Several friends of mine have requested I attempt to write a rite for transgendered individuals to claim their gender identity and name. This is a first attempt at a rite that I am very humbled to even attempt to make. Viably it would come after a sermon but before a Eucharist but at this point there is no provision for a Prayers of the People to make this fully workable.
Leader:
Do you know who you are?
Seeker:
I know only the part of me I can see.
Leader:
Do you know who this is?
Community:
We know only the part we can see.
Leader:
Who knows who this person is?
All:
The God who creates us,
The God who is the Father that knows the hairs on our head,
The God who is the Mother that broods over us like a hen over her eggs,
The God who truly knows us and names us made very good,
The God who became one of us,
The God who died for us,
The God who rose from the dead for us,
The God who knows us and loves us,
The God who advocates for us,
The God who knits us as one family,
The God who fills us with the fire to change the world,
The God who fills us with the strength to change ourselves.
The God who is One God.
Leader:
Do you seek to recognize more fully who you are?
Seeker:
I do.
Leader:
Do you seek to recognize more fully this person?
Community:
We do.
Leader:
Do we recognize that following Jesus means placing aside falsehoods and recognizing truth?
All:
We do.
Leader:
What falsehood do you place aside?
Seeker:
The falsehood that I am female/male/intersex.
The falsehood that my name is ___________.
Leader:
What falsehood do we place aside?
Community:
The falsehood that this person is female/male/intersex.
The falsehood of the name _________.
Leader:
What truth do you recognize?
Seeker:
The truth that I am female/male/intersex.
The truth that my name is ___________.
Leader:
What truth do we recognize?
Community:
The truth that this person is female/male/intersex.
The truth of the name __________.
Leader:
Will all who recognize this truth do all in your power to support __________ in her/his/zer life in Christ?
All:
We Will
Leader:
Let us rejoice with ___________ in the light of revealed truth.
All:
We rejoice and are glad to know truth.
We rejoice and are glad to know _____________.
Leader:
The peace that flows from Truth, the Peace not of this world, the Peace of Jesus Christ be always with you.
All:
And also with you.
Good job, but this liturgy needs to connect the experience of transition to the experiences of figures in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, renamed folks like Abraham and Sarah, Peter and Paul. I would also suggest including language evocative of the "New Heaven and New Earth" bit from Rev, or the general concept of Christ making all things new.
ReplyDeleteCQ, Much Thanks. And I agree completely with everything that you have said. At this point this is only the seed rite for the full liturgy you are imagining and one reason I am putting out the seed rite is to get feedback to move to the fuller liturgy in good stead.
ReplyDeleteI also got an email with the following:
"Beautiful and moving start in creating something new, and you are the person to do it. Would you consider replacing "person" with "precious child of God"? We are all precious children of God and created in his/her image.
Falsehood is such a strong word and sort of points an accusing finger at the possibly present family, at this potential service, who must've made the best decision or assumption of their child's sex and their name when their "precious child" was born. Maybe "The God of Understanding" could be listed in the "God of" list (which I loved) and then referenced in their coming to fully understand and fulfill who God intended for them to be."
Which are all comments I am thankful for and will ponder as I move to trial 2 (probably once some more advent stuff gets posted and I have been able to meditate with things a bit)...
A lot of my hope for this blog is less about me making liturgy and more about getting individuals engaged and thinking about liturgy. [From which of course I will get ideas to create new or rearrange the liturgies I am working on]
I just came across your blog this evening, this is a great start to a liturgy.
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with this idea in part for myself and in part for those who come after me. I've read a few liturgies as well as had discussions with Jewish friends about how similar is being developed there.
After much thought, prayer and meditation I have come to a point where I'm leaning towards something that incorporates healing and renewal of baptismal vows.
Talia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts. It is a prompt to go back and revisit this text.
I think so much of this has to do with where the individual is and where the community is.
I am glad that you found this helpful and best of luck on your work.