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Source: (consider it) Thread: Eccles: Father's Day and other such secular marketing-fests in church
ken
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Our parish clergy seem to feel that Fathers Day takes precedence over Trinity Sunday in scheduling the main Sunday morning worship. And at least a large minority - maybe more - of the congregation agree.

(I don't, pretty obviously, but this is Ecclesiantics not Hell, so no need to discuss my feelings)

So we have a liturgy based on this one which Common Worship nicked from New Patterns. Which I have to say I find a confusing mixture. And I get to lead it - after some abbreviation and re-arrangement.

Anyway, grumpiness aside, seeing as people expect such secular events to be celebrated in church - and trust me, they do - what can we do in the liturgy to get the most out of it?

And what if anything is your church doing tomorrow? Or if you see this after the service, what if anything was done? (It can't only be us can it? Someone wrote that liturgy!) Did you mark Father's Day in any way? Did it work? Was it worth it?

How could that service be improved? (other than by scrapping it)

(And why didn't I post this OP before we'd finished planning the service? Oh well, I suppose there is a No Homework rule)

[ 29. September 2011, 07:35: Message edited by: Spike ]

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Ken

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.

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Bishops Finger
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Our Parish Mass tomorrow will celebrate the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, with appropriate hymns and readings, but I'll probably pop a mention of fathers into the Prayers of the People - a little nod towards St. Hallmark......

Ian J.

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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

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seasick

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We'll be keeping Trinity Sunday and the most there'll be for Fathers' Day will be a mention in the intercessions. I'd completely agree that the Holy Trinity should take precedence.

If I were using that service (which would be on a Sunday of ordinary time) then I would take selective parts of it and incorporate them into a more normal looking service - perhaps the intercessions (although I find that versicle and response a bit cringey) and the confession. Perhaps it might be more useful as a separate service (ie not the principal act of worship on Sunday) specially aimed for families who have links to the church but don't attend regularly - perhaps those who've come for baptism or something. I think you could make something of it in that way as an outreach effort and you could encourage those of your congregation who are keen on celebrating Fathers' Day to come along to welcome the visiting families! [Smile]

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We believe there is, and always was, in every Christian Church, ... an outward priesthood, ordained by Jesus Christ, and an outward sacrifice offered therein. - John Wesley

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ken
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The relevant events include (but are not neccessarily limited to):

  • Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday. This is the most compulsory of the lot. Also I think the only one which really fits in the church calendar. Its St Martin's Day, but more importantly it fits in as part of a whole season of remembering the dead around All Saints and All Souls and - in England - the secular Bonfire festivities. Reformation Day gets in there as well! As long as you can avoid militarism and nationalism this one works.
  • New Year's Eve. The December 31st Watchnight is traditionally the best-attended service of the year in our parish. I have never been to one.
  • St Valentine's Day (as an excuse for going on about sexual love rather than a memorial of an almost unknown Italian saint)
  • Mother's Day. Revived or invented under that name in America but in Britain conflated with the fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetere) and the subject of a futile campaign to call it "Mothering Sunday". So there is a church calendrical excuse for it on this side of the Atlantic. Doesn't stop the services being almost terminally naff though.
  • Father's Day. Completely artificial attempt by marketing people to duplicate the sales opportunity of Mother's Day.
  • Church Birthday. (Or anniversary of founding etc) Probably a bigger deal in the kind of denominations that don't usually name churches after saints. But we make more fuss over our anniversay in summer than over our saint's day in winter. Excuse for a barbecue.
  • Harvest Festival. Can be embarrasing.


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Ken

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.

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uffda
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It's Holy Trinity for this Lutheran, with a blessing for fathers at the end of the liturgy after announcements. But I wonder if "St. Hallmark" might get more attention than usual by preachers intimidated by the Holy Trinity festival.

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Invincibly ignorant and planning to stay that way!

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Anglican_Brat
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Meh, seems to me, it is a perfect day for Unitarians to preach:

"As this is Father's Day, let me preach on the sole divinity of God the Father".

[ 18. June 2011, 18:18: Message edited by: Anglican_Brat ]

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It's Reformation Day! Do your part to promote Christian unity and brotherly love and hug a schismatic.

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Curiosity killed ...

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It's Trinity in two of the team churches and St Alban in the third (patronal) - but that's mostly just the collects - I think there's a phrase in the Eucharistic prayer about the saints additionally and a couple of other comments here and there. We don't do Fathers' Day.

We do celebrate Remembrance Day - but the listing of names and uniformed groups happens at a joint churches civic event in the afternoon, after the laying of the wreaths and Last Post. The main church services have a laying on of wreaths at the war memorials in church before the service starts, and then continues in ordinary time as normal.

Mothering Sunday is one of the uniformed groups parade days. The mothers/women all get a pot plant and it's an all age lay led service usually - the one we get that month. This year the story was Jesus getting left behind at the temple as a child, enacted by Brownies, supervised by me, which is why that one is carved on my memory.

Harvest (and Christingle) also tend to be the all-age lay-led services, and also uniformed group parade services.

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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Geneviève

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We will be celebrating Trinity Sunday. We will have a prayer for fathers in the intercessions (which is how we treat Mother's day).

Just for fun, we are also doing the end of the year Sunday school closing and a blood drive.

[Big Grin]

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Circuit Rider

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Same here. We'll celebrate Trinity Sunday and give a mention to Father's Day. Very brief. Great idea to include it in the prayer ... hadn't thought of that.

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I felt my heart strangely warmed ... and realised I had spilt hot coffee all over myself.

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quote:
As long as you can avoid militarism and nationalism this one works.

that's a rare event

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JJ
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ExclamationMark
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There'll be no mention here
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Beeswax Altar
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I'll say Happy Father's Day during the Liturgy of the Notices. Other than that its Trinity Sunday. I treated Mother's Day the same way last month. Didn't even do that on Memorial Day. One guy was a tad unhappy at the lack of patriotic hymns. There's always next year. Valentine's Day? Forget about it.

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Sober Preacher's Kid

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quote:
Originally posted by Circuit Rider:
Same here. We'll celebrate Trinity Sunday and give a mention to Father's Day. Very brief. Great idea to include it in the prayer ... hadn't thought of that.

That's what we're doing too. I put the White paraments out for Trinity Sunday. Our minister of course preaches on what he wants, but customarily confines his mention of secular events to the Congregational Prayer. He may or may not choose to riff on the day in the sermon, but then he's just using it as a segue into particular Biblical ideas. Anecdote of the Week, as it were.

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NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.

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Low Treason
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We shall be celebrating Trinity Sunday as usual and I trust there will be no reference whatsoever to secular marketing ploys. However there may be cake with coffee afterwards...

We do mark Remembrance Sunday unfortunately, although I am not sure whether there is anything more than the obligatory laying of wreaths at memorials and the singing of certain hymns. For some unaccountable reason I always seem to be otherwise engaged on that Sunday [Biased]

On Mothering Sunday we celebrate Mother Church and usually present a tasteful bunch of roses to Our Lady.

New Year? Too busy partying to go to church.

St Valentine? No.

Church birthday? Well, we celebrate our Patronal festival with a great deal of pomp and circumstance, otherwise the anniversary of the dedication of the church does get a mention in passing.

Harvest Festival? Most certainly. Despite ours being a city church, I have always pushed for this because I believe we tend to take God's bounty for granted (and besides that I am a country boy at heart). However it is always done in the best possible taste of course!

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He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.

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LutheranChik
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Our pastor tries to ignore the various Hallmark and jingoistic red-letter days as much as possible, but I don't think that the people in our congregation understand why.

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Anselmina
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I don't think I've ever been in a church that's marked Father's Day. Mothering Sunday, yes.

Tomorrow will be Trinity Sunday through and through; frankly, I'd find Fathering Sunday, if there were such a thing, much easier to handle!

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ken
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quote:
Originally posted by Twangist:
quote:
As long as you can avoid militarism and nationalism this one works.

that's a rare event
Not in my experience.

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Ken

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.

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Graven Image
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I am guest preaching at our local Methodist church and just received a copy of the service. The name of the service is printed as:

Trinity Sunday/First Sunday after Pentecost,
Peace with Justice Sunday, Father's Day, and Juneteeth

( For any who may not know Juneteeth marks the end of slavery in the USA)

I plan to stick to the Gospel and preach on the Trinity.
I am curious as to how the rest of the service will play out.
I think the social hour after the service is a good place to acknowledge things such as Mother's and Father's day.

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Olaf
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quote:
Originally posted by uffda:
It's Holy Trinity for this Lutheran, with a blessing for fathers at the end of the liturgy after announcements.

Ditto.

The order is planned anyway, but I'm wondering: We gave flowers to the mothers on their way out the doors. I wonder if we'll give the fathers something.

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Mockingbird

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Mothers' Day is said to have been developed as an anti-war protest in the 19th century. Fathers' Day may indeed be the creation of the greeting card industry, but it would not have taken root had it not been consistent with other, perhaps deeper, cultural structures in addition to the industry's pursuit of profit. All of mankind has fathers, and a large proportion of us are fathers in addition to having fathers. Furthermore, fatherhood is not some dirty garment that we need to shed before we approach the Most High. We bring all the occasions of our lives to church, even our sins, which we confess. So there is nothing inherently wicked about mentioning fatherhood in church and giving thanks for the example of good fathers.

On the other hand, I like always to keep in mind the following words of Alexander Schmemann:
quote:
Last winter a group of students and teachers of a well-known seminary spent a semester "working" on a "liturgy" centered on the following "themes": the S.S.T., ecology, and the flood in Pakistan. No doubt they "meant well". It is their presuppositions which are wrong: that the traditional worship can have no "relevance" to these themes and has nothing to reveal about them, and that unless a "theme" is somehow clearly spelled out in the liturgy or made into its "focus", it is obviously outside the spiritual reach of liturgical experience.
These words were first published in 1972, so "last winter" presumably means the northern hemisphere winter of 1971-1972.

So on the one hand our liturgy need not explicitly mention Fathers' Day. On the other hand, I see no harm in inserting a suitable additional collect at morning prayer. Furthermore, a good preacher might use the occasion of Fathers' Day to commend the good things that are in it, or to denounce where society falls short of the ideals the day represents, or to instruct the flock about what the liturgy says about fatherhood.

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Forþon we sealon efestan þas Easterlican þing to asmeagenne and to gehealdanne, þaet we magon cuman to þam Easterlican daege, þe aa byð, mid fullum glaedscipe and wynsumnysse and ecere blisse.

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Matariki
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Didn't really do Father's Day at all today. However I did factor in that today as well as being Trinity Sunday is Disability Awareness Sunday in my corner of the world. I preached on how all our language is rooted in human experience and how the early church came to an understanding of God as Trinity out of reflection on experience. I then asked whether we are listening to what dis-ability says about our humanity and whether we can draw upon this experience to enrich our theology and worship. Sounded a bit less cerebral than I think I've conveyed here.

[ 19. June 2011, 02:31: Message edited by: Matariki ]

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"Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accompanied alone; therefore we are saved by love." Reinhold Niebuhr.

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Oscar the Grouch

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  • Father's Day - won't get a mention
  • Remembrance Sunday - BIG deal! We'll get probably 2 or even 3 times the congregation. I would get hung drawn and quartered if we didn't do a special service that day. But it does sort of fit into the "Kingdom" almost-season and doesn't seem in any way out of place
  • New Years' Eve - we don't do anything for this and I've never been asked for anything. Go and spend the time with your non-Christian friends rather than remain in a holy huddle - that's my view
  • St Valentine's Day - won't get a mention. Too hopelessly entangled with secular myths about LURV to be redeemed.
  • Mothering Sunday - difficult one this. Mothering Sunday was been around a lot longer than the secular Mother's Day and it is a shame that in England the two have become fused together. My personal preference would be to ignore it, but once again there would be uproar. So we have to have a special All Age Worship service. I try to keep it tackiness-free and we do get SOME extra people on that Sunday.
  • Church Birthday - we'll put on an extra special service in the afternoon on the Sunday nearest the Patronal festival for "our" saint. It helps people to reconnect with the history of the church, which is no bad thing. Any suggestions of organising outings or BBQs are steadfastedly ignored by yours truly. If someone wants to take on that burden, let them. But I'm not. But the reality is that no-one else wants to have to organise anything either.
  • Harvest - as with Remembrance, this is a BIG deal. We get a lot of visitors on that day (though not as many as for Remembrance), so it is an important "shop window" for us.

One new "special Sunday" that hasn't been mentioned so far is Back to Church Sunday. Increasingly widespread across the UK and now going around the world. We do it as it is simple and it is nice to link in with a national evangelistic event.

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Faradiu, dundeibáwa weyu lárigi weyu

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Amos

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The Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford replaced their principal service on Passion Sunday this year with a celebration of the Oxford Literary Festival. The preacher they'd invited was scandalized--I wasn't there, but have read the sermon.

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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken

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Gamaliel
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Grrr ... I'm on Sunday school so I'll avoid the main service but I doubt there'll be much reference to Trinity Sunday - although there was the year before last ...

A Baptist church I used to go to once had 'Toilet Sunday' where someone gave a presentation (complete with toilet) on how to save water and help people in developing countries who lacked access to modern sanitation.

It didn't become a regular fixture in the calendar.

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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.

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Freddy
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In my church we pay little attention to Fathers Day or Trinity Sunday, in favor of celebrating this:
quote:
"After the completion of this book, the Lord called together His twelve disciples, who had followed Him in the world; and a day later He sent them all forth throughout the spiritual world to preach the Gospel, that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, and His kingdom shall be for ever and ever, as foretold by Daniel (7:13, 14) and in Revelation (11:15):
'Blessed are they who come to the wedding supper of the Lamb' Rev. 19:9.
This happened on the nineteenth of June in the year 1770. This was meant by the Lord's saying:
'He will send His angels, and they will gather together His chosen people from the bounds of the heavens on one side as far as the bounds of the heavens on the other.' Matt. 24:31."
Emanuel Swedenborg, "True Christianity" 791

It is a huge celebration, with pageants, picnics, and gifts.

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"Consequently nothing is of greater importance to a person than knowing what the truth is." Swedenborg

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Corvo
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quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
The Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford replaced their principal service on Passion Sunday this year with a celebration of the Oxford Literary Festival. The preacher they'd invited was scandalized--I wasn't there, but have read the sermon.

Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday?
ie Lent 5 or the Palm Sunday of the Passion?

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Corvo
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No mention of Fathers' Day at all in this bit of north London. Holy Trinity celebrated with options from CW Times and Seasons.
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Pearl B4 Swine
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Our sign board says "Father's Day". But there are plenty of Trinity-ish items in the service. One of the hymns is 'This is my Father's world', which people can interpret however they like.

On July 3 (day before Independence Day) we will have God in red, white & blue stars and stripes for ever, and pretending that s/he is American, through and through. We know he loves us best. [brick wall]

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Oinkster

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Amos

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quote:
Originally posted by Sacred London:
quote:
Originally posted by Amos:
The Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford replaced their principal service on Passion Sunday this year with a celebration of the Oxford Literary Festival. The preacher they'd invited was scandalized--I wasn't there, but have read the sermon.

Passion Sunday or Palm Sunday?
ie Lent 5 or the Palm Sunday of the Passion?

Passion Sunday, that is, Lent 5.

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At the end of the day we face our Maker alongside Jesus--ken

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Bishops Finger
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At our backstreet A-C place:

Fathers' Day - Trinity Sunday, as I said above, with a prayer for all fathers. We were missing a couple of families (one of which had gone to visit their father's grave, whilst the other took Dad out to lunch....);

Remembrance Sunday - kept as 2nd Sunday before Advent, but with a 2-minute silence, suitable prayers and the Last Post etc. (our thurifer is an ex-miliary bandsman....). Definitely no militarism here, though we do have members who have relatives currently serving in the Forces;

New Year's Eve - no Watchnight service, but we do celebrate Mary, the Mother of God, on New Year's Day [Razz] ;

St. Valentine's Day - who he? (i.e. not observed);

Mothering Sunday - yes, duly observed, with Scouts etc. attending, flowers to every family represented in church. The rose-pink chasuble gets one of its two annual outings;

Church Birthday - we observe the anniversary of the dedication of the church (in February) at the usual Parish Mass, but we keep the Patronal Festival (in October) with an afternoon Sung Mass on the nearest Sunday (to cater for visitors from other churches);

Harvest Festival - another service with the Scouts, usually quite an enjoyable do;

Back-to-Church-Sunday - kept for the previous couple of years, but not this year (we find that peeps invite other peeps along to church all the time, so there's no real need for a special one-off effort, Father says);

Sea Sunday - usually the second Sunday in July in the UK, when we celebrate and pray for seafarers around the world. We are a dockside parish, so this is appropriate (and completely uncommercialised!). We hope Scouts etc. and Sea Cadets will attend this year.

Ian J.

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Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service. (Wilkie Collins)

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Pigwidgeon

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On Mother's Day we were invited to name our mothers during the intercessions -- simultaneously, whispered or silent -- so it took less than a minute. I imagine we might do the same for our fathers today. Everything else will be Trinity Sunday.

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"...that is generally a matter for Pigwidgeon, several other consenting adults, a bottle of cheap Gin and the odd giraffe."
~Tortuf

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ken
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That went better than I expected. Mainly due to guest preacher who was very, very, good.

Longest service for while though - a few minutes short of two hours.

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Ken

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.

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I didn't actually bother putting anything about Father's Day into the prayers at our place - partly because I forgot all about it, partly because it's a secular invention, and partly because it was Trinity Sunday. Had it been a random Sunday of ordinary time, I might have made a bigger deal of it.
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Mudfrog
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# 8116

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quote:
Originally posted by Gamaliel:
Grrr ... I'm on Sunday school so I'll avoid the main service but I doubt there'll be much reference to Trinity Sunday - although there was the year before last ...

A Baptist church I used to go to once had 'Toilet Sunday' where someone gave a presentation (complete with toilet) on how to save water and help people in developing countries who lacked access to modern sanitation.

It didn't become a regular fixture in the calendar.

That's a shame. I've found that when it comes to toilets, being 'regular' is a necessary feature!

[Big Grin]

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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
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Mudfrog
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# 8116

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No Fathers' Day at our Sally Army this morning.
a number of reasons - it's a secular invention, and also I don't have a father because of divorce, so why should I pretend to enjoy it?

Come to think of it, we didn't do the Trinity either this morning; but I am doing the Trinity this evening, so I can be excused [Smile]

I think this morning that I did pray to the Father.

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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton

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Olaf
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# 11804

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We had a quick mention, like "Happy Father's Day to the fathers" at the beginning of the sermon, in addition to the scheduled blessing of fathers prayer right before the usual blessing.

Even though the holiday is invented, pastoral sensitivity suggests at least a mention within the intercessions.

Our liturgical order, including readings and hymns, was geared for the Festival of the Holy Trinity. By pure coincidence, we sang Father most holy, which is trinitarian in set-up. We didn't even realize that it looks like a very 'fatherly' hymn until today.

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Emma Louise

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# 3571

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Family Service focussing on fathers day here - but it was ok. Sort of a trinity-sunday - God as Father - fathers day mishmash.

There was a video clip from somewhere (american?) about the prodigal son and a bit of talky about God's love. Had little post it notes to write on and take to the front under various headings to do with dads. Acknowledged that many had "issues" with dads or dads that had died. A bit on trinity with the water and ice as ever....

The bit I liked best was the greeting and blessing which I didn't recognise. I assume it might be a John Bell type one but not sure.

No communion and mainly Reader led apart from the baby thanksgiving in the middle!

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Superslug
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# 7024

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3rd Sunday in the month so we had baptisms. The lit, hymns were all straight Trinity Sunday but there was no way we could tackle the trinity in any depth in the sermon.

I skipped the gospel procession and read the gospel reading within the shortened sermon which managed to cover Baptism, the Trinity & Fathers Day in 6 minutes!

I'm afraid that much of the symbolism had to speak for itself. Which I suppose is the point really!

SS

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I was 'educated' in the UK in the 70s and early 80s. Therefore, please feel free to correct my grammar and punctuation. I need to know!

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Gamaliel
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# 812

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I'm afraid I did end up in the service this morning as they had enough Sunday school helpers. Sermon on healings and miracles in the Acts of the Apostles from a Pentie who is a member of our Anglican congregation and an RE teacher. I'm afraid I walked out ...

Otherwise I'd have either had a panic attack (he was going on favourably about Benny Hinn [Eek!] ) or heckled him. Instead, I walked out, went home and peeled the vegetables for Sunday dinner (lunch to southerners).

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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.

http://philthebard.blogspot.com

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Chorister

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I was surprised at Winchester Cathedral today to hear a long sermon almost entirely about Father's Day (although Trinity Sunday did get a mention). It was Choral Mattins, though, so the Liturgy was unchanged.

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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.

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Curiosity killed ...

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# 11770

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Not sure if we had Father's Day in the intercessions, the lovely caring dulcet tones in which they were delivered were an inaudible mumble that got quieter every time someone (me) tried to up the volume on the sound system.

The youngest children came back in with cards they'd made.

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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat

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Carys

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# 78

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As matthew_dixon has said no mention of it with us. I did buy my dad a cupcake at the market* but that was it. Saying goodbye to two congregation members was more noted -- if only because one had chosen two of the hymns -- and the vicar's husband's birthday was marked over coffee!

Of Ken's list we only note Remembrance Sunday, Mothering Sunday and Harvest.

Carys

*which is more than I've ever done because I don't believe in it!

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O Lord, you have searched me and know me
You know when I sit and when I rise

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Celtic Knotweed
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# 13008

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I'd completely forgotten it was Father's Day today. Interestingly, the service I was ringing for was quieter than usual. I only ring there once a month, but I'm sure there are usually a few more families there than I saw today. [Confused]

Just checked the church website. Service was for Trinity Sunday, no mention of Father's Day on the site, and it's Parish Communion both this week and my 'normal' week to be there.

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My little sister is riding 100k round London at night to raise money for cancer research donations here if you feel so inclined.

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Graven Image
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# 8755

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I reported earlier.
quote:
I am guest preaching at our local Methodist church and just received a copy of the service. The name of the service is printed as:

Trinity Sunday/First Sunday after Pentecost,
Peace with Justice Sunday, Father's Day, and Juneteeth

Just returned and they did it all, yet somehow it all worked. At the start of the service everyone was asked to name their father or an important father figure in their life and prayers were offered in thanksgiving. The lay pastor mentioned that it was the season of Pentecost and each person was given a red paper flame and we were told to hold it up during those things we could support in a "Peace and Justice Creed." Juneteeth was explained as an example of Peace and Justice. I then preached on the Trinity and it all tied in with what had gone before, much to my surprise it really did seem all connected.
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Stephen
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# 40

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Feast of the Holy Trinity here......
Not a mention of Father's day thank heavens
Sermon by one of our lay readers on the Trinity which she also tried to tie in - quite successfully and in an interesting way - with the Gospel reading which in the CiW BCP was the meeting with Jesus and Nicodemus ( John 2 vv 1-15)
Psalm 150 - of course.........

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Best Wishes
Stephen

'Be still,then, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations and I will be exalted in the earth' Ps46 v10

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3rdFooter
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# 9751

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Ain't we all so pious. [Big Grin]

Father, Son and Holy Spirit day here in Babylon. Holy Trinity was the only subject at the Sunday service and at the Ordination Service.

Mrs F did the intercessions in the morning. Picked up the Justice references from Isaiah 40 and ignored Father's day completely.

[ 19. June 2011, 22:27: Message edited by: 3rdFooter ]

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3F - Shunter in the sidings of God's Kingdom

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Adeodatus
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# 4992

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I'm finding this thread highly ironic, given the number of churches - Anglican ones alone, let alone anyone else - who have all but given up referring to God as "Father", preferring something along the lines of the "Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer" heresy.

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"What is broken, repair with gold."

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Yerevan
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# 10383

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For some reason my sort of current church went hog wild on Father's Day this year. I bailed...as I already do on Mothering and Remembrance Sundays...so have no idea what they did.


quote:
Acknowledged that many had "issues" with dads or dads that had died.
I hate the way churches feel that some little ritualistic nod towards those of us who find these occasions painful somehow makes it o.k. to inflict us with the rest of their sub-Christian sentimental bilge.

[ 20. June 2011, 09:11: Message edited by: Yerevan ]

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Yerevan
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# 10383

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PS to be fair I've just remembered that at least half the focus was to be on God the Father, which might have allowed for a good Trinitarian angle. I could see the potential for a sermon that started with some reference to earthly fathers before moving on to God the Father in the context of the Trinity.
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Angloid
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# 159

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quote:
Originally posted by ken:

Longest service for while though - a few minutes short of two hours.

The liturgy you linked to must have taken all of twenty minutes. How did you manage to spin it out so long?

This father spend most of Fathers' Day removing daughter and her possessions nearly 200 miles back home from her student flat. But not before getting to an eight o clock eucharist with a very erudite sermon on the Trinity and no mention (unless I was asleep during the intercessions) of Fathers' Day.

And I stopped at my Dad's grave en route to plant a fuchsia. I would have done it anyway but the day added a slightly ironic poignancy (ironic because he would have scorned such commercial nonsense).

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Brian: You're all individuals!
Crowd: We're all individuals!
Lone voice: I'm not!

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