katyandtheword

Good Friday

Extinguishing of Lights Worship & Nailing Our Sins to The Cross
(Yes we nontraditionally do communion, because my worshiping community does not do Maundy Thursday, feel free to disclude)

Call to Worship

L The Lord be with you.
P And also with you

THE NAIL OF BROKENNESS*

“We are a resurrection people” we like to say
And we say it often
“But resurrection doesn’t erase or replace the real life that happens before, during and after, the real life that we all know.
The places where we are broken
Where we are grieving
Where we are sad
Where we are angry
Where we are hurting
Where we are anxious
Where we are lonely
Where we are human—fully
And we each carry around the experiences of trauma, and loss and hurt, that are a real part of our life.
Those experiences live within us, and they exist before, during and after resurrection. Yes, we are a resurrection people
But we are also human—fully.
And that means that we know death, just as surely as we know life.
Death is real, it is excruciating, and painful, and it is a part of life.
But God is not afraid of death. God is big enough to hold us in our hurt, in our brokenness, in those places of death where we cannot hold ourselves. When we find ourselves in those places, when we cannot imagine ever feeling joy again, may we remember, that although God will not erase the pain, God will hold us, God will stand with us.

THE NAIL OF BETRAYAL Matthew 26:48-50

. ⁴⁸Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him.’ ⁴⁹At once he came up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. ⁵⁰Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you are here to do.’ Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him.

NAIL OF HATRED Matthew 27:27-31

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters,^* and they gathered the whole cohort around him. ²⁸They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on his head. They put a reed in his right hand and knelt before him and mocked him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ ³⁰They spat on him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹After mocking him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

Sung Response:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

O Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?(silence)

Silent Meditation: Extinguishing of the Light

THE NAIL OF STUMBLING Matthew 26:69-75

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant-girl came to him and said, ‘You also were with Jesus the Galilean.’ ⁷⁰But he denied it before all of them, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’ ⁷¹When he went out to the porch, another servant-girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, ‘This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.’^* ⁷²Again he denied it with an oath, ‘I do not know the man.’ ⁷³After a little while the bystanders came up and said to

Peter, ‘Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.’ ⁷⁴Then he began to curse, and he swore an oath, ‘I do not know the man!’ At that moment the cock crowed. ⁷⁵Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said: ‘Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.

Sung Response

Were you there when they left him on the cross?

O, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;

Were you there when they left him on the cross? (silence)

THE NAIL OF DEATH Matthew 17:45-50

45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land^* until three in the afternoon. ⁴⁶And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ⁴⁷When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ ⁴⁸At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.’ ⁵⁰Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.

Sung Response

Were you there when the sun refused shine?

O, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;

Were you there when the sun refused to shine? (silence)

Silent Meditation: Extinguishing of the Light

THE RESPONSE

ACT OF CONFESSION

You are invited to have your sins nailed to the cross

Sung Response

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

O, Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;

Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? (silent)

Silent Meditation: Extinguishing of the Light

RESPONSIVE READING: THE PROMISE OF MERCY*

O God of my heart, remind us that this was the day the temple’s curtain was torn in two, breaking open the divide between the divine and human. God’s mercy

Let hold onto what centurion and those who were keeping watch said “Truly this man was God’s Son.” (Matthew 27:51, 54)

Communion

The Lord be with you
And also with you
Lift up your hearts
We lift them up to the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

It is right to give our thanks and praise….(Pastoral Prayer & Lord’s Prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the power and the kingdom and the glory forever. Amen.
Jesus came into the world, not to judge it, but to save it.
We are so grateful for God’s infinite love, and we celebrate with all of creation, the saving work, of our Suffering Savior. On the night before he was nailed to the merciless cross,
Jesus shared His last meal with His friends. He took the bread, He broke it, and He gave thanks, and then He passed it among them saying,
This is my body which is broken for you. Eat it and remember Me.
He took the wine, and He gave thanks, and then He passed it among them saying,
This is my blood which is shed for you. Drink it and remember Me.
And so, we take, we eat and drink, and we remember:
There is no greater love, than this sacrifice which You, Jesus, made for us
God is with us, even when we fear.
Come, let us taste and see the Lord.

Sung Response: Extinguishing the Light

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

O Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble;

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? (silence)

*Prayer from Dying Liturgy of NextChurch national gathering 2018

Hosanna, a Dangerous Prayer

“Hosanna” God we cry
When did we make this
an easy prayer to pray

We hand it to our children
And make it a parade
–Filling their hands with palms
to dance around the room

Hosanna, the children Scream
“SAVE US”

As the rooms fill with gunfire

As their gender identities are destroyed

as they are ripped away from their parents at the border

As they cry for hunger when we cut their SNAP benefits

And Jesus takes a child
puts them on his lap and says
unless you understand the children
you will not see the Kingdom of Heaven

“How do we tell the children about school shootings?”

They know
They have been practicing for them, like maths or piano
And they know the grownups are not preventing them

Hosanna, they cry
My youngest came home from kindergarten
And said to me we are practicing being quiet for when bad guys come to school.

Shhhh!

Hosanna!

My middle child has autism
He will never be able to be quiet
If a bad guy comes to school

Hosanna!

Hosanna, God, Grace alone
But Still we know we have to participate
in our own salvation
Thoughts and prayer won’t do it

Policy and Change
will be our chant of Hosanna

Jesus paraded into the City
And then Flipped the Tables
It is not enough to cry out and pray
Action and Accountability must follow

Hosanna, we pray–what a Dangerous Prayer
on our Lips
Maybe only the Children truly know what it means

Hosanna God, Hosanna Christ!
May we Hosanna this together we pray

Amen

Feel free to use/share/adapt with Credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

Gun Violence Prevention Prayers

Image is a pair of AK47s crossing, covered with the words Hosanna and palms layered, and Save us at the Top and Prince of Peace, Flip the Tables, Policy and Change on the Bottom. Created by Katy Stenta on Canva, free to use with credit.

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God of Peace

And would never do violence again
Knowing before we knew
That this would be a symbol
That love conquers hate
And love is love is love

If God disarms Godself—why can’t we?

Palm Sunday April 2nd Triumphal Entry

April 2nd
Triumphal Entry, Cleansing the Temple
Matthew 21:1-17
Psalm 118:25-29

Hosanna: A Dangerous Prayer

Call to Worship
Hosanna, Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord
Hosanna, Lord, Jesus
The Lord has given us Light, Come Lord Save us
Hosanna Lord, Save us
Bind the festal procession with branches! The Lord is God!
Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest!

Call to Confession: God we are longing for you to save us, so we come to confess to you, full of hosannas, come let us confess ourselves to God.

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we forget that right after we cry Hosanna, Jesus save us! We do not Jesus coming in and flipping over the tables of the sanctuary. Yet here we are and it turns out the Palm Sunday and Flipping Tables Sunday are one and the same. Because you save us, by turning our worldviews upside-down. Remind us that Jesus is with us and for us, remind us that Jesus loves us no matter what and that Jesus continues to walk with us.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good news: God is good, God’s steadfast love endures forever, let us proclaim the truth to one another: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Lent 5 March 26

Last Judgement
Matthew 25:31-45
Psalm 98:7-9

Call to Worship
God of the sick, naked and hungry
Help us to see you
God of the thirsty, the stranger, the prisoner
Help us to welcome you
God of the least of these, let us remember you
Come let us worship Jesus, born in the manger, minister to the sick, welcomer of all

Call to Confession: God lets us confess everything, Out Loud, at a whisper or at shout, God will hear whatever it is we need say, come let us say it all to God.

Confession: God we confess, we do not know what the difference is between invitation, welcoming, accessibility and true acceptance and belonging. Too often we think that throwing open the doors is enough, when we forget that you, Jesus Christ wandered the streets for three years, healing and teaching, teaching and toughing them and calling them individually by name. Teach us to love more deeply we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: God knows how to love and forgive, and teaches us everyday, Hear the good news: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God, may we go into the world holding tightly onto the idea that we are called to be the helpers of the world, we called to action, that we are called to find the image of Jesus Christ in every human being we meet not out of pity but out of belovedness. Teach us to do this we pray. Amen.

Hymns: Jesu, Jesu, Lord I Wanna Be a Christian In My Heart, Here I am To Worship, There is a Balm in Gilead, Amazing Grace, What Wondrous Love is This

Children: God Gave Us You Book, Talk About Seeing Christ in Every Single Person you Meet, not out of Pity but Out of Love

Notes: Kingdom of Heaven is Like Seeing Christ in Everyone, Further Mr. Rogers Theme We are the Helpers

Picture Fred Rogers “When I was a Boy and I would see Scary Things in the News My mouther would say to me “Look for the Helpers You will always find people who are Helping” –Fred Rogers

CW: Suicide, A Prayer for the Pastors

Here is a prayer for the pastors*
The ones who are quitting
the ones whose therapists ask
“Is there another line of work you can do?”

Here’s a prayer for the pastors
Who get phone calls about another piece of the building breaking…
Another pillar of the church in the hospital…
Another person threatening to leave…

Here’s a prayer for the pastor
who hears the whispers
who thought they would be backed up at the meeting
only to hear silence

Here’s the prayer for the Pastor
who draws the firm boundaries
but grinds their teeth
or gets migraines
or talks to their therapist, spiritual director and prayer partner to keep it all
together

Here’s a prayer to the pastor, who gets asked
“Are you the pastor???” on the regular
But has been serving faithfully, for many a year;
competently and well

Here’s a prayer of the pastor, who has intrusive thoughts
And suicidal ideation
Here’s a prayer for the pastor, who gets a donation for the poor
And thinks–but I am the poor

And has to figure out, which bill not to pay each month
And is striving to help their congregation
Even as they cannot meet their own needs
Because church’s cannot conceive what salary is needed to live on these days

Here’s a prayer for a pastor
who is far away from colleagues
And is lonely, and trying to preach from their scars and not their wounds
Here’s a prayer for the pastor

Who knows self care is not bubble baths and massages
But has little time, money or energy to do what needs to be done
Especially post-Covid
Here’s a prayer for the burnt out pastor

Here’s the prayer for the pastor
Banging on the governmental doors:
Civic, Denominational; Local and National
And says, “God give them ears to hear” and goes home with empty hands

Here’s a prayer for the pastor
who needs support
At every level
and cries in the shower

“My God, My God Why have you abandoned Me?”

Here is a prayer for that Pastor
I’m praying for you,
so you don’t have to

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

*This prayer is an amalgam of all those pastors who have been overwhelmed throughout my ministry life and does not represent any one person

Questions

A Poem

Questioning
……………Is so
beautiful Have
…………………….You Ever
Ev
……………..er
……………………. Been caught un
awares by a
……….Child’s quest
ioning queer
ing your
……..brain in
making you ketchup
……… the sandwich
of the world?
Your drive in
…….ter
In
………..ter
………………………. rupted
…………. Goals
Re
…………..Vise
You cannot
……………Block the Sun
with the
…………………….Visor
Too
……………Bright
ly
………Eyeing
Shin
…………..shin
…………………….Shining
Quest
…………Questioning
Quer
…………Queering
………………….Queurying
Requeering
……………Requestioning
………………… Quest-Re
Queer-Re
………..Quester-Eye
………..Jester-
………..Gesture
………..In
Quire
………..You-are
Squire-
………………. ing
……..Eye-ring
Rupted
……Ter
….In
Caught
…….Ever
……………You
Been Have
…………………..Caught
Child By
Child’s Ioning
………..Quest
Queer
………..You?
Beautiful So
………..is
Questioning.

Feel free use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

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March 19th Bridesmaids and Talents

Psalm 43:1-2
Matthew 25:1-30

Call to Worship
O God, send out your light and truth
Let them lead me
Let your let and truth envelope me
Let them bring me to your dwelling place
May I be awake
For then I will praise you with exceeding joy, Come let us praise the Lord!

Prayer of Confession: God says that we can always confess, for God will wait for us, come let us confess ourselves to God

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we struggle to be awake. Sometimes we confess we do not even know what it means to be awake. What is it we are being awake for? And we worry, will we recognize you when you knock on the door? Forgive us when we try to be make busy work for ourselves. Remind us that paying attention is holy work*. Amen

Prayer of Confession: God we confess that we do not think that we should use our talents: whether that means our gifts or actual money; we confess that we humans are designed to hoard things. We do not invest or spend like you are an abundant God. Forgive us, teach us how to prepare the ground for an abundant and open Kingdom we pray. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon: Hear the Good News, Jesus sends envelopes us in forgiveness and brings us back home: let us proclaim the Gospel Truth: In Jesus Christ we are forgiven.

Prayer of the Day/Dedication: God you remind us that you are equipping us. You are giving us the tools we need to be present and do the work. Let us go into the world full of your Kin(g)dom we pray. Amen.

*Its Mr. Rogers Sunday this is a whole sermon right here

Feel free to use/adapt/share with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta

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God of the Cross

Dear Jesus
You are the God of the Cross

Journeying with Us
Suffering Amongst Us

You do not Proscribe Suffering
But Walk,
Thirsty in the desert with us

Sweet Jesus
You do not make demands
But call us, and listen, when we spill our whole selves to you by the well

Compassionate Friend
You wait for us on the Cross
And tell us, it is not too late to apologize, even then, and You will be there on the other side

How beautiful is the whole testimony of the Cross:
We are not alone, We do not have to suffer, We can be our full self
And we do not have to double down
Because its never, ever to late to apologize

Jesus is waiting for us
Our theology is not ultimately about debates
But about love, and to see the humanity of each other
And Jesus
On the Cross

How beautiful is the Body of Christ,
Thank you for being the God of the Cross
Amen.

Image of Brown hammer, nails and cross of thorns on wood in a the lefthand foreground, and and a cross in the righthand background. Created on Canva

Here is the World, Beautiful and Terrible Things will Happen, Do Not Be afraid…

Content Warning: Sexual Abuse, Ordination Exams, Trauma

Bad Theology Kills
There are nicer terminologies to make
and there are definitely complete lexicons and entire books written of theology
Karl Barth has a really complete theology of love
Elie Wiesel asks tough questions about genocide war and abuse
Just today, Amanda Palmer
a somewhat Radical Feminist, who is all too imperfect herself (might I add) cited a quote her friend’s book
who quoted the famous theologian Fredrick Buechner
Amanda Palmer says “I feel this sentiment in my core today. I have seen, heard, been privy to so much darkness lately. I feel honored to stand near it, but also see – laid painfully bare, more than I ever have – the unfathomable and sometimes unbearable wounds of trauma. The depths. The seemingly unhealable.” She says this not knowing that this is a theological quote, but Amanda Palmer, pop star, gets it
that Life is a Terror text

And for me Theology is how you practice your Christianity;
It is where the rubber meets the road

Not being afraid means, dealing with the trauma as it comes, but also acknowledging that the trauma is real. One cannot pretend it isn’t real.

Because the reality is–Bad Theology kills

White Page that says Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid–Frederick Buechner

But for me…

When you force the people you want to be pastors
to sit in a room
utterly alone
with what is possibly the most traumatic text in the Bible
its abusive

I guess I should start with this: I believe in apologies. I believe in full and complete apologies. I believe in confession. I believe in stating fully who you are, what you have done right and wrong and trying to fix what is wrong so that we can fix that wrong things, and make things better. It is a core theology of mine.

I think that there is confusion
Those who are hurt do not want an apology for the Bible
The apology would be for the trauma

And when you don’t apologize
And you say–we have done such things before

And that does not make you examine how you have done things before

And when you feel like the entire weight of the church
ordination
and the denomination
is on your shoulders

And that does not make you pause
and confess
and think

Maybe there could be
a more life-giving
way to do this

And when person after person
has come to me and say
This is the last straw

And these other people tell me
I’m leaving ministry
and the process of becoming a minister
because of this test…

To pretend we have all sufficiently dealt with trauma
On the eve of the third anniversary
Of a worldwide pandemic
Is ludicrous–there is not such thing
as an untraumatized person right now
So yes, we know trauma is real
We also do not want to practice bad theological practices
Because Bad Theology Kills
We know this!

It is different to deal with a text
Where you know in advance about it
In community
When you can call your therapist
When your entire job is not on the line
When you can ask for help

Also

If you don’t think that the Judges 19 scandal
Isn’t cut from a similar cloth as the complementation scandal the Gospel Coalition is dealing with…
You are missing how women continue to be subjugated and ignored via the Bible…(See Also: How is this coming to a head when trans bans, drag bans, books bans, teaching history bans and rest is happening gives a lot of food for thought)
Because Bad Theology Kills: it is Killing calls to ministry right here and now

Picture of a women facing a panel of just men who say: It’s not that we don’t believe your story. IT’s that we don’t care. Cartoon by NakedPastor

Welp..I guess you were right..
I guess this test is that important
But not in the way you thought it was

If more self care is needed for pastor
By God, let’s do it!
I’m all for it!
What resources can we provide
Let’s hire full time Sabbatical pastors,
a therapist and a Chaplain, One for every
Synod or for General Assembly
If you want to be generous
For every Presbytery!

You think more education is needed?
Great lets open up free schools!
Let’s provide arts clubs and places of music & PE
all those things schools are cutting
(Fun fact Sunday School taught kids to read
FOR FREE
When School was inacessable, because kids had to work;
what could Sunday School be for the arts now–
If we took that as our model?)

Lets be the most educated denomination
In the land. Let’s get that equity going!
I bet all the kids would enroll
In free college classes
In LGBTQIA and Community Organizing
classes
What more could we provide–could we give free virtual classes in the Bible?
What about classes about theology? The latest books? The Nap Ministry?
This Here Flesh? The Possibilities are endless.
Faith Seeking Understaning, we could learn so much together!

Lets help support all those Black and Brown Churches
The ones we’ve been ignoring for years
What resources do they need?
I bet they could tell us what they need, and why,
and give us a host of ideas, quick!
Let’s start it tomorrow.

You think everyone is overworked and tired?
Great, lets start pay equity and healthcare,
Could we provide healthcare for our support staffs
even more than we do now?
How much more can God do?
How is that Family Leave Overture going?
I can tell you every pastor I know is looking
at if your Presbytery has it before they consider moving there

Did your Presbytery, Synod or Leader agree or disagree
with the Judges 19 test?
Is your area dealing with a pastor shortage?
I bet there is a more experience oriented,
Justice-giving, innovative Matthew 25 way to
Educate and Support Pastors.

Did you know most pastors are older, LBGTQIA, POC?
They are not going to be the married white man
with children, and that is great, because most
ministries are going to be different from here on out.
If we are going to reach the community,
We are going to have to ordain pastors beyond the pews.

While we are re-imagining what it means to be a minister
(Hint: look at all the ways to minister in Matthew 25)
It might be time to rethink how we evaluate ministers:

I don’t know about you, but while I am running my church’s
3 nonprofits, and taking care of my congregation,
I don’t have time to conjugate Greek and Hebrew verbs–
I love the vocabulary, but the community is just a bit more important
(Don’t worry its just me, I preach 48+ sermons a year, 13+ years, Princeton Trained, but my credentials matter less than my ministry work)

And while we are speaking of that and entry level ministry
How many entry level ministers go to a flourishing ministry
with associate ministers who take care of other things,
while they sit in the office and work on their sermons,
None?

My theology is to take care of the people first
Of course I do that about talking about the Bible
I reference (and study) the Bible EVERY single day
But I don’t do that in Greek and Hebrew
I do that by sitting by the Well and listening,
and Walking in the Community and meeting people where they are at
every chance I get to Community build and partner..
I’m just following the example of some Rabbi I admire…

I hope you have time to do that too
And maybe someday, we will realize that our goals are the same
To be a Matthew 25 Church
And to serve God and God’s people, together

Article by Pastor Katy Stenta
@katyandtheword
Feel free to use/share with attribution