Angels Among Us:#DoNotBeAfraid

Overview of the worship scripts from Dr. Marcia McFee

This series is designed to give you everything you need–all words, hymn and song suggestions, choral and handbell suggestions, leader introductions, etc. But also please know that if you want to adapt to fit your current order of worship, you can easily lift any of the suggested material and place it in a more familiar structure. You may especially want to do this with a more contemporary worship service style (we’ve suggested contemporary music suggestions and songs that will easily cross over).

This overview will give you a sense of what’s included each week at-a-glance.

The order of worship is the same each Sunday (except for Advent 1, where we give you a full communion prayer script–if you do communion every Sunday you will want to adapt according to your tradition). This goes with the concept I teach that repetition is a good thing and a solid foundation is necessary in order to be creative within it. Doing series can give you the opportunity to try on a slightly different order of worship for a season but keep it the same during that season, therefore offering some sense of familiarity and a rhythm.

A Note about Christmas Eve: Advent 4 and Christmas Eve are on the same day this year (2017). I have prepared an Advent 4 service and a Christmas Eve service AND a hybrid combination version in case you decide that you want to offer only one service on that day. This, of course, will depend completely on discerning the best thing for your context. Another solution would be to begin Advent a week earlier than the Christian calendar suggests in order to have all four Advent services and save December 24 for Christmas Eve.

I know that many of you will have a Sunday with a message that is all music (sometimes referred to as a cantata). You will need to adapt for that but I would encourage you to keep the opening “threshold moment” and the Benediction the same to provide continuity for the series.

Friends, may your Advent/Christmas be filled with the strong conviction that we CAN be messengers of hope, peace, joy, love and life for an anxious world. My prayers are with you!

Peace & Passion,

Dr. Marcia McFeewww.marciamcfee.com

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WE GATHER

Music for Gathering Commonly known as the “Prelude,” this part is at the discretion of your musicians.

Welcome/Announcements Even if you don’t usually do announcements at the beginning, I want to encourage you

to try it this season so nothing interrupts the flow of the journey. At the end of the announcements, invite people to a deep breath and/or lower the lights. If the pastor is the one doing the welcome and announcements and also leading the next Threshold Moment, move from one spot to another as a way of creating a “scene change,” so to speak. You are transitioning into the ritual of worship at this moment and it is important

to shift the energy as the music begins for the next part.

Threshold Moment - Procession of Advent Candles A “threshold moment” is a concept I teach that introduces people to the journey and the theme of the day at the beginning of the service so that everything is seen through that lens. For this service, I have composed, along with my music collaborator, Chuck Bell, an original and simple song that reminds us that the messages of hope, peace, joy and love can be proclaimed by us (“angels among us”) right here, right now. This song will repeat every Sunday with a leader (pastor) part introducing the message and a litany

prayer (could be done by Advent candle lighters). The song will become familiar to your congregation over the series and soon they will be singing along (especially the “Do not

be afraid” part which will repeat as the Benediction). Watch a workshop demonstration of this HERE.

Opening Hymn/Song of Advent We have chosen hymns and songs (depending on your style of worship) as

suggestions, most of them familiar. But you can also feel free to adapt, using something more beloved by your congregation if you choose. For some of our suggestions,

national music consultant Chuck Bell offers new piano accompaniment arrangements to familiar hymns that cross the bridge between worship styles.

The Peace Every week the scripts offer you the chance to invite folks to pass the peace with one

another, with a phrase that changes slightly, depending on the word of the day.

“I invite you to pass the hope of Christ with your neighbors, for each time we connect with one another, [hope/peace/joy/love/life] grows.”

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WE PROCLAIM

Younger Messengers of the Church I am pleased that once again, the foremost expert on children in worship, Mark Burrows, has created suggestions for every Sunday so that you can not only do

something that goes right with the theme, but you can also learn more about making Children’s Time in worship excellent. These are easy for anyone to learn and lead and

each one incorporates our “anchor image” (or main metaphor)–feathers– which adds lots of fun and meaning.

Scripture The scripture selections are based on the angels appearances in the story of Jesus’ birth and the events leading up to it. I have chosen to suggest that you utilize several

voices as the “characters” in these narratives and have utilized/adapted these from The Voice translation of the Bible. This should be fun and easy to put together. The

“Messenger” (angel) in each story carries a “feathered” notebook to read their parts from that will be fun for your visual arts team to create. I suggest that you use different people as the Messenger each week as the point of this series is that we are all called

to be “angels/messengers” to the world.

The Word in Music We have suggested choral anthems or ensemble/band possibilities for each week based on the scripture. For this reason, it comes as an extension of the scripture

reading. You may wish to choose your own with a similar theme. I realize that one of your Advent Sundays may consist of the tradition of a “music Sunday” or “cantata.” If

you have not chosen that repertoire yet, there is a Christmas Musical called “Sing with the Angels” by Joel Raney to consider here: https://www.jwpepper.com/Sing-With-the-Angels%21/10360836.item#/submit. My suggestion is to let any cantata function as the sermon and prayer time yet continue the theme as written for the opening and closing

parts so that the continuity of the series remains.

Proclamation of the Word The sermon is up to you, friends–we don’t give you that! BUT we do give you some

“fodder” to help you craft your message. If you will not be doing small groups for Advent, you might also want to draw from those materials for the sermon or one of the Advent meditations from our friends at theworkofthepeople.com if you use projected media. A

focus on dealing with a culture of fear could figure prominently in the scripture’s connection to our world.

One thing to incorporate into the sermon each week is an invitation to utilize what I call the “anchor image” (a symbol) which, for this series, is a feather. Just as angels are

symbols of God’s messages to us, as God’s presence with us, feathers symbolize the Spirit of God, the ability to span any distance between heaven and earth, and the

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freedom of flight to new heights in our lives as we claim God’s possibilities for our lives and for our world. The first week includes the gift of a feather keychain made by the

visual arts group to be hung on a keyring, backpack, rearview mirror, etc. where it can be a reminder that we are to be the “angels among us” with good news to those who so

desperately need it. Folks will get that as they come for communion.

WE RESPOND

Prayers of the People We have suggested a refrain from the “Angels Among Us” song made popular by the

group Alabama that is very easy and will act as bookends to the prayer time (with adapted wording for the second repeat) as well as being woven into the communion prayers I have written for you. This refrain is available separately with choral parts.

Listen to a workshop walk-through of this song used in the communion setting HERE.

Offering We leave this up to you to do in the manner to which you are accustomed. I have

written a Doxology that goes with the tune for “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

WE GO FORTH

Closing Hymn/Song I have made suggestions of Christmas carols that you will recognize. Because many churches are adamant about using only Advent hymns before Christmas, the leader

explains it this way the first Sunday:

“Each week we start our worship with an Advent hymn/song and we close with a Christmas carol. Traditionally the church waits until Christmas to sing these songs but in our day, these songs ring through the air on the radio, in stores–just about anywhere holiday tunes are happening. So we will take our encounters with these as “messengers,” foretelling the good news of the presence of God coming once again in Jesus Christ. This week, when you hear “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” stop for a moment, touch your feather if you happen to have it in your pocket with your keys, on your bag or in your hands, and breathe a prayer that hope will invade the world like a gaggle of angels descending on humankind.”

We suggest that the choir and handbells (if applicable) come to stand in the outside aisle and the people who brought in the Advent Candles bring them to the center of the

center aisle (if you have one) during the final hymn.

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The Mission to the Messengers (Benediction) Each week we have provided a social media “meme” (photo with a quote on it) for

people to share with the hashtag #donotbeafraid and #morehope (or #morepeace, etc depending on the week). These responses will help us see our role as messengers of

more hope, more peace, more joy and more love in the world.

Benediction The congregation is invited to stand and face the candles in the center and the blessing

by the pastor takes place there. A repeat of the little round “Do not be afraid” is sung.

Music for Going Out Commonly known as “postlude”–your choice.

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Supplemental Materials (all included)

Music Notes This document walks you through some of the ways that the music can function as the “glue” for a deeply spiritual journey. An interview with my collaborator, Chuck Bell, will help your musicians get on board with both the new material created for this series.

Visual/Media Suggestions My project assistant (Jenna Johnson) has helped me put together some fun visual

suggestions for the angel theme in this document as well as on our Pinterest Board for this series! This document also makes a suggest for a candlelight vigil prayer station to set up each week as a witness to the messages of #morehope, #morepeace, #morejoy,

#morelove, #morelife.

Small Group Meeting Suggestions My new intern (Shelley Walters) has brought her worship and educational skills to help

me form a guideline for each week for small group sharing. Because these focus on “flying in the face of fear,” in an anxious world, these small groups should really be small enough to offer a safe environment for people to share about how fear shows up in their

lives and dialogue with the content we’ve suggested in video excerpts of the amazing scholar, author and speaker, Brené Brown.

Support Materials for Publicity and Worship “Branding” We have once again put together a “series trailer” video for you to use in getting the

word out (call it publicity or call it evangelism) and a logo you can use.

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