Trinity Sunday Litury

A liturgy I crafted for Holy Trinity Sunday. This is the result of spending a semester looking at the Trinity, reading great authors like Karl Barth, Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, Marcella Althaus-Reid, Carter Heyward, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Sallie McFague. I feel the relational and mutual aspect of Trinity is important, and I tried to highlight that throughout the liturgy below. Some images may seem modelistic, but when presented with a wide variety of images it is my hope that people can look past vaguely defined heresies and delight in the wonder of language and our language of God, recognizing that all of our attempts to speak of God (of whom we cannot but speak) are flawed.

Intro
We welcome you to our worship service this day! Today is Holy Trinity Sunday, in which we celebrate the revelation that our God is a God of relationship, traditionally expressed as “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” On this day, we look at other images of the Triune God, recognizing that God appears to us also as “Mother, Daughter, and Spirit,” and in many other ways.

Invocation
P: In the name of God: the Parent, the Lover, and the Friend.
C: Amen.

Confession and Forgiveness
P: Blessed be the holy Trinity, + one God, who forgives all our sins, and whose mercy endures forever.
C: Amen.
P: God of all mercy and consolation, come to the help of your people, turning us from our sin to live for you alone. Give us the power of your Holy Spirit that we may confess our sin, receive your forgiveness, and grow into the fullness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
C: Amen.
P: Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Most merciful God,
C: we confess that we continually sin against you, turning away from you with our thoughts, words, and actions, betraying the love and grace you give us. We, in our arrogance, try to name you, creating false idols against you.
We confess that we continually sin against our neighbors, those like us and those not like us. We have participated in corrupt structures that benefit a few over others, and we have discriminated against people based upon gender, sexual orientation, creed, ethnicity, culture, financial and social situation, and beliefs that are different from our own.
We confess that we continually sin against your creation, often in the name of progress, wasting limited resources and betraying the hospitality that nature provides us.
In your endless compassion forgive us all of our sins, known and unknown, things we have done and things we have failed to do. Turn us again to you, bring us to mutuality, and lead us into your eternal dance of love, so that we may serve you, our neighbors, and your creation, in newness of life through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Apostolic Greeting
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you.
P: We praise the Creator, who continually creates the universe, breathing fire into the stars, spinning the electrons, who makes all things new.
C: All glory and honor to the Creator!
P: We praise the Redeemer, who through living and breaking bread with us, through dying, and through raising from the grave redeems us all.
C: All glory and honor to the Redeemer!
P: We praise the Sanctifier, who takes this broken world and mends it, bringing all things towards wholeness and completion.
C: All glory and honor to the Sanctifier!
P: Let all the world sing praise to our God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
C: Amen!

Prayer of the Day
P: The Triune Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray through our body, mind, and spirit:
blessed are you, O God, Mother of creation, King of the universe. Before time began you were in relationship, eternally in mutuality, love, and dynamic movement. We call out your name in worship, trust, and prayer. Send your Spirit to us, and like a fire, let it spark forth truth, hope, and a wanderlust for good and service, so that we might live into the grace that our friend Christ has given us. We pray this all in your Triune name: the Spark, the Fire, and the Flashing Forth.
C: Amen.

Prayers of Intercession
P: With the whole people of God in brother Jesus, gathered together in the communion of the Holy Spirit, let us pray for the church, those in need, and all of God’s creation.
P: Eternal Triune God, we pray for the universal church, for all religions, and their ministry and mission in the world. We pray especially that we may proclaim the good news to all the world. Lord, in your mercy,
C: Hear our Prayer.
P: God our parent, you held all creation in your womb, nurturing it, singing songs to it, loving it. At its birth you lit the stars and molded the planets. Even still you create, continuing to call us into the dance of creation with you. We pray for our brother Sun, our sister Moon, our brothers and sisters of the air, ocean, forests, and land. We pray that we may learn from our siblings, and we pray that you will lead us to sustainability and care for your whole creation. We join our voices in praise and thanksgiving with that of the entire cosmos, saying, Lord, in your mercy,
C: Hear our Prayer.
P: God our leader, you cast the mighty down from their thrones and uplift the humble of heart. We pray for peace in the world, we pray for all nations and governmental leaders, that we may all learn to live in partnership and community. Teach us to look past political, ethical, social, religious, ethnic, and cultural differences so that we may live as one yet many, many yet one. Lord, in your mercy,
C: Hear our Prayer.
P: God our lover, you entered into this broken world as one of us. You taught us by your example to care for the poor, the oppressed, the sick, the bereaved, the lonely, the outcast, the hopeless. Your compassion knows no limits, and your grace no bounds. We pray that you liberate all people, free all who are oppressed from all oppression and free us who are oppressors, give us knowledge to see our betrayal of mutuality. Lord, in your mercy,
C: Hear our Prayer.
P: God our friend, you bind us together, knitting us into one community of faith and love. We pray for this our congregation of friends, family, loved ones, and neighbors. We pray that you will continue to restore us with your Holy Spirit, through baptism, preaching, and meal. Grant us vision to see outside of these walls, hearts burning with passion for your justice. Lord, in your mercy,
C: Hear our Prayer.
P: Even here, even now,
C: Your Spirit moves us.
P: Even though we sit with clenched teeth, arms crossed, unwilling to change, unwilling to do your justice in the world,
C: Your Spirit calls us.
P: Into your hands, gracious God, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy, send us the power of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Savior.
C: Amen.

Great Thanksgiving
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
P: It is indeed right, our duty, and our joy, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God, through our Savior Jesus Christ. You reveal your glory as the glory of the Parent, Lover, and Friend: equal in majesty, undivided in splendor, one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your eternal glory. And so, with all the choirs of angels, with the church on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
(Sanctus)


I also suggest for the Creed that one might use either Martin Luther's explanation of the creed in the "Small Catechism" or the Athanasian Creed. Portions of the liturgy are adapted from "traditional" Lutheran Liturgy, some of which is in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal (2006). Please feel free to use any or all of this liturgy; however, please give credit to the author.