andygoodliff

Once More Twitter and Worship

Peter posted a helpful series of comments in response to original post to which I want to try and respond.

1. Avoid the sacred:secular divide which has developed between services and life where people are encouraged to leave their 'lives' and 'troubles' at the door for a spiritual experience apart from their context.

Worship should definitely avoid the extreme of this - we should bring our wholeselves and leave nothing at the door. Although I think there is something 'sacred' about gathering intentionally around Word and sacrament, which is different from other things we might do in life. I'm not sure this is an argument for tweeting though.

2. Help a duplex relationship between the service and the rest of reality. (duplex communication / relationship flows in both directions and are dialogical)

The concern here is to avoid one-way conversation, where one leads, speaks, prays and the rest of the congregation are passive - a more two-way conversation. Many church traditions would understand worship as a two-way conversation between God and his people ... God gathers, welcomes, addressses us through scripture, sends and we respond in praise, confession, petition and intercession. Does twitter generate a truly two-way conversation (especially when limited to 140 characters)?

3. Avoid churchs' over-emphasis on asynchronous broadcast techniques (static church websites, mp3's of sermons, video broadcast of services, sermon notes in the notice sheet, home group resources, letter from the pastors desk, etc). To do this by providing a complimentary synchronous engagement between people so allowing live-time conversation.(The notion of synchronous communication develops the previous point about duplex)

Is the first point that the church needs to be more culturally relevant (hipster christianity) - why has relevance become the highest good, trumping all others? With regard to the second point, why does there have to be live-conversation - cannot the conversation follow having listened and actually does it not exclude those who are preaching, praying, presiding from any conversation?

4. Makes our meetings more 'in the public square' and hosted by culture (as in hosted by twitter platform) and so we are hosted by culture (incarnational) and Christ can then be mediated through culture to convert his church to him.

I'm struggling to entirely understand this point. 

5. Twitter provides an enduring trail and continuity of conversation beyond the time of the sevice

Why can't this happen afterwards? 

6. Allows those beyond the service to participate

So saying 'no need to be present, you can be part of the service and still lie in bed ...'?

7. Helps kinaesthetic learners, who often struggle with church services, engage with and process a mainly auditory experience which is often more monologue.

Ok possibly, but we can do this without twitter. This seems to me to be more a point about the content of worship, with which I have some sympathy.

8. Enculturates the Gospel - twitter is particularly relevant to certain demographics and so it gets the church out of a sometimes odd sub-culture rather than a contextualised and also counter-cultural stance

In my opinion the church should be in an counter-culture stance. Accomodation to culture here - allowing ourselves never to be separated from our phone - is to encourage an unhealthy attachment to technology. In my view the virtues of patience, self-control and paying attention are more important to learn by asking people to leave their phones switched off and saying they will not be needed to participate. Accomodation provides no place for being critical over the use of technology - it becomes an idol.

9. as our mouth and ears are part of our physical body so our phone and tweeting (listening/speaking) are an extension and expression of being human

Really? Is this suggesting I am less human if I fail to use my phone and tweet?

10. provides a tool to facilitate multi-voiced worship in larger (20+?) gatherings where it cannot easily be achieved through conversation alone. Be that person to person or/and a way for the main service leader (if there is one) to be asked questions, challenged and corrected.

While the Mennonite practice of discernment following the sermon is to be encouraged - 'The last word belongs to the congregation not to the preacher. We deliberately divest the preacher of control over the gospel' (Presence: Giving and Receving God, p.viii) ... not sure if this requires a phone and tweeting. Possibly.

11. distributes power and discernment of truth amongst a wider group than the one(s) with the microphone - though this then has the knock on of a newly disempowered group of those without smart phone which needs addressing.

Does it give 'discernment of truth'? and I think your point about a newly disempowered group is a strong one against using twitter in worship.

-------

Nothing here has convinced me that twitter is a positive contribution to worship and I believe there are still strong arguments of making space here, and in other points of our lives, to disconnect us from the networked world, that we might live apart from technology. In Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology, Neil Postman writes (in 1992!) argues that technopology consists in the deficiation of technology, which means that the culture seeks its authorization in technology, finds it satisfaction in technology, and takes its orders from technology' (quoted in Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down by Marva Dawn, Eerdmans, 1995, pp.28-29).

Multi-Voiced Church

Multi-Voiced Church is a new book by Stuart and Sian Murray Williams. It is a very good book, a very helpful book, a very accesible book and as such deserves a wide readership. Written in a similar format to Stuart Murray William's Post Christendom and Church After Christendom, it says what it is - here a multi-voiced church; why and how it was lost; and how it can be recovered, in lots of different practical ways. The basic argument is that the early church was a multi-voiced community - an active congregation - which during Christendom became increasingly mono-voiced - pastor/priest dominated and so a passive congregation - and therefore we need to re-balance church life again to be more multi-voiced in worship and preaching, discipleship and in decision-making.

I do think re-balance is the right word, as I would argue still for the importance and necessity of ordained ministry in the church, but not to the extent that this excludes the ministry of the church as a whole.

Stuart and Sian say the book emerged in part out of the work of Eleanor and Alan Kreider (see their Worship and Mission After Christendom, especially chapters six and seven), but also the conversations within the Anabaptist network and amongst the ministerial students Sian has taught at Bristol. It is thus a multi-voiced book!

The practical chapters, that follow the historical introduction, are packed full of ideas and suggestions for encouraging and enabling the church's worship, learning, community discipleship and decision-making to be more multi-voiced, and more Baptist (for those of us in that tradition).

I've asked the deacons in the church where I serve to read it over the summer and I'm looking forward to some positive discussions in the autumn and hopefully the beginnings of a more multi-voiced church.

Get a copy, read it, share it with your church. You will not be disappointed.

Between Cross and Resurrection

Between cross and resurrection*
There is only silence
A body dead in a closed tomb

Between cross and resurrection
There is only sorrow
Grief caught in the horror and the loss

Between cross and resurrection
There is only looking
For a sign of hope, a sign of life

Between cross and resurrection
Is where we find our lives
Trapped in the space between death and living
Struggling to believe another world is possible
Seeking to make sense of the whys and the wheres

Between cross and resurrection
Is where we wait
Wedged in the space between despair and hope
Where time stands still
Where reality plays games with our senses
Where a chapter is ended
And no possibility of a new one beginning

Between cross and resurrection
In silence, in sorrow, looking
Struggling, seeking, waiting

*This phrase is borrowed from Alan Lewis' brilliant book of the same name: Between Cross and Resurrection: A Theology of Holy saturday

Creating a list of Baptist 'saints'

So I was reading a review earlier today of The Origin of Feasts, Fasts and Seasons which will appear in the next issue of Regent's Reviews and then this post by Steve Harmon got me thinking who might appear on a list of Baptist 'saints' - who might we want to recognise for the contribution they have made to life and mission of the church. This would be a supplement to the names of other Christians from other traditions. It might certainly help do some Baptist history in our churches. This is an idea floated by Steve in his book Towards Baptist Catholicity where he says 'Baptist congregations might be able to include in their own weekly worship a few moments for telling stories of men and women who have provided worthy examples of lives lived in the service of God and humanity' (p.170). BMS this year have created some resources to celebrate 250 yrs since the birth of William Carey (Carey Sunday is 21 August), which is a start.

Here's my starter for ten ...

31 January Charles Haddon Spurgeon

23 February   George Beasley-Murray

16 March Marianne Farningham

4 April Martin Luther King

7 May   Andrew Fuller

9 June   William Carey

28 August   John Smyth

30 October   James McClendon

... who else should be added and give us a date?

I'm not sure where to put Thomas Helwys as we don't know when he died.

Contemporary Worship in 2011 and Holy Communion

This year we have seen the four leading contemporary worship leaders - at least in terms of profile - each release a new album: Tim Hughes, Love Shine Through; Graham Kendrick, Banquet; Stuart Townend, The Journey; and last week Matt Redman, 10,000 Reasons.

It is Kendrick, the grand-daddy of modern worship and Townend, who offer the most interesting songs, both theologically and musically. Kendrick has found new life since 2001 (after a pretty poor 1990s) and this latest album is a rich banquet, divided into three parts: starters, main courses and desserts - it is an album crafted to make a whole, taking us through songs of gathering and sending, invtiation and blessing, command and creed, and trust and hope. Likewise, Townend who is fast becoming the modern day Charles Wesley in terms of modern hymnody gives an album which offers some fresh sounds and styles. There are songs that tell gospel stories ('The man who calmed the sea' and 'Simple living'), a song of intercession ('Kyrie eleison, have mercy'), a song that picks up Celtic-like blessing ('Christ be in may waking') and a wonderful song of welcome ('Vagabonds').

Redman's new album, while offering more than Hughes, appears a little far behind compared to Kendrick and Townend. Lyrically and musically there is not much new or different from Beautiful News (2007) and We Shall not be Shaken (2009). Redman wrote a preface for Robin Parry's Worshipping Trinity back in 2005, but I'm still waiting to see some trinitarian shaped songs that his comments I thought might promise. On this new album is a song called 'Holy' which has some good lines, but it switches between God and Jesus without any indication that God is triune. In addition, both Redman and Hughes appear to be writing songs which are getting more and complicated structurally (with pre-choruses, mid-8s, codas and differing choruses), as well as, demanding a full on musically accomplished band.

Hughes' album is the most disappointing, revealing little progression theologically on previous albums (personally I think his co-writer on many of the songs Martin Smith of Delirious does not help Hughes write congregationally).

In short, Redman and Hughes need to spend some time with Kendrick and Townend.

In terms of Holy Communion, there are some signs that contemporary worship is recognising the central place of Communion within worship - both Kendrick and Townend offer us new communion songs, to join 'Behold the Lamb' (Townend and Getty ©2007) and 'Remembrance' (Redman and Maher ©2009). What is perhaps interesting is how these new songs offer a very open table. So 'Remembrance' invites 'any to receive' and that 'all are welcome in this place' for 'None too lost to be saved / none to broken or ashamed'. In Kendrick's 'Banquet', the refrain is to 'Come and taste, come and see' - to 'find and be found', to 'know and be known'. While in Townend's 'Vagabonds' we have a long list of differing people who are invited to

'Come to the feast / there is room at the table / come let us meet in this place / with the king of all kindness / who welcomes us in / with the wonder of love / and the power of grace'

While all three songs take communion seriously as a place of encounter with the crucified and risen Christ as we remember, all three songs appear to unfence the table, with no requirement of baptism or even faith. So Townend even invites 'fiery debaters and religion haters'. It would be interesting to see if these songs find a place in the life of churches, whether they cause churches to re-think who is welcome to the table.

PowerPointless by Debra Dean Murphy

I came across this article by Debra Dean Murphy on the use of powerpoint in worship. Some might call the first half of the article a diatribe. I think she makes some good points. I get particularly annoyed with powerpoint in sermons as it often feels more like a board presentation than an engagement with the Word of God. Having said that Hannah finds the use of visual images as helpful aid to her concentration and listening. Here's an extract from Murphy:

PowerPoint also conditions worshipers to act and react in visceral ways, so that the character of their bodily actions and emotional responses are at times downright Pavlovian. The screen, not the altar or cross, becomes the all-consuming center of attention, an object of intense fixation which triggers predictable reflexes and behaviors. When PowerPoint malfunctions, for instance, people become nervous and lost; they become conditioned to worry that it will malfunction. They find themselves thinking more about the screen and the technician at the soundboard than about the God whom they've come to worship and the larger worshiping body of which they are a part.

Indeed, PowerPoint makes worshipers less aware of the persons around them; they engage in less eye contact and other forms of human interaction for fear of missing something on the screen. (One might argue that hymnals, prayer books and bulletins potentially create the same sort of isolation or individualism in worship, and it's possible that they do. But the sheer dominating presence of a projection screen in worship works in concert with PowerPoint's client-driven bias to cater rather blatantly to the consumer/customer/individual.)

To use PowerPoint in worship is to unwittingly set up a competition between what's projected on the screen and the human voice doing the preaching, praying or singing. And it's a contest that PowerPoint always wins because, as Richard Lischer has observed, when the brain is asked to listen and watch at the same time, it always quits listening. What PowerPoint enthusiasts see as enhancing the worship experience--projecting pictures of water during a baptism or images of fire and wind on Pentecost--is instead a form of sensory overload that manipulates emotions and stifles imagination. It is difficult to cultivate an awareness and appreciation of ambiguity and mystery in worship when images are projected at strategically timed moments in the liturgy for the purpose of instructing worshipers what to think and feel.

Article in Evangelical Quarterly

I have got an article in the latest Evangelical Quarterly 81.3 (July 2009):

'"It's all about Jesus": a critical analysis of the way in which the songs of four contemporary worship songwriters can lead to an impoverished christology'

Abstract: This article examines the songs of four contemporary worship songwriters in regard to the christology they present.  The article argues that although the majority of songs are focused on Jesus, they fail to articulate a sufficient christology. It is claimed that this is due to an inadequate attention given to the doctrine of the trinity and to Christ’s priestly and prophetic offices. The article concludes by suggesting that the broader context and expectations of contemporary worship songwriters means that it is difficult for a richer christology to be developed.

Critizing Contemporary Worship Songwriters

John Stackhouse, an evangelical theologian, posted about the lack of word care  - theologically and poetically - in the songs of Chris Tomlin. This generated a mass of comments - lots of them saying Stackhouse is unfair to criticize Tomlin - please! We're quite happy, or at least many evangelicals are quite happy to knock open-theists like Clark Pinnock or non-penal substitutionists like Steve Chalke in public, but somehow worship songwriters are untouchable? When its the theology (or perhaps lack of theology) of these songs that shape most people's faith. I think he makes lots of good points, I have an article forthcoming in the Evangelical Quarterly making some other critical comments about contemporary worship songs. Stackhouse's concern, with which I agree is we must be able to do better than a lot of the rubbish that is churned out year after year. Its not all bad, but the commericalisation of the worship industry means that too much music is being produced and its almost as if it sells who cares what we're singing.  The main issue is that Tomlin and others are not theologians or poets, but they are good at writing catchy tunes. Ben's comments here are fair, but I'd argue that Townend and Getty are writing in a different genre , more like the hymn, than the three minute pop song genre that Tomlin, Tim Hughes and Matt Redman are writing in. The hymn has more scope for communicating theology, the pop song is more limited - this is evident in the same tired words and phrases that are used over and over again. Furthermore, as Pete Ward has shown (see his Selling Worship) the songs of Tomlin and co. are designed for encounter with God, not to communicating who God is - the emphasis is on the worshipper's response, not the one to whom they are responding - so that often the song can be addressed to simply 'Lord' or even 'You'.

 

worship leaders and the displacement of Christ

Where it appears, the title of "worship leader" should be critiqued, for it suggests a model of worship in which Christ has been displaced from his rightful place. In the Middle Ages it was the priest, now it is worship leader. Christ' displacement is accentuated by the focus, either implicitly or explicitly, on the leader's personality, charisma and gifts. In this regard, it is noticeable how the leader's causal greeting has replaced the traditional call to worship in many services. It is almost as though the worship leader is the host, welcoming people as he/she woudl to his/her home. Also interesting to observe is the role of the "worship team", usually consisting of a music group, whose task it is to open worship with a "worship time". This consists of a bracket of worship choruses, interspersed with the leader's exhortations, humorous asides and extempore prayers. A lot of effort goes into creating the right atmosphere. Music has come to assume a priestly role in much worship, insofar as it is regarded almost as the primary vehicle by which people enter the presence of God.

(Graham Redding, Prayer and the Priesthood of Christ, T & T Clark, 2003, p. 298n.30)

tenebrae service

This evening I organised with the help of Hilary Jappy (a member at Bunyan) a tenebrae service. I was first introduced to the creative delights of a tenebrae service by Maggi, when Hannah and I made a visit to Robinson College Chapel back in 2005. Ever since, I've hoped to find an opportunity to plan a similar like service. So thanks to Maggi (we borrow your structure), Geoff for some of the music ideas, to the person who put together this version of the service and all those involved tonight. Here's what we did :-

As people arrived ‘Passio’ - Sanctuary, The Heart Has Its Reasons [track 8, 8.25min]

Introduction and Explanation

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross    (verses 1, 3, 4)

1. THE SHADOW OF BETRAYAL                                          

R4: (Psalm 41:9)
    A reading from the Psalms:                        
    Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
R2:  (Matthew 26:6-25)
    Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant.
R3:    Why this waste?"   
R4:    This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.
R2:    Aware of this, Jesus said to them,
R1:    Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful
thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but
you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.
R2:    Then one of the Twelve--the one called Judas Iscariot--
    went to the chief priests and asked
R4:    What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?
R2:    So they counted out for him thirty silver coins.
    From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked,
R3:    Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
R1:    Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.
R2:    So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said,
R1:    I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.
R2:    They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other,
R3:    Surely not I, Lord?
R1:    The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
R2:    Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said,
R4:    Surely not I, Rabbi?
R1:    Yes, it is you

(coins thrown onto the floor)
Music ‘Part One: Exposition – Canons’ - John Law, The Art of Sound Volume One
(slices of lemon are passed round – the bitter taste of betrayal)

2. THE SHADOW OF DENIAL                                                

R4:  (Zechariah 13:7)
    A reading from the prophet Zechariah
    "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who is close to me!"
    declares the LORD Almighty.
    "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered...."
R1:  (John 10:14-15)
    I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know
me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and
    I lay down my life for the sheep.
R1: (Matthew 26:31,33-35)
    This very night you will all fall away on account of me,
    for it is written:
R4:    ‘I will strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’.
R3:    Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.
R1:    I tell you the truth, this very night, before the rooster
crows, you will disown me three times.
R3:    Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.
R2:  And all the other disciples said the same.

(sound of a rooster crowing and the words ‘I do not know the man’)
Sing Jesus remember me - Taize               

3. THE SHADOW OF SEPARATION                                       

R4:   (Psalm 13)
     A reading from the Psalms:
     How long o Lord? Will you forget me forever?
     How long will you hide your face from me?
     How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in
     my heart all day long?
      Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
R1:   (John 16.16-20)
      A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a
      little while, and you will see me.
R2:   Then some of his disciples said to one another,
R3:   What does he mean by saying to us, “A little while, and
      you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and
      you will see me”; and “Because I am going to the Father”?
R2:   Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them
R1:   Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I  said, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me”? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

(Piece of cloth torn apart in three places and the words – the pain of separation, the agony of being torn apart, the ache of being broken-hearted)
Sing How long o Lord – Brian Doerksen

4. THE SHADOW OF ANGUISH                                                

R4: (Psalm 31:9-14)
    A reading from the Psalms:
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
    my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
    My life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning;
    my strength fails because of my affliction,
    and my bones grow weak.
    Because of all my enemies,
    I am the utter contempt of my neighbours;
    I am a dread to my friends --
    those who see me on the street flee from me.
    I am forgotten by them as though I were dead;
    I have become like broken pottery.
    For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side;
    they conspire against me and plot to take my life.
    But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
R2: (Mark 14:32-41)
    They went to a place called Gethsemane,
    and Jesus said to his disciples,
R1:    Sit here while I pray.
R2:    He took Peter, James and John along with him,
    and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
R1:    My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, 
    Stay here and keep watch.
R2:    Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed
    that if possible the hour might pass from him.
R1:    Abba, Father, everything is possible for you.
    Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.
R2:    Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.
R1:    Simon, are you asleep?
    Could you not keep watch for one hour?
    Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.
    The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.
R2:    Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Returning the third time, he said to them,
R1:    Are you still sleeping and resting?  Enough!  The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

(silver cup on stand)
Sing Stay with me - Taize               
Music ‘Carlotta’ - Ennio Morrione, The Mission [track 6, 1.18min]

5.THE SHADOW OF TREACHERY                                               

R4: (Genesis 37.18-20, 23-24a)
    A reading from the book of Genesis:
    They saw Joseph from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another,
R3:     Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what becomes of his dreams.
R4: So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the coat of many colours that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit.
R2: (Mark 14.43-50)
Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying,
R4:     The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.
R2:     So when he came, he went up to him at once and said,
R4:     Rabbi!
R2:     and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested
him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them
R1:     Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled.
R2:     All of them deserted him and fled.

(the words 'the kiss of Judas was a slap in the face' followed by the speaker being slapped)
Music ‘Betrayal and desolation’ - James Horner, Braveheart [track 13, 1.25min fadeout]
Sing My Lord What Love Is This - Graham Kendrick (verse 1 and chorus only)

6.THE SHADOW OF HYPOCRISY                                          

R1: (Isaiah 53:7)   
    A reading from the prophet Isaiah:                   
He was oppressed and afflicted; yet he did not open his mouth;
    he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth. 
R2:    (Matthew 27.15-24)
Now at the festival the governor Pilate was accustomed to release a prisoner for the crowd, anyone whom they wanted. At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Jesus Barabbas. So after they had gathered, Pilate said to them
R4:  Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?
R2:  For he realized that it was out of jealousy that they had handed him over. While he was sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent word to him
R3: Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.
R2:     Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed. The governor again said to them,
R4:     Which of the two do you want me to release for you?
R3:     Barabbas.
R4:     Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?
R3:     Let him be crucified!
R4:     Why, what evil has he done?
R3:  Let him be crucified!
R2:     So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water [pause as Jug of water is poured into big metal bowl] and washed his hands before the crowd, saying
R4: I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.

Music ‘Minas Morgul’ - Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [track 6, fade up, track five, 0.43min stop]

7. THE SHADOW OF DEATH                                                    

R4:     (1 Samuel 9.15-17)
    A reading from the book of Samuel:
“Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to
Samuel:
R1:     Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have seen the suffering of my people, because their outcry has come to me.
R4:     When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him
R1:     Here is the man of whom I spoke to you. He it is who shall rule over my people.
R2:     (John 19.4-7)
Pilate went out again and said to them
R4:     Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.
R2:     So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them,
R4:     Here is the man
R2:     When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted
R3:     Crucify him! Crucify him!
R4:     Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.
R3:     We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.

(sound of hammer hitting nails into cross)
Music ‘Angry Flames’ - Karl Jenkins, The Armed Man [track 8, 1.25min stop]
Sing Were you there when they crucified my Lord

8. THE SHADOW OF HUMILIATION                                          

R1:  (Isaiah 53:1-5)
    A reading from the prophet Isaiah:
    Who has believed our message and to whom
    has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
    He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
    He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
    He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows,
    and familiar with suffering.
    Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised,
    and we esteemed him not.
    Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
    yet we considered him stricken by God,
    smitten by him, and afflicted.
    But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our sin;
    the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
R3:  (1 Peter 2:21-23a)
    A reading from First Peter:
    To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
    leaving you an example, that you should follow in his
steps.
    "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his
mouth."
    When they hurled their insults at him, he did not
retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. 
R2: (Mark 15:16-20)
    The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace and called together the whole company of soldiers.
    They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him.
    And they began to call out to him,
R4:    Hail, king of the Jews!
R2:    Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Music ‘This Love’ - Craig Armstrong, The Space Between Us [track 2, 4.20min begin fading out]
(crown of thorns is placed on head and cross is picked up and carried out, people follow)