A Liturgy for All Bodies

New Words for a New World

Pre-Order
Get the Digital Resource

Who writes the liturgy for your church's worship?

A Liturgy for All Bodies is a resource for communities that want to engage the Bible or the teachings of Jesus, but have turned away from visions of God that maintain the status quo. 

  • When our words tell us that we need to help the poor we forget that the poor may be sitting next to us. 
  • When we use words like “blind” or “deaf” or “lame” as stand ins for a lack of understanding, we miss the amazing insights of people who learn different lessons from their senses. 
  • When we use images of conquest to describe the work of God, we can miss the lived wisdom of people who have experienced oppression and found God as an accomplice in the trenches. 

New Words for a New World

A Liturgy for All Bodies assumes that poor people are viable leaders, that people with disabilities have insights, that voices who have experienced cultural and ancestral trauma are ripe with knowledge of God’s healing work. 

Some of the writers in this collection are ordained Christian ministers, others are mystics, lay people, poets and teachers. They are poor, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, Black|Indigenous|People of Color using different translations of Biblical texts to illuminate old stories with living bodies. This is a patchwork of God’s spirit from the fringes where God’s vision is always at work. 

This is a liturgy by the woman at the well, the man in need of healing, the bug-eating prophet in the wilderness, the exiled person with a stutter, and the refugee child sharing wisdom with the temple leaders. Liturgy for all bodies in search of truth written by any bodies with a story to tell.

Pre-Order
Get the Digital Resource

Ash Wednesday: Living With The Questions

by Letiah Fraser

Contributing Liturgist for A Liturgy For All Bodies

Should I sing a dirge or a psalm?
Should I be joyful or calm?
Acknowledge my morality?
Or stay grounded in present reality?
Is the imposition of ashes just a formality?
Or is it a sign of solidarity?
Perhaps this Lenten Season will provide me some clarity?

What does it mean that “I came from the soil?”
Am I made of the very dirt my enslaved ancestors toiled?
Have I been marked with the sign of death since my very birth?
Is it because my skin is made of the dark hues of the earth?
Is that a shallow reason for society to question my worth?
Are there still weeds of internal racism I need to unearth?
Perhaps this Lenten Season is preparation for rebirth?

What does it mean that “to the soil I will return?”
Is it something that should bring me joy or concern?
Why do I keep believing the church’s fable?
Is my body too disabled?
Why is it that MY body is labeled?
Or is it ableism being enabled?
Perhaps this Lenten season is a time to discern how all can access the communion table?

Why have I been taught to be cautious about expressing my femininity?

Is it because society and the church struggle to treat women with dignity?
Is the presence of my female body an intrusion?
Why does my black female disabled body cause so many people confusion?
Does it upset the “apple cart” of misogyny and exclusion?
Maybe this 40-day journey teaches us to live with the questions instead of coming to conclusions?

Should we sing a dirge or a psalm?
Should we be joyful or calm?
Acknowledge our morality?
Or stay grounded in present reality?
Is the imposition of ashes just a formality?
Or is it a commitment to journey with one another in solidarity?
Perhaps this Lenten Season will provide us all some clarity?

Print and Use in Worship Service

What Format Is Best for You?

You can either purchase the hardcover or get access to the digital resource. 

Hardcover

Physical Copy for Your Bookshelf
$ 34
99
Once
  • Beautiful Purple and Gold Design
  • 248 Pages
  • Carbon Offset
  • Free Shipping
  • Display on Your Bookshelf with Pride
Pre-Order

Digital Resource

Premier Membership Site
$ 6
97
Month
  • Free Hardcover Copy
  • Searchable Database of Liturgies
  • Paste into Worship Planning
  • Worship Leader Community
  • Continually Updated
Get Access
Existing members of Cyclical INC can subscribe to this resource at cyclical-inc.mn.co.
Popular