 2001, ISBN 0859109151, page 82 (pictured at left). This drama is based on the gospel reading.

Reading: They went Out and Followed Him
Found in Stages on the Way by Wild Goose Worship Group, Wild Goose, 1998, ISBN 1876357363, page 130 (pictured above right). This drama is based on the gospel reading.

Response Activity: The Colours of Good Friday
Found in Multi-Sensory Seasons by Wendy Raynor and Annie Slade, Scripture Union, 2005, ISBN 1844271757, page 29 (pictured at right). I used the George McLeod quote and put the words with images to the music of Novio by Moby on his album, Songs.

Meditation: Voices From the Crowd
Found in Stages on the Way by Wild Goose Worship Group, Wild Goose, 1998, ISBN 1876357363, page 144 (pictured above right). This drama is based on the gospel reading.

Response Activity: Laying Our Burdens Down
Found in Stages on the Way by Wild Goose Worship Group, Wild Goose, 1998, ISBN 1876357363, page 163 (pictured above right). This drama is based on the gospel reading.

Useful music for praying/meditating:
Albinoni: Adagio in G Minor
Bach: Air on a G String
Moby: Novio
Part: Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Vivaldi: Largo from Flautino Concerto in C Major.

Also:

A Chapter of Resources for Good Friday: 

By Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill in Eggs and Ashes, Wild Goose Publications, 2004, page 165-206 (pictured at left). 

For Children and Families: God is Wise

Found in Rewind by Beth Barnett, SUVictoria, 2011, ISBN987098710035, navigate from page 5 (pictured at right). This is based on the gospel reading. 

For Children and Families: God is for Everyone

Found in Rewind by Beth Barnett, SUVictoria, 2011, ISBN987098710035, navigate from page 5 (pictured at right). This is based on the gospel reading.