ANTI-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DAY

MUSIC & WORSHIP RESOURCES

Sunday, June 24, 2012

J. Anthony Plenty, Guest Lectionary Liturgist
Minister of Music, First Baptist Church, Fairfield, AL, and Educational Leadership, Policy, and Law Doctoral Fellow, Alabama State University, Montgomery, AL

Worship Planning Notes

To prepare for this worship experience, consider worship elements that will create an environment of koinonia or intimate fellowship during corporate worship. As one considers the effects of domestic violence, the unfortunate reality is that often families are forced apart as a result of domestic violence. Do all that you can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to create an atmosphere of support for victims.

• Prior to the day on which your church celebrates Anti-Domestic Violence Day, offer lectures and workshops about domestic violence and ways to end it. Invite local and national speakers and persons who are trained to aid domestic violence victims. Advertise the event well on social media. Be sure to involve youth and teens and partner with sister churches and state and federal organizations. Have resources available for those who need immediate help.
  
  
• During the period of prayer on this Sunday, rather than one corporate prayer offered from the pulpit, encourage congregants to gather in small groups and pray for one another and especially for those in your church who have been or are victims of domestic abuse, especially children.
  
  
• Include anti-domestic violence litanies, images on screens, and a list of resources in your order of worship/bulletin.
  
  
• If there is a family or individual in your church who has experienced and overcome domestic violence, if they are willing, encourage the pastor of your church to offer them an opportunity to briefly have words with the congregation and speak concerning their experience.

Again, the goal of this experience should be to have your church show love, care, compassion, and support during the service.

1. Responsive Reading, Centering Prayer, and/or Litany

Responsive Reading

Centering Prayer

Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and our God, on this day, as we worship in this corporate experience, we earnestly seek your presence, and we humbly seek your power and your loving embrace. We thank you that we are not divided, but we are united in this worship experience against domestic violence. It is our prayer that, as we parishioners gather, bringing our gifts of worship, we will leave this temple with more of your loving attributes and characteristics. It is in your son’s name that we pray. AMEN!

2. Hymns
(a) I Must Tell Jesus. By Elisha A. Hoffman

(b) They’ll Know We Are Christians. By Peter Scholtes

(c) Truly Caring Is Our Savoir. By J. Anthony Plenty

(d) Love Lifted Me. By James Rowe

3. Anthem
Psalm 46. Arr. by John Ness Beck

4. Spirituals or Traditional Songs 
(a) Lord Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace. By John Rutter

(b) Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen. Arr. by Norman Luboff

(c) Sinner Please Don’t Let This Harvest Pass. Spiritual

5. Gospel Songs for Choirs, Ensembles, or Praise Teams 
(a) Bettah. By Jonathan Nelson and Kenneth Shelton

(b) You Brought the Sunshine. By Elbertina “Twinkie” Clark

(c) Jesus Can Work It Out. By George Jordan

(d) Oh How He Loves You and Me/Love Lifted Me. Arr. by Trent Cory

6. Liturgical Dance Music
(a) Above All Else. By Vicky Beeching

(b) Love. By Kirk Franklin

(c) I Shall Live and Not Die. By Darlene McCoy

7. Congregational Songs 
(a) Jesus Loves the Little Children. By C. H. Woolston and Joseph Barlowe

(b) Be Blessed. By Kurt Carr

(c) Give Me a Clean Heart. By Margaret P. Douroux

8. Modern Songs
(a) Corinthian Song. By V. Michael McKay

(b) By the Way. By David Gillard

(c) I Won’t Go Back. By William McDowell

9. Offertory Song or Instrumental
(a) In the Middle. By Tammie Haddon

(b) Greater. By John P. Kee

(c) Hold on, Help Is on the Way. By Kenneth Paden

10. Song or Instrumental for the Period of Prayer
(a) Somebody Somewhere. By Andrew Gouche, Anthony Gouche, and Jackie Gouche

(b) When You Pray. By Walter Hawkins

11. Sermonic Selection
(a) Family (There’s a Healing). By Donald Lawrence

(b) Change. By Walter Hawkins

(c) Broken, But I’m Healed. By V. Michael McKay

(d) Hold On Help Is on the Way (A New Hallelujah). By Michael W. Smith. This is the song that accompanies the images for this unit.

12. Invitational Songs or Instrumental 
(a) Change Me Now. By Babbie Mason and Turner Lawton

(b) I Give Myself Away. By William McDowell and Sam Hinn

(c) I Need Your Glory. By James Fortune

13. Benediction Song or Instrumental
(a) Lord, Make Me More Holy. By Roland Carter

(b) Amazing Grace. By John Newton

(c) Redeemed. By Fanny J. Crosby

(d) I Need You to Survive. By David Frazier

Cites and Additional Material for Music and Material Listed

1. Responsive Reading, Centering Prayer, and/or Litany

Responsive Reading
Psalm 11:4-7, NRSV

Centering Prayer
By J. Anthony Plenty