MOTHER’S DAY WORSHIP RESOURCES

Mother’s Day is one of those rare chances we get to lift up the work and wonder of women.  Yet, even on this day of celebration, there are many women who are overlooked and unheard in worship that honors women solely for their parenting.  We are challenged to find ways to celebrate women who are mothers, women who cannot be mothers, and women who choose not to be mothers.

We offer these worship resources for your use or to spark your creativity as you plan services that honor the creative, nurturing power of women.  All of these resources and more are available at our website:
http://www.womaenscaucus.org/Resources/Inclusivity/Inclusivity/Language/worship.html

LECTIONARY TEXT for May 11, 2008 – Pentecost (Red)

Acts 2:1-21 – Pentecost story
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b – “O Lord, how manifold are your works!”
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 – “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit”
John 7:37-39 – “‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

HYMNS

Lord Bless the Hands, Brethren Hymnal 93 – because mothering is done by many people.
Mothering God, Brethren Hymnal 482
How Shall I Sing to God? Brethren Hymnal Supplement 1019
Bring Many Names, Hymnal Supplement 1088
Loving Spirit, Hymnal Supplement 1064 – We invite you to change the words of the third verse to reflect gender-inclusive language.

TAKE ACTION FOR MOTHERS

Church World Services (CWS) supports midwives working in refugee camps in Darfur, southern Sudan.  Support their work to support mothers facing some of the toughest living conditions a woman can face, by visiting www.churchworldservice.org.  The CWS website also offers ‘alternative’ Mother’s Day gifts of donations made in the name of your mother, sister, aunt, grandmother, wife, or friend, complete with cards to download to accompany your gifts.

PRAYERS

When you were pregnant with Israel, God
–did your ankles swell?
–did your fingers tingle and droop?
Did you spend your time waiting, marking time,
and doing infinite chores?
After you announced the birth of the nation,
knowing it would be long, three generations long,
till the birth of the people on its land–
After you announced this birth, God–
did you sit counting the days and the years?
Did you plan how you would raise Ephraim,
your darling child?
how you would call him from Egypt,
draw him with cords of love?
Did you count the days
till you could teach her to walk?
till you could bend down and feed her each morsel?
When you carried Israel in your womb, O God,
did you think how you would nurture forever,
how you would carry him till old-age?
Did you plan every moment of her upbringing,
dreaming of the perfect child?
Or were you very busy with all the other tasks of creation, God,
planning universes,
setting up laws,
organizing history?

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, adapted by Anna Lisa Gross, drawing on Gen 15:13-15, Jer. 31:20, Hos. 11:1, 13, 14, Isa. 46:3-4)

Narrow, narrow is the path!
You deliver us from narrowness.
From Egypt you brought us forth,
In straits we call upon you.
You answer us expansively.
Narrow was the path between the waters of the Red Sea
A canyon between two high walls.
Then out into the light and bright and wide
of the world beyond Egypt.
My way is narrow
In the straits I call upon you:
Widen my path,
deliver me to the light
of life.

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, adapted by Anna Lisa Gross, drawing on Ps. 118:3)

In my womb you formed the child,
in my womb I nourished it.
You formed and numbered the baby’s limbs,
I contained and protected them.
You who could see the child in my depths,
I who felt the kicks and the turns,
together we counted the months.
Together we planned the future.
Flesh of my flesh,
form of your form.
Another human being upon the earth,
a home for God in this, our world.

(from Motherprayer, by Tikva Frymer-Kensky, drawing on Ps. 139:13, 15, 16, Jer. 1:5, Isa. 49:5, Gen 1:26)

We come together today in praise and thanksgiving
for the gift of life itself.
Someone gave birth to us and some of us have given birth.
All of us have been mothered in our time,
All of us have mothered.
Let our time today be one of recognition–
That we arrive from so many places,
Joy and delight,
Wistfulness and longing and worry,
Unmet needs and unfulfilled dreams,
Loss and sorrow, loss and emptiness,
loss and regret.
All that life is made of, mothers are made of too.
Today we sing the songs of so many:
Mothers who are single parents, foster parents,
Mothers who relinquished their young out of necessity,
Mothers who found their heart in adoption,
Mothers who left their children in a thousand ways,
Mothers who rejoice and mothers who mourn.
There is a kind of love we cannot live without.
It is never too late, no matter our age or situation.
We sing a song of gratitude for all the moments
of being known, being cherished, being found.
Amen.

(Mother’s Day Prayer, by Mary J. Harrington)

TALK BACK

Mother’s Day isn’t always the best day for lots of women.  It reminds us of not being mothers by choice or by necessity, of things we don’t like about being mothers, of things we don’t like about our mothers, of all the ways society doesn’t respect the real work of mothering…..

How do you feel about this holiday?  Have a Mother’s Day sermon of your own to share?  To discuss any of these topics further or to share your own resources, please post a comment below.