Category: tip

Thank you. For new songs

We will not keep silent

based on Psalm 96

We are people who must sing you,
for the sake of our very lives.
You are a God who must be sung by us,
for the sake of your majesty and honour.

And so we thank you,
for lyrics that push us past our reasons,
for melodies that break open our givens,
for cadences that locate us home, beyond all our safe places,
for tones and tunes that open our lives beyond control
and our futures beyond despair.

We thank you for the long parade of mothers and fathers
who have sung you deep and true;

We thank you for the good company of artists, poets, musicians,
cantors, and instruments that sing for us and with us, toward you.

We are witnesses to your mercy and splendor;
We will not keep silent … ever again.   Amen

 
— by Walter Brueggemann, from his Psalms class on January 20, 1999. Posted on the Gladly Listening blog.

Tip: 12 Song Challenge
It’s not too late to join this international community of songwriters (including Irene Bom), working together to grow in their creative gifts and serve the local church.

Also be inspired by Irene’s Make and do website, a window into her creative projects, including new songs. The index offers easy access to the songs and other creative projects that were featured in the her workshop on the Psalms, held in Lausanne (2022) and Budapest (2024).
 

People cry “peace”


 

Prayer of Confession

inspired by Jeremiah 6:13-16

O Lord,
All around us people cry “peace” when there is no peace.
How can there be peace
when voices are silenced, people suffer, and rights are denied?
How can there be peace
when bombs are falling, countries are at war, and justice is denied?

O Lord,
All too often we are the ones who cry “peace” when there is no peace.
How can there be peace
when people around us are lonely, stereotyped, and abused?
How can there be peace
when our own nations use violence in the pursuit of peace?

O Lord,
We confess our brokenness.
We confess our complicity.
We confess our contentment with “peace”
that is only about our own personal well-being.

O Lord,
Draw us to yourself, that we might live in your grace and pardon.
Challenge us to see through false declarations of “peace.”
Empower us to be peacemakers.

O Lord,
We stand at the crossroads and look.
Show us the ancient paths, where the good way lies.
Give us the courage to walk in it,
that all may find rest for their souls. Amen.

 
~ from Mennonite Central Committee website, posted on re:Worship

Day of Prayer: Saturday 29 November 2025

Rt Rev Rosie Frew, Moderator of the General Assembly, is encouraging Church of Scotland congregations to join together in a special Day of Prayer on Saturday 29 November, the eve of St Andrew’s Day.

More information and resources here

Watch live stream
They will be livestreaming the first hour (11am–12noon) and the final hour (7–8pm) of the day (UK time zone). So, if you’re not able to join in person, you can still be part of this time of prayer and worship from wherever you are.

From the blog
Make us a chalice
Theme: He heals the brokenhearted  [prayer sheet]
Change from the inside out
 

Create a memory (game)

 

World Collage Day 2025 is this Saturday, 10 May.

I’m hoping (and praying) there’s a good turn out at our COME COLLAGE ROTTERDAM event. We will be creating mini collages in matching pairs, based on a series of prompts, to form a memory game.

World Collage Day is for everyone. There might be a World Collage Day event near you. Alternatively, set up an impromptu World Collage Day get-together where you are, with friends, family, people from your church or neighbourhood. It’s a great way to get creative and build community across the generations. You don’t need much: a place, a time, scissors, glue sticks, magazines and junk mail, and some cardboard you can cut to size to use as a base. Simple, fun and often profound.
 
For more information: kolajinstitute.org/worldcollageday/

Easter Prayer

You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.
(Acts 2:28)

Risen Lord Jesus,
as the rising sun scatters the darkness,
let fear and the memory of failure
be scattered from our souls
that we may live in the glorious freedom
of the children of God

We raise up into your resurrection light
all who are excluded from fullness of life
by poverty, unemployment or stigma,
by injustice, criminality or neglect,
by homelessness, landlessness or war,
remembering in particular the peoples of
[names may be added here]

Risen Lord Jesus,
let us be baptized by your resurrection light.
May we trust in you above all else,
hope in you above all else,
seek you in all things,
find you in every place,
meet you among all people,
know you through everything,
and love you
beyond, beyond, beyond all telling.

We pray in your name, living Lord.
Amen.

 
~ from the Christian Aid website. posted on re:worship
 

Leave your tree

Benediction

inspired by Luke 19:1-10

God is the rock to which you cling,
            your hiding place.
      This doesn’t mean that now you should go
            where no one can find you.
Instead, this week, I invite you:
            come down out of your own sycamore tree.
      Jesus is coming to your home,
            to where you work
                  or learn
                        or play.
Don’t be afraid. It’ll be all right.
      Today salvation has come to this house,
            because you too are a son or daughter
                  of Abraham and Sarah.

 
~ from Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren, posted on re:worship

This week’s post was inspired by an article in The Guardian featuring photographs of women posing in trees, a recurring theme in amateur photographs taken between the 1920s and 1950s.
 

Pause/Pray


 

Let me tell you about …

“Express” prayers to fit into your day

My friends at engageworship.org have this great resource, a podcast they call Pause/Pray. The latest season (Season Three) contains thoughtful reflections around 3 minutes long you can fit into your day.

Currently available from Pause/Pray season Three:
Pause before meal
Daily transition moments
Prayer during stressful moments
Short breather
As I begin to work
Short anxiety prayer
Short morning prayer
 
Also check out Pause/Pray seasons One and Two, and the many other resources Engage Worship has on offer, including a free video series for worship teams in local churches, entitled How Would Jesus Lead Worship.

From the blog
In quietness and trust is your strength
Time together
Quiet near a little stream
 

Flower where you are

Opening Prayer

“Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness….” Psalm 29:2

 
O God,
whose holiness is not limited to
      grand cathedrals or saintly persons,
      spectacular mountains or mountain-moving leaders;
O God,
whose holiness is often discovered in simple everyday places
      and simple everyday folk,
plant Your holiness in this place,
      in us now.
Grow us this hour,
      that we might flower,
      right where we are,
      with the beauty of Your holiness.
Through Jesus we pray.
Amen.

 
~ posted on My Redeemer Lives website.

Note: Next month’s theme is “Response”. Week by week I will be posting a litany based on the lectionary psalm and a sung response I’ve written specially for services in my church in Rotterdam in the month of August. The psalms are Psalm 17, 105, 133 and 124.
 
Get in touch if you’d like to use the litanies too. I can provide recordings and basic notation (melody line and chords).
 

God is our help (Psalm 46)

 
For some years now I’ve taken part in various editions of the 12-song challenge, a songwriting initiative hosted by resoundworship.org. The challenges and the supportive songwriting community have kept me writing at least one song a month. even during busy and trying times like vacancies and the pandemic.

This month the assignment was to write Assembly Bangers:

assembly – gathered, collective worship in schools, supposed to be daily and of a broadly Christian character. Though not so common throughout the school experience as it once was, it remains a staple of many children’s experience in primary school (ages 4 to 11)

bangers – a British colloquial terms for great song that make you want to get up and dance

songs that:
– are repetitive and hooky
– have a simple structure
– are easy to play and lead on piano (or guitar)
– have an accessible vocal range
– have words that children can read/memorise/understand

To start with I revamped an existing song called “God is my refuge”, also based on Psalm 46. Slowly but surely the revamp evolved into a song in its own right, including a new verse that references war and peace and a bridge based on “Be still, and know that I am God” (v.10).

I don’t know if I hit the brief exactly. Perhaps the song is too confessional and belongs in the church, more than the school assembly. Time will tell.
 

GOD IS OUR HELP (PSALM 46)

CHORUS
God is our help in times of distress
God is our refuge and strength
God is with us always
No need feel afraid
for God will keep us safe.

VERSE 1
Even if the earth starts to tremble
and mountains start to slip and slide
even if the waves start to roar like lions
God is by our side

(Chorus)

VERSE 2
One day God will stop all the fighting
All weapons will be scrapped and burnt
One day God will reign over all the nations
Peace will come on earth

(Chorus)

BRIDGE
Be still and know God is on the throne
Be still and know, God is in control.

(Chorus)
 

From the blog
Big strong tree
Prayer poem: Not forsaken
Circle me, Lord
 

3 Prayers for Christian unity


IK IK (ME ME) Reflect

 

3 prayers on the theme of Christian unity to coincide with the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an annual prayer initiative that usually takes place from 18 to 25 January.

Let us pray …

#1

Lord, we pray for the unity of your Church.
Help us to see ourselves as rays from the one sun,
branches of a single tree,
and streams flowing from one river.
May we remain united to you and to each other,
because you are our common source of life;
and may we send out your light
and pour forth your flowing streams over all the earth,
drawing our inspiration and joy from you.
 

~ after St Cyprian of Carthage (c.200-258),
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #527
 

#2

Lord Jesus Christ,
who prayed for your disciples that they might be one,
even as you are one with the Father;
draw us to yourself,
that in common love and obedience to you
we may be united to one another,
in the fellowship of the one Spirit,
that the world may believe that you are Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

 
~ written by William Temple (1881-1944), from re:worship
 

#3

You made us, God,
in Your own image,
and then became one of us,
proud of those you have made.

Make us proud of being part of that worldwide family,
and eager to discover and celebrate Your image
in every person, every culture, every nation,
that we are privileged to encounter.

 
~ from the booklet for the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
 

More
Racial justice at forefront of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Church of Scotland website).
 

King of hearts


 

A prayer

High King of Heaven,
You stretch out the skies like a curtain
And lower the canopy of gentle night
To cool the heat of the day.
May your peace, dark, velvety and starlit,
Descend
To calm the wild beating of my heart,
That I may be still.

 
~ by Pat Robson, from A Celtic Liturgy, p. 1-2
 

Podcast tip
If you like listening to podcasts, here’s one with a Christmas theme, entitled God is not nowhere in the world, featuring Jason Micheli, posted on the Mockingbird website.

The other talks from this year’s Mockingbird Tyler Conference are good too (see uploads dated 11.4.2022).

Another tip
Sing “Be thou my vision” reflectively, paying attention to the references to heart and “High King of Heaven”.

And enjoy this acoustic version of Jon and Valerie Guerra’s Christmas themed song, “Lord, remind me”.

 

Continually ever-present


 
 
Wishing you a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter.

Benediction

(inspired by Hebrews 10:19-22)

Go in peace, assured that God has heard,
      and will continue to hear your prayers.
Remember that no curtain separates us
      from the presence of the Lord.
Therefore, every table at which you will sit this week,
      be it a school desk,
            a work bench,
            a lunch counter,
            a meeting room table,
            an office desk,
            a board across sawhorses,
            your own kitchen or dining room table;
      every table is God’s altar.
So boldly pray,
      hold fast to hope,
            and encourage and provoke one another
                        to put love into action.
                        Amen.

~ from the Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren website.
 

Holy Week resources from the blog
Windows on Holy Week (2017)
He suffered series (2018)