a couple of weeks back i was invited to lead the opening worship/reflection/prayer at the fresh expressions gathering at southwark cathedral. (the last time i led anything there was with grace at the time of our lives festival in 2000!) the title of the conference was from margins to mainstream which i think is provocative - i am certainly trying to get the gravity flowing in the other direction in most of what i do. anyway i posted something in facebook about what those at the margins might say by way of blessing to the mainstream and vice versa. of course lots of people refused to play the game and deconstruct the whole thing which i get. but anyway i asked harry baker to take what had been said and weave the comments into a blessing which he did. several people have asked for it so it's posted below.
the worship pieces for those who asked were
but in silence by flock (chris and harry) which led into silence
before the silence i shared that the reading for the day was one phrase 'christ with us' inspired by sam wells latest book (which is amazing btw) a nazereth manifesto in which he says the word 'with' is the most important theological word. during the silence i shared some images of christ to reflect on that notion of christ with those at the margins and those at the mainstream - christ the king which i suggested was a mainstream image, and christ the migrant a more marginal representation (i like this take of the holy family as boat people).
we then prayed by writing prayers on luggage labels with the word hope on one side and grief on the other - and placed them in a suitcase to offer prayers for the journey in whichever direction of travel we were heading (margins to mainstream, mainstream to margins).
and then harry concluded with this blessing
Margins to Mainstream, Mainstream to Margins
Mainstream to Margins, Margins to Mainstream
Can you hear me?
Lean a little closer.
Let’s talk!
Would you like a cup of tea?
We need you and we want you.
Wish you were here!
Margins to Mainstream, Mainstream to Margins
Mainstream to Margins, Margins to Mainstream
I Inhabit both and I don't feel at home in either
One persons margin is another persons mainstream
One person's edge is another person's centre.
Some of us were made to be edge-dwellers
We are all on the margins of something
Let us do our thing
We are so very much more than a label.
There's enough God for everyone
Come inside and learn from previous mistakes.
Come outside and learn from something new.
Margins to Mainstream, Mainstream to Margins
Mainstream to Margins, Margins to Mainstream
May we be open to embrace other people’s margins
May we be open to embrace them into our mainstream
Some of us were made to be edge-dwellers
Some of us are at home in the centre.
Margins to Mainstream, Mainstream to Margins
May we be open to conversation between the two
i am making it all a worship trick - no 60 in the very sporadic series 4!
Would you be able to share some of the other 'margins' images - I, too, like the 'Jesus the boat person' image. I'm going to be speaking about Jesus the refugee at our carol service. Some more images would be lovely. Your post has helped sparked some other ideas for me, too. Thank you.
Posted by: Dan Clark | December 03, 2015 at 11:41 AM
i only used two other re margins - one was an image of Jesus as a migrant - https://05varvara.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/00-robert-lentz-christ-of-maryknoll-2002.jpg and the other of the so called jungle church at calais - not sure weber i found it but something like this - https://www.premieryouthwork.com/var/ezdemo_site/storage/images/media/images/premier-youthwork/september-2015/20150818_152509/16147207-1-eng-GB/20150818_152509.jpg
Posted by: jonny | December 03, 2015 at 06:50 PM
I am so thankful for your archives! This blessing that Harry gave....and the idea of luggage tag prayers with the suitcase! So meaningful....especially in the political climate in the USA.
Posted by: Ed Dickel | October 06, 2019 at 03:39 AM