Holy Feminine Praise - Collaborative Message Liturgy
This worship service was created for a hybrid worship space on zoom and in person in multiple locations. It can be easily modified to fit completely online or in person alone. There is no central speaker, the message is curated by the experiences of those in attendance. Multiple people can serve as worship hosts and as the voice of scripture to further the collaborative nature of this worship service.
Voice of Welcome:
We come together in this hybrid space, to be of one mind in Christ.
We recognize that each of us brings our own gifts to this worship space.
Our experiences are sometimes baggage that we bring with us in this space, today, we are going to work to re-frame our baggage into just bags, bags full of supplies to feed our creativity in recognizing God’s work in our lives.
We invite you to bring whatever supplies best encourage your genuine and child-like self to creatively express a story, feeling, or interaction from your experiences.
Here in our physical worship spaces, we’ve gathered pencils and paper for a poem or verse writing, we’ve gathered art supplies and colorful pens, and we encourage you to collect what you need for your most natural mode of creative expression.
We invite you to gather some scented lotion or fragrant oil.
Our intention is to collectively offer an experience of holy feminine praise.
Feminine praise is not limited to any one gender but is an invitation to all identities to worship; joining your voice into the voice of the feminine, something that may feel familiar or expansive. Holy feminine praise is scriptural and ordained prophetically. The songs and prayers of Miriam, Hannah, Mary the Theotokia, Mary of Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Saint Photini (the woman at the well), and Hagar teach us the holiness of feminine praise. The voice of feminine praise is seeking God’s presence, in pleading, healing, and thanksgiving. We come offering our sacrifices of praise and invite you to join us.
(musical transition to the sound of hand drums)
(Holy Feminine Praise Call to Worship)
Worship Host:
Holy feminine praise has a tradition of naming God. The first name for God is given by Hagar in the desert. God sees Hagar and she names God for that unexpected presence in her life.
Voice of Scripture:
“Hagar answered God by name, praying to the God who spoke to her, “You’re the God who sees me! “Yes! God saw me, and then I saw God!”
(Genesis 16:13, paraphrased)
Worship Host:
Naming God – It is a good and holy praise to name God within our own witness and experiences. Take a few minutes during this music. Think of the first time you felt the presence of God. Think of a time when you were seen by God. Name God in remembrance of that indwelling in your life.
(allow time for those in attendance to reflect - music or other artistic interaction is appropriate)
Worship Host:
Holy feminine praise is seen and heard by God. A God who answers to the names and petitions of the feminine voice. The very presence of God is said to dwell in the tents of the matriarchs of our faith. In the tent of Sarai with Hagar, in the tent of Rebecca, and in the tents of Rachel and Leah, this indwelling is not only for women. The tradition of God’s indwelling presence leaves the tent of Leah and follows Joseph, marginalized, stripped of his richly ornamented robe, like that of a princess, and is accompanied into slavery and Egypt by God’s indwelling presence. Joseph is blessed.
Voice of Scripture:
“The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” (Genesis 39:23, NIV)
A God who sees and follows the marginalized works outside social constructs and responds to the earnest and pure in heart. A God who sees our hearts does not gaslight our petitions. Let us learn about Hannah and the impact of her prayers from Rabbi Rebecca Richman:
Hannah’s Prayer Shared by Rabbi Rebecca Richman
https://youtu.be/ZWy1xoUIwCg?feature=shared
Worship Host:
We are invited into God’s promises for our lives. We are invited to claim our praise and worship. The praise and prayers of prophetic women are examples of sacredness and intimacy with God’s presence to others.
Voice of Scripture:
Mary of Bethany, in John 12:1-8, during the last supper, takes a larger amount of an expensive herb, nard, and massages it into Jesus’ feet. Mary was inspired by the Spirit to anoint,” also heal, the feet of Jesus with nard, she participated in the work of Jesus, giving momentum to his salvation agenda.
Worship Host:
We invite you to remember Mary of Bethany, carer for the body of Christ, and disciple, and re-embody her worship of God brought to humanity through the Theotokos, by letting the scent of your fragrant oil or lotion wash over your body. We invite you to massage the parts of your body that may be sore or uncomfortable; remember, it is a good and holy thing to define your own worship.
Nard is medicinal, sleep-inducing, and a potent aromatic, which filled the house with its scent; reminiscent of the presence of God filling the temple, indwelling with the matriarchs. Mary is caring for the needs of Christ before the passion, providing care and respite for Jesus’ spiritual journey to his Passion. Mary’s work affirmed Jesus' message and was holy. Jesus immortalizes her joining of the missio Dei,
Voice of Scripture:
“Truly I tell you, wherever this good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”
Worship Host:
Mary’s example points to Christ’s redemptive work and God’s omnipotent work of reconciliation of all of creation to the imago Dei.
In the posture of the holy worshiping disciple Mary of Bethany, take a few minutes during our next offering of praise in song, remember and re-embody the ways that you’ve defined how you worship God. The worship that is holy and unique to you. The words of a prayer, a holy petition, a shape or color or smell or place where you go to seek God. Take that and shape it into any message of art, music, poem, or prayer that you can invite the rest of us to join in your unique recognition of the imago dei through praise.
(include a time of music or other related art reflection)
Worship Host:
Holy feminine praise bears the name of Christ into the world. Holy feminine praise worships personally. Holy feminine praise lends its voice into the future.
Voice of Scripture:
There was a prophet, Anna. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. She came and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:36:38)
Worship Host:
Holy feminine praise, to a God who sees the marginalized, embodied into the one named El Roi by the prophet Hagar, sees the woman at the well. St. Photini.
St. Photini brings her entire village to Christ. She is the announcer of the Gospel – the mother of evangelism.
As Anna announced the coming birth of Christ, God embodied Mary of Magdalene, announcing the resurrection.
Voice of Scripture:
Mary Magdalene went and announced to her sibling disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that Christ had said these things to her. (John 20:18, paraphrased)
Worship Host:
It is a good and holy ordained ministry for all to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel. Think of your wishes and hope placed in Christ’s promises. What does the fulfillment of those look like to you? Draw a picture, describe in art or imagery, lift in song or verse, your praise and petition for how God’s promises through Christ will be fulfilled. Be open to these promises now, let them wash into your soul and be encapsulated into the fibers of your inner self. Embody our Gospel promises. Respond in creative worship.
Worship Host:
Holy feminine praise is its own witness. Let us now share our own creative worshipful responses. The worship prompts invited you to bring your whole, seen self into this collective worship space. In a holy chaos of liturgy, Let us name God together. Please show how you named God in the image; if you named God in word or song, let us hold space for your naming. Our last offering of praise in naming God will be asked to offer an impromptu prophetic witness on their turn
Call on names for people to share and unmute – the last person, ask them what God has named them. There’s no wrong answer.
(Offer a prayer at the end of this witness )
Voice lifted in Prayer:
God of Genesis,
Hagar’s story reminds us that you not just the God of Abraham of Sarah.
You are not just the God of the Israelites, of the victors.
No, you are also the God of the oppressed, of the poor slave woman forced to bear a child against her will. You are God of outsiders, of survivors.
You are a God who comes to the downcast in the wilderness and gives them the hope to persevere, to continue to live through their exploitation and rejection with the knowledge that things can and will be different.
May we see the love you have for all of creation in the story of Hagar.
Open our eyes to all the ways you have blessed our lives. Amen.
Beloveds, as you do, remember that you are not alone, and that you need not fear. God, our Creator, Jesus our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit, our Encourager, are with you, this day and every day. Amen.
Worship Host:
Holy feminine voice not only names God but praises in a unique posture of worship. In the posture of a beautiful noise that is pleasing to our God, let us liturgy together our individual worship. Please share your message of art, music, poem, or prayer and invite the rest of us to join in your unique recognition of the imago dei through praise.
(Call on names for people to share and unmute)
(at the end of the sharing, offer prayer)
Voice Lifted in Prayer:
O Almighty Saviour, Who did pour forth water for the Hebrews from a solid rock:
You did come to the Land of Samaria, and addressed a woman,
whom You did attract to faith in You,
and she has now attained life in the heavens everlastingly.
Through your grace, may we also.
Worship Host:
It is a good and holy ordained ministry for all to proclaim the Good News, the Gospel. What are your hopes and dreams for the fulfillment of Christ’s promises? What does the fulfillment of those look like to you? Please share your picture, art or imagery, song or verse, your praise, and petition for how God’s promises through Christ will be fulfilled.
Call on names for people to share and unmute
Voice lifted in Prayer:
We are the ones who name God for ourselves. We are the ones who claim and worship the God who we name and name us; we are claimed by a God who sees us. We are the tents where God dwells; our worship is our witness to the blessing of God’s presence in our lives. We claim this presence and worship in our unique praise. We proclaim the Good News in our own voice, like Photini, the mother of evangelism who came before us. We lift our voices in prophecy and petition for promises kept in Christ. Let our voice be pleasing praise to our God who created, redeemed, and sustains us.
(Refrain from summarizing any common themes, let the chaos and unfocus be the message - Offer a benediction and prayer, and use your prophetic witness to do this as you are called in the time )
