World AIDS Day 2012

The Way, the Truth

and the Life

Leaders’ Service Order

Welcome

Welcome to this service of worship. We gather with people all over the world to hold people infected and affected by HIV in prayer.

There are a couple of songs we will be singing that will be new to most of you. [Name] will teach them now so that we can sing them prayerfully when we come to them in worship.

Teaching of songs

In worship we will listen to a song written and recorded by the Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart. It was written for a documentary on those living with HIV and AIDS. It is a mother’s lament for her son, drawing on the words of a mother interviewed in the documentary.

SONG: CH4 716 Come and find the quiet centre

Leader: Let us take a moment of quiet as we continue our worship.

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The Story

Leader: This is the Story of Jesus

All: This is the Gospel

Leader: That in the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The Word became one of us;

a babe in arms,

a child in our midst,

a light in our darkness.

A light that the darkness could not put out.

(Pause)

And God reached out His hands.

SONG: Gloria sung three times in canon

The large candle brought forward and placed on table, already lit, as Gloria is sung.

Leader: This is the Story of Jesus,

All: This is the Gospel.

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Leader: That God became fully human and lived His life with us.

He ate with us, and drank with us.

He laughed with us, and wept with us.

He ate more with us, and drank more with us.

He crossed the boundaries of race and rank,

bridging the gaps between strangers and enemies,

touching the untouched,

loving the unloved,

challenging the un-challenged.

Breaking expectations with unbridled love and compassion.

(Pause)

And God reached out His hands.

SONG: Gloria x 3 in canon

Bread and wine brought forward, broken, poured and placed on table as Gloria is sung.

Leader: This is the Story of Jesus,

All: This is the Gospel

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Leader: But he walked the extra mile,

went too far, and overstepped the mark.

He challenged the ones who made the barriers,

the ones who made a living from them

and who had too much to lose

if they were taken away.

So they handed him over

to those who would do the dirty work

who took him outside the city walls

to a place set aside for the discarded and the

disgraced.

And through wood and nails

showed what awaits

those who cross the line.

And God stretched out His arms.

No Gloria, just silence.

Hammering sound (out of sight)

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Cross brought forward and placed on table and candle blown out.

Leader: And in that moment, all was darkness

and the world washed the blood from its hands

while a mother wept for her son.

SONG: ‘Firethief’ by Karine Polwart

If you have lights, dim them at this point.

(Important: Song should be faded out in last 5-10 seconds)

Time of Silence

Crescendo of Readings

Leave at least 30 seconds to 2 minutes of silence before four or more people, scattered throughout congregation, start to read randomly from the selection of scripture quotes below. No microphones. Begin with whispers, get gradually louder. Voices should overlap, all saying different things at different times. The crescendo should not be hurried.

“The light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out”

“I am the resurrection and the life”

“I am the light of the world”

“I am the way the truth and the life”

“Behold, I make all things new”

“I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness”

“I am with you, even until the end of the age”

As voices grow one person slowly moves towards the table where

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the large candle is re-lit.

SONG: Alleluia (Begin song as voices are reaching a climax.)

During the song, additional candles brought one by one to the table and lit from the large candle.

The Stories

Reader 1: Maria

My name is Maria Silo, I live in Malawi, and I am the mother of four children.

I was widowed in 1996 when I was carrying my last child. After the birth I became sick, and in 1998 when I went for a blood test I discovered that I was HIV positive. When my nephew heard about my diagnosis, he tried to set fire to my house.

But I made a point of being open about my situation, as I wanted to encourage others to ‘know their status’. My story even reached the front page of Malawi News.

By 2003, however, I had become very ill, I couldn’t do any paid work, or sweep my house, and care for my children. I was very close to dying. However, thanks to the Ekwendeni Hospital AIDS Programme, I was able to access the vital antiretroviral medicine, and slowly I began to regain my strength.

Now I myself work at the hospital, and am assistant director of the home-based care programme. I visit people in their own homes and help families and friends to provide the best care and support for people in their households or communities who are living with HIV. I also organise support

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groups so that when a person is diagnosed HIV positive, they can benefit from others’ experiences of living with HIV.

I thank God from the bottom of my heart for every new day, and for his many blessings upon my life.

(Reader pauses for a few moments before reading next line…)

This story, of struggle and hope, is but one of many.

Singer 1: verse 1 and chorus of “Don’t tell me of a faith that fears”.

While verse is sung, Reader 1 takes red ribbon, pauses in front of table, holding it up for everyone to see, then pins it to table cloth.

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Reader 2: Emma

My name is Emma; I am 15 years old and I live in Edinburgh. I am HIV positive. I have not told any of my friends about my HIV status, because I am afraid they might reject me or start to bully me. Most of the time I keep in good health, but at times I can get anxious and depressed. However, last year, I was able to go to a weekend in Perthshire organised by Waverley Care, and for the first time I realised that I am not on my own. We had a lot of fun, but we also talked together – long into the night – about how we cope with our treatments and the side-effects, about what it’s like to feel you can’t be open about what’s going on in your life; about the challenges of relationships. Now me and my new friends often e-mail each other and I’m already looking forward to the next time I can spend time with them, because they truly understand.

(Reader pauses before reading next line….)

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This story, of struggle and hope, is but one of many.

Singer 1: verse 2 and chorus of “Don’t tell me of a faith that fears”.

While verse is sung, Reader 2 takes red ribbon, pauses in front of table, holding it up for everyone to see, then pins it to table cloth.

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Reader 3: Peter

I am Peter; I am 32 years old, and come from Zambia. I used to be married and worked as security guard in the city. But when I lost my job, I returned with my wife to live in my mother’s community at Mwandi, where she worked with the Mission. While doing a counselling course, I went to be tested, and discovered that I was HIV positive. My wife left me, and shortly afterwards our only child died. The Mwandi Mission enabled me to get the antiretroviral treatment I needed, and I started a support group for other people living with HIV. I now have a job at the Mission - and I have remarried! My new wife was HIV negative, but she knew and accepted my status. With help from the clinic we have been able to have a baby together, and my wife and daughter both remain HIV negative. I look forward with great hope to a long and productive life.

(Reader pauses before reading next line….)

This story, of struggle and hope, is but one of many.

Singer 2: verse 3 and chorus of “Don’t tell me of a faith that fears”.

While verse is sung, Reader 3 takes red ribbon, pauses in front of table, holding it up for everyone to see, then pins it to table cloth.

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Reader 4: Shi Dong

My name is Shi Dong and I live in Yanun Province in China. I am a recovering drug addict living with HIV. I became involved with the Amity Foundation, who run support groups, and help people like myself to get back on their feet. They gave me a loan of 5000 yen, which I used to repair my piggery, buy 4 piglets, and 50 baby chickens, and some fertiliser for my sugar-cane farmland. I have worked hard on this, and I am now getting a steady income; but much more than that, I have appreciated the trust that Amity have shown in me – they have given me back my dignity, and I can now look with confidence to the future.

(Reader pauses)

This story, of struggle and hope, is but one of many.

Singer 1: verse 4 and chorus of “Don’t tell me of a faith that fears”.

While verse is sung, Reader 3 takes red ribbon, pauses in front of table, holding it up for everyone to see, then pins it to table cloth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Silent Prayer

Leader: We are going to take a few minutes of silence, in which you are invited to think, reflect on and hold in prayer the stories represented by these ribbons; stories of people both infected and affected by HIV.

To lead us into this time of quiet, we will begin and end by singing Ipharadisi.

Ipharadisi sung quietly three times

Two or three minutes of quiet.

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Ipharadisi started by one voice to lead out of the quiet.

Responding with ribbons

Leader: You have heard the different stages of the birth, life and death and resurrection of Jesus.

What do these stories offer to those infected and affected by HIV and how do we respond to the call of these stories?

Are you moved by the birth of Jesus to make word flesh and embody the love of God?

Or are you inspired by the life of Jesus to challenge prejudice that divides and condemns?

Do you feel sorrow and anger at the death of Jesus and seek justice in an unjust world?

Or are you filled with hope by the resurrection of Jesus and seek to share the love that the darkness cannot overcome?

As a sign of solidarity or as an act of prayer we invite you to come and take a ribbon symbolising your concern for one of the lives affected by HIV.

During this we will sing Ipharadisi.

SONG: Ipharadisi while people take ribbon from table – (Alleluia could also be used here, but Ipharadisi work better and can be sung at a gentle pace too.)

Reading from Scripture

Romans 8:38-39 read twice with pause between readings.

I am convinced, that neither death nor life, neither angels nor

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demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Affirmation from South Africa

Leader: It is not true that this world and its inhabitants are doomed to die and be lost;

All: This is true: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him shall not die, but have everlasting life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that through him the world might be saved.

Leader: It is not true that we must accept inhumanity and

discrimination,

hunger and poverty,

death and destruction;

All: This is true: I have come that they may have life,

and have it abundantly.

Leader: It is not true that violence and hatred have the last word, and that war and destruction have come to stay for ever;

All: This is true: for to us a child is born,

to us a son is given, in whom authority will rest,

and whose name will be Prince of Peace.

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Leader: It is not true that we are simply victims of the powers of evil that seek to rule the world;

All: This is true: to me is given authority in heaven and on earth, and lo, I am with you always, to the end of the world.

Leader: It is not true that we have to wait for those who are specially gifted,

who are prophets of the church, before we can do anything;

All: This is true: I will pour out my spirit on all people,

and your sons and daughters shall prophesy,

Your young people shall see visions,

and your old folk shall dream dreams.

Leader: It is not true that our dreams of liberation of humankind, our dreams of justice, of human dignity, of peace, are not meant for this earth and its history;

All: This is true: the hour has come and it is now, that true worshippers shall worship God in spirit and in truth.

SONG: Bambalela (Never Give Up)

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