The Baptism of Edie Mae

Edith Mabel Henley

Sunday 5th November 2017

The Gathering

Hymn: Who Put The Colours In The Rainbow

Who put the colours in the rainbow?
Who put the salt into the sea?
Who put the cold in the snowflake?
Who made you and me?
Who put the hump upon the camel?
Who put the neck on the giraffe?
Who put the tail upon the monkey?
Who made hyenas laugh?
Who made whales and snails and quails?
Who made hogs and dogs and frogs?
Who made bats and rats and cats?
Who made everything?

Who put the gold into the sunshine?
Who put the sparkle in the stars?
Who put the silver in the moonlight?
Who made Earth and Mars?
Who put the scent into the roses?
Who taught the honey bee to dance?
Who put the tree inside the acorn?
It surely can’t be chance!
Who made seas and leaves and trees?
Who made snow and winds that blow?
Who made streams and rivers flow?
God made all of these!

Greeting

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Old Testament Reading: In The Beginning

Prayers of Penitence

Absolution

New Testament Reading: The Lost Sheep

Creed

Peace

Reading: A Different Child

A different child,
People notice
There’s a special glow around you.

You grow
Surrounded by love,
Never doubting you are wanted;

Only look at the pride and joy
In your mother and father’s eyes.

And if sometimes
Between the smiles
There’s a trace of tears,

One day
You’ll understand.

You’ll understand
There was once another child
A different child
Who was in their hopes and dreams.

That child will never outgrow the baby clothes
That child will never keep them up at night
In fact, that child will never be any trouble at all.
Except sometimes, in a silent moment,
When mother and father miss so much
That different child.

May hope and love wrap you warmly
And may you learn the lesson forever
How infinitely precious
How infinitely fragile
Is this life on earth.

One day, as a young man or woman
You may see another mother’s tears
Another father’s silent grief
Then you, and you alone
Will understand
And offer the greatest comfort.

When all hope seems lost,
You will tell them
With great compassion,
“I know how you feel.
I’m only here
Because my mother tried again.”

Hymn: Be Still For The Coming of The Lord

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here;
Come bow before him now with reverence and fear:
In him no sin is found – we stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One, is here.

Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire, with splendour he is crowned:
How awesome is the sight – our radiant King of light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord is shining all around.

Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place;
He comes to cleanse and heal, to minister his grace –
No work too hard for him. In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord is moving in this place.

Blessing of the Water

Baptism

Reading: I Want You To Be Happy

I want you to be happy. I want you to fill your heart with feelings of wonder and to be full of courage and hope.
I want you to have the type of friendship that is a treasure – and the kind of love that is beautiful forever.
I wish you contentment: the sweet, quiet, inner kind that comes around and never goes away. I want you to have hopes and have them all come true.
I want you to have a real understanding of how unique and rare you truly are. I want to remind you that the sun may disappear for a while, but it never forgets to shine. May the words you listen to say the things you need to hear. And may a cheerful face lovingly look back at you when you happen to glance in your mirror.
I wish you the insight to see your inner and outer beauty. I wish you sweet dreams. I want you to have times when you feel like singing and dancing and laughing out loud. I want you to be able to make your good times better and your hard times easier to handle.
I wish I could find a way to tell you – in untold ways – how important you are to me. Of all the things I’ll be wishing for, wherever you are and whatever I may do, there will never be a day in my life when I won’t be wishing for the best… for you. Anon

Signing of the Cross

Giving of a Lighted Candle

Hymn: Sing Hosanna

Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,
Give me joy in my heart, I pray;
Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,
Keep me praising till the break of day:

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.

Give me peace in my heart, keep me loving,
Give me peace in my heart, I pray;
Give me peace in my heart, keep me loving,
Keep me loving till the break of day:

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.

Give me love in my heart, keep me serving,
Give me love in my heart, I pray;
Give me love in my heart, keep me serving,
Keep me serving till the break of day:

Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen

Family Blessing

God bless Edie with all the gifts
That Heaven can bestow,
With kind and gentle nurturing
And strength to thrive and grow.
God bless Edie with sunlit days
And nights of peaceful dreams,
With robin songs and clear blue skies
And sparkling crystal streams.
God bless Edie with health and hope
And courage come what may,
With common sense and confidence
And faith to light the way.
God bless Edie with books to read
And new paths to explore,
With smiles to share and friends who care
And love forever more.

Blessing

A Moment for Matilda Mae

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie

Hymn: One More Step Along The World I Go

One more step along the world I go,
One more step along the world I go;
From the old things to the new,
Keep me travelling along with you:

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

Round the corners of the world I turn,
More and more about the world I learn;
All the new things that I see
You’ll be looking at along with me.

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

As I travel through the bad and good,
Keep me travelling the way I should.
Where I see no way to go,
You’ll be telling me the way, I know.

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

Give me courage when the world is rough,
Keep me loving though the world is tough;
Leap and sing in all I do,
Keep me travelling along with you:

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.
You are older than the world can be,

You are younger than the life in me;
Ever old and ever new,
Keep me travelling along with you:

And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
Keep me travelling along with you.

Dismissal

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
EE Cummings