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The Word Made FleshA pageant for Advent, by Margaret Pritchard Houston, with Clare Heard and the Revd. Neil Traynor, inspired by “People, Look East,” by Gretchen Wolff PritchardShorter versionAt the beginning, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Sheep, Cows, and donkeys are seated among the congregation. If possible, the children playing Angels are seated in the quire – the imagery is therefore of the space behind the altar as heaven and the nave as earth, with the chancel being the meeting point. However, if the kids playing angels are very young, they’ll be seated with their families for the first part too.The PROPHETS (youth group) are scattered around the church.Reader 1 (God/Gabriel) is at the back of the church.Readers 2 and 3 are among the congregation, ready to go to the legilium.The celebrant begins with words of welcome.The bell rings – congregation standFrom back of church:READER 1: I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I am. I was. I will be.During the Hymn, Reader 1 moves slowly up the aisle and takes their place in the pulpit or at the lectern.HYMN 1:1.?Of the Father’s?heart begotten??? Ere the world from chaos rose,He is Alpha: from that Fountain,??? All that is and hath been flows;He is Omega, of all things??? Yet to come the mystic Close,??????? Evermore and evermore.2. By his word was all created;??? He commanded and ’twas done;Earth and sky and boundless ocean,??? Universe of three in one,All that sees the moon’s soft radiance,??? All that breathes beneath the sun,??????? Evermore and evermore.4. O how blest that wondrous birthday,??? When the Maid the curse retrieved,Brought to birth mankind’s salvation,??? By the Holy Ghost conceived,And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,??? In her loving arms received,??????? Evermore and evermore.5. This is he, whom seer and sybil??? Sang in ages long gone by;This is he of old revealed??? In the page of prophecy;Lo! he comes, the promised Saviour;??? Let the world his praises cry!??????? Evermore and evermore.READING 1: Reader 1During this reading, the PROPHETS come and gather at the front of the church – Prophet 1 brings a plant, Prophet 2 brings blue fabric and uses it throughout the poem to create sky and water, Prophet 3 brings stuffed animals (predators and prey together), Prophet 4 gathers the other three prophets into the “garden” when they’re done placing their objects. They create a beautiful “paradise” at the front of the chancel, where the manger will be.LIFE! By Marcelo GleiserThere were no witnessesto what was about to happen.There was water and there was earth;Inert matter rained from the skies.Heat scorched the land, dried the seas.The world was aglow. Smoke choked the air.Sometimes.What air was this? What land? What seas?Tremblors rumbled the roiling soil, mixing.Waves lapped the land, mixing.Some things sank; others bubbled up.Then, a time of cooling; ephemeral peace.A surge of combinations and reactions; slime in motion.Accidental shapes; random splitting.A chaining of stuffs; an attraction of likes.A growth that outgrew others,encompassed others.Circling and twisting it became two.And so it was.Two became four, and grew.Life began; or something like it.Not like usBut us nonetheless.?FROM FRONT OF CHURCH –READER 1: I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I am. I was. I will be.READING 2 Adam by Godfrey Rust (Reader 2)During this reading, the Prophets disassemble the beautiful Paradise – they scatter, each taking their item with them. They take their places at the four corners of the church – north, east, south, west.it wasn’t meit was that womanshe doesn’t know what’s good for hershe did itand thenit was that snakehorrible slimy snakeI wouldn’t have believed a wordI wouldn’t haven’t have been taking inimagine a talking snakewell I ask youand thenand thenit was youyou made Eveyou made the serpentit’s your rotten appleyou knew all about it – I was miles awaydoing the garden like I was toldyou’re the oneyou did itit wasn’t meit wasn’t meand anyway I only took a little biteHYMN 2: O Come, O Come, EmmanuelO come, O come EmmanuelRedeem thy captive IsraelThat into exile drear is goneFar from the face of God’s dear Son.Rejoice! Rejoice! EmmanuelShall come to thee, O Israel.O come, thou Root of Jesse! DrawThe quarry from the lion’s claw;From those dread caverns of the grave,From nether hell, thy people save.Rejoice! Rejoice ...Priest: When the Lord comes,he will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness,and will disclose the purposes of the heart.Therefore in the light of Christ let us confess our sins.Lord Jesus, you came to gather the nationsinto the peace of your kingdom:Lord, have mercy.AllLord, have mercy.You come in word and sacramentto strengthen us in holiness:Christ, have mercy.AllChrist, have mercy.You will come in glorywith salvation for your people:Lord, have mercy.AllLord, have mercy. May almighty God,who sent his Son into the world to save sinners,grant you his pardon and peaceThat you may be ready to meet Christ when he comes again in glory.AllAmen.HYMN (congregation):O come, O Key of David, comeand open wide our heavenly home.Make safe for us the heavenward roadand bar the way to death's abode.Rejoice! Rejoice ...O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright!Pour on our souls thy healing light;Dispel the long night’s lingering gloom,And pierce the shadows of the tomb.Rejoice! Rejoice ...READING 3:Reader 3: I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope,for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith,but the faith and the hope and the love are all in the waiting.Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.Three candles on the Advent wreath are lit.With love and compassion,Allcome, Lord Jesus.With judgement and mercy,Allcome, Lord Jesus.In power and glory,Allcome, Lord Jesus.In wisdom and truth,Allcome, Lord Jesus.Let us pray.God for whom we watch and wait,you sent John the Baptist to prepare the way of your Son:give us courage to speak the truth,to hunger for justice,and to suffer for the cause of right,with Jesus Christ our Lord.PROPHESY:Prophets slowly return, starting at “I will bring your offspring …” and stand in front of Reader 1.Reader 1: Fear not, for I have redeemed you.I have called you by name, you are mine …For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour …Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;I will say to the north, “Give them up,” and to the south, “Do not withhold;bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth.At their bit, the prophet returns to their part of the church.Prophet 1: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed meto bring good tidings to the afflicted; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;Prophet 4: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord …Prophet 3: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them …They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.Reader 1: Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to herthat her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned,that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.A voice cries:Prophet 2 walks up the aisle, speaking these words by heart, if at all possible, while using the blue fabric from Creation to unfurl a fabric “path” towards the manger.Prophet 2: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”READER 1: I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I am. I was. I will be.HYMN 3: It came upon a midnight clear Children’s Choir for verse 1, congregation join for verse 2 and 4 (cut 3)It came upon the midnight clear,That glorious song of old,From angels bending near the earth,To touch their harps of gold:"Peace on the earth, goodwill to menFrom heavens all gracious King!"The world in solemn stillness layTo hear the angels sing.Still through the cloven skies they come,With peaceful wings unfurled;And still their heavenly music floatsO'er all the weary world:Above its sad and lowly plainsThey bend on hovering wing,And ever o'er its?Babel?soundsThe blessed angels sing.Yet with the woes of sin and strifeThe world has suffered long;Beneath the angel-strain have rolledTwo thousand years of wrong;And man, at war with man, hears notThe love-song which they bring;O hush the noise, ye men of strife,And hear the angels sing.For lo! the days are hastening on,By prophets seen of old,When with the ever-circling yearsShall come the time foretold,When the new heaven and earth shall ownThe Prince of Peace, their King,And the whole world send back the songWhich now the angels sing.READING 5:ANNUNCIATION SCENE – acted out during the poemAll Biblical text is from Luke – the reader announces this in two scenes, but not for the Magnificat.Enter Gabriel (Reader 1) and Mary. Mary to be doing household work and Gabriel standing to the side, during the hymn. Reader 3 goes to the legiliumReader 3: “Gabriel’s Annunciation,” by Jan Richardson (extracts).For a momentI hesitatedon the threshold.For the spaceof a breathI paused,unwilling to disturbher last ordinary moment,knowing that the next stepwould cleave her life:that this daywould slice her storyin two …Gabriel glitters Mary, who reacts in frozen fear/astonishment. Mary and Gabriel freeze. The artists would laterdepict the scene:Mary dazzledby the archangel,her head bowedin humble assent …Yet I tell youit was I who was dazzled,I who found myself agape… that the woman before me—blessed and full of gracelong before I called her so—shimmered with how completelyshe inhabited herself,inhabited the space around her,inhabited the momentthat hung between us.I wanted to save herfrom what I had been sentto say.Gabriel lowers his/her arms. Mary relaxes and looks less afraid.Yet when the time came,when I had stammeredthe invitation(history would not recordthe sweat on my brow,the pounding of my heart;would not notethat I saidDo not be afraidto myself as much asto her)it was shewho saved me—Mary puts her hands out in orans position. Gabriel places his/her hands on Mary’s head.her first deliverance—her Let it benot just declarationto the Divinebut a word of solace,of soothing,of benedictionfor the angelin the doorwaywho would hesitateone last time—just for the spaceof a breathtorn from his chest—before wrenching himself awayfrom her radiant consent,her beautiful andawful –Mary: YES.HYMN 5: Most highly favoured ladyThe angel Gabriel from heaven cameHis wings as drifted snowHis eyes as flame"All hail" said he "thou lowly maiden MaryMost highly favored lady, " Gloria, Gloria"For known a blessed mother thou shalt beAll generations laud and honor theeThy Son shall be EmanuelBy seers foretoldMost highly favored maid, " Gloria, GloriaThen gentle Mary meekly bowed her head"To me be as it pleaseth God, " she said,"My soul shall laud and magnify His holy name."Most highly favored lady, Gloria, GloriaMary and Joseph walk down the outside aisle of the church, to the back. Donkeys, cows, sheep, shepherds, and angels get in place. Reader 1 brings out the manger.Angels are on the chancel, beside the altar. Shepherds are by the Christmas tree, with sheep (any way of getting them elevated?). Donkeys and cows are by the manger.Mary and Joseph (and a donkey, if possible) come up the aisle and onto the chancel.READING 6: gospel of the birth with NATIVITY SCENEReader 2: In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled … and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to the city of David, Bethlehem, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.And while they were there, the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.Reader 1 gets the baby from parents and places it in the manger. Since Reader 1 is now going to be occupied more than a few feet away from the manger, there should be another adult on hand to guard for baby Jesus diving head-first out of the manger.Reader 3: And there were in that same region, shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.Reader 1 glitters shepherds. Sheep are allowed to go bonkers, run around, bleat, etc.Shepherd 1: What’s that?!!Shepherd 2: It’s a demon!Shepherd 3: A monster!Shepherd 4: It’s a judgement on us!Shepherd 5: Heaven save us!Reader 1: Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news of a great joy. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.Shepherd 1: You expect us to believe that?Shepherd 2: Yeah, really?Shepherd 3: How do we know?Reader 1: This will be a sign for you. You shall find the baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.During this next line, the angels run, skip, jump, cartwheel, whatever, from the chancel to the shepherds.Reader 2: And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:Angels: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace!Angels return to chancel in whatever way they like.Reader 2: When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another:Shepherd 4: Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.Shepherd 5: Great idea. Don’t forget the sheep. All of them.Reader 2: So they went with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger.Shepherds and animals move to the manger while joyful music is played.READING 7: (Maybe hold the baby up during this poem at some point?)“BC-AD” by UA Fanthorpe.Reader 2: This was the moment when Before Turned into After, and the future's Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.This was the moment when nothing Happened. Only dull peace Sprawled boringly over the earth.This was the moment when even energetic Romans Could find nothing better to do Than counting heads in remote provinces.And this was the moment When a few farm workers and three Members of an obscure Persian sectWalked haphazard by starlight straight Into the kingdom of heaven.READER 1: I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I am. I was. I will be.Leader: May the God of peace make you completely holy, ready for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of the Lord be always with you.AllAnd also with you.Leader: Let us offer one another a sign of God’s peace.The real baby is returned to parents, and replaced with a doll.OFFERTORY HYMN 6: Tomorrow shall be my dancing dayI would my true love did so chanceTo see the legend of my playTo call my true love to my danceRefrain: Sing O, my love, O my love, my love, my loveThis have I done for my true love.Then was I born of a virgin pureOf her I took fleshly substanceThus was I knit to human natureTo call my true love to my dance.RefrainIn a manger laid and wrapped I wasSo very poor this was my chanceBetwixt an ox and a silly pour assTo call my true love to my dance.RefrainThen on a cross hanged I wasWhere a spear to my heart did glanceThere issued forth both water and bloodTo call my true love to my danceRefrainThen down to hell I took my wayFor my true love’s deliveranceAnd rose again on the third dayBack to my true love and the danceRefrainThen up to heaven I did ascendWhere now I dwell in sure substanceIn glory at the Father’s right handThat all may come into the dance.RefrainEUCHARIST – Children are invited to stay round the altar for communion.The Lord is hereAll His Spirit is with us.Lift up your hearts.All We lift them to the Lord.Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.All It is right to give thanks and praise.It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to givethanks to you.And now we give you thanksbecause you sent Jesus to redeem us from sin and deathand to make us inheritors of everlasting life;that when he shall come again in power and great triumphto judge the world,we may with joy behold his appearing,and in confidence may stand before him.Therefore, joining our voices with angels and archangels, we sing:All Holy, holy, holy Lord,God of power and might,heaven and earth are full of your glory.Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.Hosanna in the highest.Loving God, send your Holy Spiritthat these gifts of bread and wine may be for us Christ’s body and his blood.On the night before he died, when darkness had fallen, Jesus took bread.He gave thanks, broke it, and shared it with his disciples, saying:This is my body, given for you. Do this to remember me.After they had eaten, he took the cup of wine,gave thanks, and shared it with his disciples, saying:This is my blood, poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.So Father, with this bread and this cupwe celebrate his love, his death, his risen life.As you feed us with these gifts, send your Holy Spirit,and change us more and more to be like Jesus our Saviour.Help us, Father, to love one another,as we look forward to that day when suffering is ended,and all creation is gathered in your loving arms.And now with St. George, St. John the Baptist, Mary, and all your saintswe give you glory, through Jesus Christ, in the strength of the Spirit,today and forever.All Amen.As our Saviour Christ has taught us, we are bold to say:All Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thykingdom come; thy will be done; in earth as it is in heaven. Give usthis day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as weforgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not intotemptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, thepower, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.We sing:Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, grant us peace.The priest says the invitation to communion:Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,All We proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.Children receive communion, then sing (from the chancel, on either side of the altar, leaving room for a server/priest to pass by). Space here for more instrumental accompaniment:Communion anthem – Vine and Fig TreeVine and Fig TreeSoloist: And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)All pageant people, including any teenagers who want to join:And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)Mary, Joseph, Animals, Prophets, Shepherds:Angels:And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)And into ploughshares beat their swords; nations shall learn war no more (x2)And every man ‘neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid (x2)Post-communion prayer:We give you thanks, O Lord, for these heavenly gifts;kindle in us the fire of your Spiritthat when your Christ comes againwe may shine as lights before his face;who is alive and reigns now and forever. Amen.We sit for the notices, and then stand to receive God’s blessing.HYMN 7: Go Tell It On The MountainThe real baby is given to Mary again.On the second refrain, the pageant people go down the aisle. Reader 1 goes to the balcony. Prophets and angels get glitter and place themselves strategically around the church.Go, tell it on the mountainOver the hills and everywhereGo, tell it on the mountainThat Jesus Christ is born!The shepherds feared and trembledWhen lo, above the earthRang out the angel chorusThat hailed our Jesus’ birthGo, tell it ... etc.And lo, when they had heard itThey all bowed down and prayedAnd travelled all togetherTo where the babe was laidGo, tell it ... etc.Down in a lowly mangerThe little babe was bornAnd God sent many angelsThat blessed Christmas morn!Go, tell it ... etc.Prophet 1 (from the ground): Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more.Prophet 2 (from the ground): And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.Prophet 3 (from the ground): And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying:Reader 1 (from balcony or from the chancel):“See, the home of God is among mortals.He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes.Death will be no more;mourning and crying and pain will be no more,for the first things have passed away.”The Spirit and the Bride say, "come!" And let all who hear say "come!" Let all who desire take the water of life without price."Prophet 4: The one who testifies to these things says: All 4 Prophets, plus Reader 1: Surely, I am coming soon!All: Amen! Come, Lord Jesus.Reader 1: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.I was. I am. I will be.PRIEST: Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon you,scatter the darkness from before your path,and make you ready to meet him when he comes in glory;and the blessing of God AlmightyFather, Son and Holy Spirit,be with now and remain with you alwaysAll: Amen.PRIEST: May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting.All:Amen. ................
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