Sample Outline
Below is a sample outline that details the order and movement of a Journeys service. It also describes the content that we used to help shift the mood of the service from an intellectual contemplation of God into an experiential one. To date, Journeys Community has performed over 300 individual services and has outlines for many themes in our archives available through subscription or for purchase on an individual basis.
Forgiveness
I. The Seating
As community members arrive for the service, thoughts about Forgiveness are projected onto a screen at the front of the room. The quotes come from many sources and traditions. For example,
“Forgive, son; men are men; they needs must err.” ~ Euripides
“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The quotes introduce the theme and offer a meditative atmosphere for community members as they enter the service.
II. Live Music
The musicians perform a rendition of the Prayer of St. Francis as composed by Sarah McLachlan. It is a meditative tune that expresses the humility of the prayer.
“O Divine Master grant that I may not seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned … .”
This song introduces the theme and expresses the essential idea that in forgiving others we receive forgiveness in return. The lyrics are projected onto the screen.
III. A Welcome
The spiritual leader welcomes community members to Journeys Community and introduces the theme that’s already been set in motion with the quotes and music.
IV. A Reading
A member of the community reads a selected passage from the daily reader, “One Day At A Time In Al-Anon.” Part of the reading reminds us,
“We are asked to forgive those who have injured us. Unless we have first judged and condemned them for what they did, there would be no reason for us to forgive them. Rather we would have to forgive ourselves for judging. The Scripture says: ‘Judge not that ye be not judged.’ If we do judge—no matter how great the injury or how premeditated—we are at fault … we see that we can forgive only ourselves. In doing so, we also forgive the person whose action we have resented.”
The reading echoes the Prayer of St. Francis and leads directly into the video clip which addresses this spiritual principle.
V. A Video
A clip from the movie, “Dead Man Walking” is shown. The scene depicts a conversation between Sister Helen Prejean, played by Susan Sarandon, and the parents of a teenaged girl who was killed. In the movie, Sister Helen has decided to become the spiritual advisor of the killer and she is confronted by the girl’s parents who have no sympathy or forgiveness for the “monster” who murdered their daughter.
This video is dramatic and stirring, illustrating the difficulty of forgivenss. It moves us into an emotional center in which we examine our own beliefs and limitations.
VI. Live Music
The musicians perform the song, “One” by U2. In part, the lyrics read,
“It’s one love, we get to share it…It leaves you baby, if you don’t care for it…We’re one, but we’re not the same…We get to carry each other… .”
The lyrics are projected onto the screen. The song acts as a brief catharsis between the extreme emotions in the video clip and the reflection.
VII. The Spiritual Reflection
The following discussion points for Forgiveness are considered beforehand by the design team and the spiritual leader. They are incorporated into the spiritual reflection along with personal experience and stories to make the theme more accessible and engaging.
- Is there a difference between large forgiveness as depicted in the video and in such atrocities as the Holocaust versus forgiveness on a smaller, everyday scale?
- How does forgiveness enter into our lives on a daily basis?
- Why is it hardest to forgive the people closest to us?
- Are there currently people in our lives whom we need to forgive?
- How can we forgive ourselves?
- How does the grace of God enter into our forgiveness?
VIII. A Meditation
A silent meditation follows the spiritual reflection for a period of five to eight minutes. The silence allows time for self-reflection and creates space for us to open our hearts to God and to others.
A calming image is projected onto the screen during the meditation.
IX. A Recording
After the meditation, the community comes back together in consciousness to listen to a recording of “Suffering Into Grace,” by Wayne Muller. A short segment of the recording tells the story of Cambodian refugees who were forced from their homes by Pol Pot. The refugees gathered to pray at a Buddhist ceremony and they chanted, “Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed; this is an ancient and eternal law.” In this way, the Cambodians sought to live a life of love and forgiveness toward their oppressors rather than live in anger and fear.
The recording brings the spirit of love into the service.
X. The Spiritual Convergence
At the front of the room there is a punch bowl filled with water. It represents the “Common Bowl of Forgiveness” as described in the book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace,” by Philip Yancey.
“The Benedictines … have a moving service of forgiveness and reconciliation. After giving instruction from the Bible, the leaders ask each one attending to identify issues that require forgiveness. Worshipers then submerge their hands in a large bowl of water, “holding” the grievance in their cupped hands. As they pray for the grace to forgive, gradually their hands open to symbolically “release” the grievance.”
Community members are invited to come forward and enact the Benedictine ceremony.
The spiritual convergence is a physical manifestation of the willingness to forgive and has more transforming power than to merely utter the words, “I forgive.”
XI. The Spiritual Meal
The community is invited to come forward for a simple meal of bread as spiritual nourishment for our journey to forgive.
XII. Live Music
The musicians perform “Let It Be,” by the Beatles to conclude the service. The lyrics most clearly reflect the theme in the stanza,
“For though they may be parted there is…Still a chance that they will see…There will be an answer, let it be.”
The lyrics are projected onto the screen and the community is invited to sing along.
XI. A Closing Prayer
The spiritual leader offers a closing prayer or some final remarks that summarize the theme of Forgiveness. Then community members are invited to stay for refreshments and fellowship.
