the oldest commandment

Maundy Thursday. 

John 13:1–17, 33–35 

wash each other's feet

with your hands

remove the dust of the road

caress the cracks and the callouses

hold the story, hold the person

forgive the mis-steps and stumbles

welcome each other home

into your embrace

this is what I mean  

who?

Holy Week. Year B. Wednesday 

John 13:21–32

I lifted my head

from close to his heart I asked

which one of us, first? 

one night in Bethany

Holy Week. Year B. Monday 

John 12:1–11 

a pound of costly perfume

a house filled with fragrance

a woman pouring, touching, caressing 

a man uncomfortable, spitting blame

a call to remember

a woman pouring

a pound of perfume

a house full of fragrance 

palm leaves in the dust

Palm Sunday 

Mark 11:1–11 

we shout Hope! 

we shout Joy! 

we shout Love! 

we shout Peace! 

all the things you promised

all that we have longed for  

riding into town

on a colt we dress in our imaginations

as a war horse

have you wielding a sword

and shielding us from indignity

injustice and oppression ... 

[pause] 

it is a donkey 

his hands are open

we stumble

fatal hesitation

leaving hope and joy

and love and peace fallen

with the palm leaves

in the dust 

God's people

Lent 5. Year B. 

Jeremiah 31:31–34 

Confession 

'I am your God.

You are my people.' 

You promise

You give

You trust 

money is our god: 

success, fame, power,

humans, our selves,

are our gods, 

and we try belonging 

anywhere but with You. 

broken promise

rejected gift

betrayed trust 

silence 

we are sorry

we are sorry

we are sorry 

silence 

Assurance of Grace 

'I am your God. 

You are my people. 

I forgive

I restore

I heal 

welcome home.' 

God Among Us

Lent 4. Year B

John 3:14–21 

Confession 

You came among us for love,

though our lack of faithfulness

bites at our ankles like a poisonous snake. 

You came among us for light,

though our lack of faithfulness 

has kept us in the dark. 

You came among us for life, 

though our lack of faithfulness 

keeps us from dying to death. 

Forgive us our lack of faithfulness,

come again into our midst

with love, and light, and life, we pray. 

Assurance of Grace 

God so loves the world,

so loves creation,

that They sent, They came,

among us to bring us back

to life. Trust that, and live! 

Amen.  

We remember the Way

Affirmation of Faith

Lent 3. Year B. 

Exodus 20:1–17 

As we travel through this season

of turning and returning back to You,

dying to the ways of death,

living again Your Way of life,

we remember the rule you gave

to our ancestors in Spirit,

we remember, and we renew

our part in this promise. 

We remember You,

Holy One, our God,

who brings us into freedom. 

We worship only You. 

We will not make an idol

of anything found on Earth,

not bow down or worship

any god but You. 

We will honour the Name,

the Holy Name,

and will not tolerate misuse 

of the Holy Name. 

We will rest. Will breathe. 

Will set time aside for You alone. 

We will honour those who go

before us: parents, elders, ancestors. 

We will treasure life, preserve it. 

We will treasure relationship, and be faithful. 

We will take nothing that is not ours.

We will not lie, or deceive;

will not betray our neighbour,

not look at our neighbour with greed or envy. 

We will love and honour Holy One.

We will love and honour neighbours,

human and not human, and ourselves. 

May it be so. 

Amen. 

Praise the Maker

Lent 2. Year B

Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 

People of Holy One: remember

who is our God – 

the Maker of all that is,

the Maker of covenants

with Noah and all that lives,

with Abraham and Sarah

and all of their descendants;

the Maker of life

from barren wombs, 

so much life to match the stars

in sparkling, dancing, number – 

this – this! – is the One

we come to worship. 

Come now, good people,

worship Holy One! 

In the clouds

 

A lament 

Genesis 9:8–17 

Lent 1 Year B 

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember promise? 

Promise Divine, promise that life

will not be drowned out again? 

How often we forget with our floods

of anti-others vitriol we spit

to drown out life we do not like; 

pushing promise under water.

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember trust? 

Trust in the Word Divine,

covenant established and remembered? 

How often we forget with our turning

to the gods and idols that we make

with the muse that you refuse 

to take away, Creative Spirit. 

When the bow is in the clouds

do we remember hope? 

Holy Hope of green to fill

the fields that rise as waters fall.

How often we let fear

strangle, twist, and tangle

all that's good and full of life,

starve 'us' so we can keep 'them' unfed. 

When the bow is in the clouds,

God has told us we can 

trust the promise and the hope.

Oh, God, help us remember! 

Amen. 

 

Holy Saturday Vigil

Psalm 31:1–4, 15–16



I withdraw into the embrace of Holy One:
comfort for pain,
healing for dis-ease,
nurture for weary bones

I trust in the justice and mercy of Holy One:
wisdom for life,
honour and dignity for all,
forgiveness, hope, peace

Holy One hears my cry:
sorrow
grief
loneliness
despair

My defence against attack is the love of Holy One:
I stand tall, feet planted
in Divine soil;
I thrive, drinking
Holy water

My courage rises when I stand in the right Way of Holy One:
Wisdom has shown
the path to rich life,
and there I follow

When I feel trapped, I look to Holy One for my freedom:
Holy One redeems their people
again and again; rescues,
and restores to right
relationship for healing and hope

I trust in the justice and mercy of Holy One:
wisdom for life,
honour, dignity for all,
forgiveness, hope, peace

The turn on the cross

Psalm 22 for Good Friday 



Forsaken

Alone

Unanswered

Faithful

Reaching

Despised

Scorned

Remembering

Faithful

Alone

Hounded

Spent

Thirsty

Mocked

Pleading

Faithful

Remembering

Remembering

Faithful

Proclaiming

A Psalm for Maundy Thursday

Psalm 116:1–2, 12–19



Holy One has heard my voice:
to that love I return my love.

I will call on Holy One forever;
my vow of loyalty I make before all.

Holy One I say to you:
I am yours forever.

I will sing songs of thanksgiving,
my praise I sing with joy.

Holy One hears my voice:
to that love I return my love.

I will call on Holy One always;
a vow of loyalty I will make each day.

Holy Week. Wednesday

Psalm 70



God is matchless,
benevolent,
virtuous:

God is good.
God will help me in my need.

My life is diminished
by my choices
by harm from others
by systems that oppress
and harm us all.

I am troubled:
I call to God in my pain

For God is liberation;
in God is my life,
my hope, my escape
from diminished life.

God is matchless,
benevolent,
virtuous:

God is good.
And in God I shall rest
for my help. Amen.

Holy Week. Tuesday

Psalm 71:1–14

God, my hope, my trust, my refuge;
God who is holy, faithful, strong –

wickedness holds me in its grip,
I am caught in the grasp of the unjust.

God, my hope, my trust, my refuge,
all the days of my life I praise you.

My strength is spent, but you are strong;
I am old, but you will remember.

God, my hope, my trust, my refuge:
come quickly to help me, I pray.

Let my accusers, the ones who would hurt me,
wear the shame they would cast on me,

O God, my hope, my trust, my refuge.
I will hold fast to hope and praise:

my mouth will sing aloud of your justice,
my voice will carry the song of your holiness.

God, my hope, my trust, my refuge,
I will praise no holiness but yours.

Holy Week. Monday

Psalm 36:5–11 



the vast blue
untouchable – touching us deep with breath
unreachable – reaching to watery, earthen, surface

the fluffy grey
untouchable – touching us with tears and thunder
unreachable – reaching across the wide, wide, breadth

your steadfast love
untouchable – touching us deep with life
unreachable – reaching as far as we can run

Holiness sure and strong as mountains
Justice, the reassuring depths
Love redeeming all that lives

Wings give shelter for all
Table gives welcome to all
River of delight
Fountain of life
Light revealing light

for the non-violent resisters

Matthew 27:11–54

We give thanks for the non-violent resisters,
the peaceful protesters, the prophets
who show us where you stand, O God:

the falsely accused – 'do you hear their many
accusations against you?'
'what evil has he done?

the abandoned – 'then what should I do
with this Jesus, your Messiah?'
'let him be crucified!'

the beaten – they stripped him, spat
on him, struck him on the head;
they twisted a crown of thorns
and put it on his head

the mocked – they taunted him, 'King
of the Jews', mixed gall with his wine,
cast lots for his clothes; 'you Son of God,
save yourself!'

the crucified – 'My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?'
he cried out again, then breathed
his last.

We give thanks for the non-violent resisters,
the peaceful protesters, the prophets
who show us where you stand, O God.
Amen.

The people's cry / Jesus' prayer

Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29

God is good and we give thanks;
God's steadfast love endures forever.
God's steadfast love endures forever.

Open to me the gates of justice:
Oh may I enter this way and give thanks!

This is the gate of Holy One,
the just may enter this way.

God is good and we give thanks;
God's steadfast love endures forever.
God's steadfast love endures forever.

Thank you for hearing my cry, oh God,
for your answer, your rescue, your hope.

Rejected by the world, but you –
you bring your peace through me!

God is good and we give thanks;
God's steadfast love endures forever.
God's steadfast love endures forever.

This day, this marvellous day,
your people cry for salvation.

Yes, my people, rejoice today –
hold on to hope for tomorrow.

God is good and we give thanks;
God's steadfast love endures forever.
God's steadfast love endures forever.

Branches they bring, bind, and wave,
this procession from songs we sing together –

but why do I feel like a lamb being carried
to the alter for their sacrifice?

God is good and we give thanks;
God's steadfast love endures forever.
God's steadfast love endures forever.

Jesus began to weep

John 11:1–45 

knowing prevents not

grief by the burial cave

joy bringing new life 

open and shut

John 9:1–41 

unsightly: blindness

spit, dust, touch mud to your eyes 

let the light come in 

Psalm 95

We come to worship you, our God,
we bring our songs of joy and praise.

Thank you, Faithful Friend and Guide,
thank you, Creator of all that is.

In your hand you hold the earth,
from its deepest core to its highest peak;

you made the oceans, the lakes and rivers,
the forests and plains, deserts and fields.

We come to worship you, our God,
kneeling, standing, singing – together.

Thank you for being our God, our Maker,
and that we are your people, beloved and home.

Listen, people, to the voice of God!
Keep your hearts warm and open to love.

Our ancestors tested God, broke the promise,
to be God's people with honour, in faith:

God will turn, must turn away,
when the people break the covenant again.

We come to worship you, our God,
help us remember to stay, and how.