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Guidance in relation to marking the ending of appointments in a service of worship

Introduction

The ending of an appointment to a particular role or office within the life of the church marks a moment of change on our journey with God, both for the individual concerned and for the church community, and in the relationship between the individual and the local church. The following guidance is offered to assist those who seek to mark such an ending liturgically in a service of worship.

There are many and various appointments in the life of the Church, of varying degrees of formality, for which an ending may appropriately be marked liturgically, and for which this guidance may be applied.  Examples include:

  • Local Preacher, retiring from regular service
  • Worship Leader
  • church or circuit stewards, secretaries or treasurers
  • church musician or director of music
  • junior church leader
  • pastoral visitor or class leader
  • lay employees; eg, family workers, children’s workers, and administrators
  • Local Lay-Pastor, at the end of their term of appointment
  • presbyter or deacon at the end of their appointment to a particular station including when becoming supernumerary

There are also many varieties of circumstance within which such an ending may occur: the ending may be an easy one, or a difficult one, or a mixture of the two.  This guidance does not therefore seek to be prescriptive about the particular form such a liturgical act should take: this should be worked out by those responsible, with sensitivity to the particular circumstances of the situation. But this guidance offers a framework for thinking through what may be appropriate.

In most circumstances, marking the ending of an appointment in a service of worship will willingly involve the person whose appointment is ending, and this guidance tends to assume that this will be so.  However, there may be circumstances in which the person concerned is unwilling or unable to take part, but in which it is nonetheless important for the church community to mark the ending liturgically.  This guidance can be applied to such circumstances too, recognising that the ending being marked is significant for the community, just as it is for the individual that has served among them.

In some cases the person whose appointment is ending will be remaining in the local church community, but not in that role, whereas in other cases the person will be leaving the local community altogether; and this will have a bearing on how the liturgical marking of that ending is framed.

 

Context and timing

Consideration should be given, in light of the particular circumstances of the situation, to when the liturgical marking an ending should take place. This has two dimensions: firstly, it is important to consider the timing of the liturgical event in relation to the actual ending of the appointment, and to be mindful of any implications of marking the ending either prior or subsequent to the appointment’s formal end; or it may be that the liturgical moment itself constitutes or coincides with the actual ending of the appointment: either way, this should be thought through. Secondly, a choice needs to be made about the worship context for marking the ending: be that as part of a regular Sunday service, or in some other service especially for the occasion.  Within a service, the appropriate place for such a liturgical act will usually be after the sermon, but perhaps linking also with the sending out at the very end of the service.

 

Liturgical links with beginnings of appointments

That the ending of an appointment within the life of the church marks a moment of change in the individual’s and the community’s journey with God, and in the relationship between the individual and the church, is equally true of the beginning of such an appointment. Thus, in marking the ending of an appointment liturgically, what we say and offer to, and ask of God in our worship will have a corollary with what we would do at its beginning: for which, in the Methodist Church there exists already provision, in The Methodist Worship Book and in the additional liturgies published by the Church, for a variety of circumstances.

This does not mean that only those appointments whose beginning was marked liturgically may have their ending marked liturgically: but by reference to our existing practice, insofar as it does exist, around the beginning of appointments, we can identify what, in general, are the theological purposes that we should aim to achieve in marking an ending liturgically (irrespective of whether a particular appointment was inaugurated liturgically).

In those cases when we mark liturgically the beginning of an appointment (whether through commissioning, welcoming or admitting to office), we typically do the following:

  • Affirm that God calls us all to God’s service in a variety of ways as members of the Body of Christ.
  • Give thanks to God for the offering for service of the person beginning the appointment.
  • Invoke the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit on the person beginning the appointment, to equip, guide and sustain them in the service they are undertaking, in fidelity to Christ.
  • Ask the person beginning the appointment to make commitments that indicate their intention to undertake this service in obedience to and in discipleship of Christ.
  • Commit the people of the Church to encourage, support and pray for the person beginning the appointment as they undertake their role.
  • Declare, by words or sign, that the person offering for service is now so appointed, and welcome them in this new role.
  • Offer prayers for the Church and for the world, praying that we may all serve the world and each other faithfully according to God’s purposes.

 

Liturgical aims when marking endings

The liturgical elements identified above, around marking the beginnings of appointments, point us in general terms to what we may seek to mirror, liturgically, in marking endings.

There is also an additional theological emphasis, in the ending of an appointment, that in God, who raised Christ from the dead, death gives way to new life: God makes all things new.  This emphasis is appropriate to any ending of an appointment, and may be reflected in the prayers that are said; but it may be particularly important in a situation where the ending is a difficult one, and there is need of healing for either the individual or the church community.

Thus, when marking liturgically the ending of an appointment, we might seek to achieve the following:

  • Reaffirm that God calls us all to God’s service in a variety of ways as members of the Body of Christ. The threefold call-and-response beginning “We are the Body of Christ” on page 345 of The Methodist Worship Book (repeated on pages 348 and 350-351) may provide a helpful formula for this.
  • Thank God for the offering for service of the person whose appointment is now ending. This may include testimony, offered on behalf of the church, to how the church’s life and mission has been enriched by the person’s service.
  • Thank God for the ways in which God’s Holy Spirit has equipped, guided and sustained in this service the person whose appointment is now ending. This may include testimony from the individual concerned to how God has been at work in their life during this period of service.
  • [By the person whose appointment is ending:] Make confession for any falling short in the discharge of their service, to ask for forgiveness, and to reaffirm their commitment to Christ as they move on.
  • [By the people of the Church:] Make confession for any falling short in their encouragement, support and prayer for the person whose appointment is now ending, to ask for forgiveness, and to reaffirm their commitment to Christ as they move forward.
  • Declare, by words or sign, that the person whose appointment is ending is now released from that role, and to commend or ask God’s blessing upon them as they move on to new things.
  • Affirm that in God, who raised Christ from the dead, death gives way to new life, that God makes all things new; and thus to pray for healing and renewal for the individual and the church community, according to the circumstances of the situation.
  • Offer prayers for the Church and for the world, praying that we may all continue to serve the world and each other faithfully according to God’s purposes.

In such testimony as may be given on behalf of the church, and by the person concerned, sensitivity should be given to an awareness of what has gone well and what has not gone well.  An appropriate balance needs to be struck.  While it is important to acknowledge where God’s help is needed, the emphasis should be wherever possible on that which is to be celebrated, and to give thanks to God for it, and especially to celebrate and give thanks for the person.  Where there is need to express sorrow about the experience of the appointment, it should be framed in the recognition that all stand in need of God’s healing and help.

 

Effective use of signs, symbols and silence

In declaring, by words or sign, that the person is released from the role, it may be particularly effective for there to be some sort of symbolic setting down of an appropriate object that represents in some special way the role they have undertaken, as a sign of laying down and letting go.  This may be placed (by the individual themself, or on their behalf) on the communion table or at the foot of a cross, as a symbol of offering back to God that with which God had entrusted and equipped the person now laying it down.  Examples of such an object might be: an accounts book, in the case of a treasurer; a map of the local area, in the case of a local lay-pastor; a copy of the pastoral list, in the case of a presbyter moving on.  But many alternatives are possible.

Regarding this: in some cases, the ending of the appointment will represent for that person the ending of an intrinsically time-limited ministry: for example, a church steward or local lay-pastor reaching the end of their term of appointment.  In other cases, the ending of the appointment will represent the ending of a time-limited expression, in that place, of a person’s life-long ministry: for example, the ending of a presbyter’s or deacon’s appointment to a station.  In that case, it will be important that any object to be symbolically laid down be chosen to represent the particular time-limited appointment that is ending, but not the life-long ministry which continues. Consideration and imagination should therefore be given to whether or not such a laying-down of an object makes sense, and what an appropriate such object might be, in the circumstances. 

The use of silence can be an effective way to underline the significance of the moment: for example, a period of silence following the sort of symbolic act of laying-down described above. Silence can mark a boundary between that laying down of the old and the taking up of the new.

It may also be appropriate to present the person whose appointment is ending with something to take with them, as a sign that they are cherished, that they carry with them gifts and experiences acquired during the appointment, and that they are renewed by God’s grace as they take on whatever comes next.  Depending on the nature of the role, this might be a certificate, a photo, or something else that celebrates and remembers the appointment from which they are moving on.  Again, consideration and imagination is encouraged here, according to the circumstances.

In the case where the appointment-holder has died, such symbols as described above may be employed, with appropriate sensitivity, as part of a funeral or memorial service, or in connection to memorial prayers for that person in worship.

See an outline order for marking an ending of an appointment in worship

 

           

Other resources

Further useful liturgical resources will appear on the Methodist Church website under the section ‘Good Endings’.

In addition, the liturgy of ‘Praying our Farewells’ from the Society of St Francis’ Celebrating Common Prayer, from which parts of the above outline order are derived and used by permission, may offer some helpful liturgical words, to be adapted as appropriate to the local circumstances. Celebrating Common Prayer was published by Continuum in 2002 and is available online at: Celebrating Common Prayer (oremus.org).