Worship: Mothering and Fathering Day

Beyond the Baggage of Fatherhood (PDF download)
A liturgy for Father’s Day

David McNeish

Digital download: A liturgy for Father’s Day, including two songs.

The Bible is an uneasy place to find out about fathers – stories of human failure and frailty abound. Yet Joseph does not abandon Mary when he finds out that she is mysteriously pregnant. Instead he chooses to stay, and raises Jesus as his own son. And Jesus dares to call God ‘Father’. Repeatedly. And describes him as one who is all-loving – and who runs out to embrace us and lead us home. For some, this is an extraordinary revelation of the heart of God. For others, it is an uncomfortable reality that tests their faith. Yet what if we were to lavish love upon our children as God does? What if fathering has a future beyond the bounds of patriarchal oppression? 8 pages

Also available as a PDF + PowerPoint download.

Father’s Day (PDF Download)

Various contributors

Digital download: Prayers, poems, responses and a song for Father’s Day, taken from the book Bare Feet and Buttercups, by Ruth Burgess. 9 pages.

The Prodigal Son Returns to Peckham (PDF download)
A dialogue, activity and reflection on Luke 15:11-32

Dave Broom

Digital download: an original dialogue, activity and reflection on the story of the Prodigal Son. Jesus’s stories were about the people he met and the situations he encountered. The Gospel is not some disconnected philosophical or moral message, but is lived out in real life, among real people: the Prodigal Son is that guy down the pub you’ve heard about who spent all his father’s money and had to come back home with his tail between his legs. 6 pages.

The Iona Community offers numerous resources: including for Mothering Day and Fathering Day.

I walk with my father today (PDF download)
Worship resources for Father’s Day
Tom Gordon

Digital download: Reflections, a poem and a prayer for Father’s Day. 10 pages.