A closing liturgy: ‘Holy journeying’ | Living Liturgies

The following liturgy is a development of a closing service held for the Women’s Fellowship Group that met at St Peter’s Church, Hall Green, Birmingham. The service offered an opportunity to give thanks to God for the life of the group, remembering much of what had been shared and looking to the future. The gathering included a few friends and relatives of the group members, plus clergy and speakers who had participated in the monthly devotional and fortnightly meetings over many years.

Informal conversation before the service briefly recapped some of the themes explored in previous months before we moved into the liturgy with music to mark the beginning of worship and reflection. On this occasion we used a service sheet in large print, with members of the fellowship saying the words in bold. The group’s favourite hymns featured as part of the service.

This liturgy could be used for other times of closure (for example, leaving a family home for different accommodation) by adapting prayers, adjusting the ‘Remembering’ and ‘Looking to the future’ sections, and considering appropriate verses of scripture for the context.

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