Sunday, March 9, 2025: TODAY we celebrate the gift we have received in the form of Bill Boorman and his generous, loving, kind Spirit.
Liturgical Order of Service
Memorial Liturgy for
William “Bill” Boorman
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Our Emmaus community celebrates Bill’s life TODAY,
Sunday March 9th, at 4 pm Pacific Time (please note last night we switched to Daylight Saving Time)
Potluck to follow: All Are Welcome!
In Person: Christ Church United Methodist, 1717 Yulupa Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA.
in Classroom 8.
If you can’t attend in person, the Emmaus Community invites you to celebrate the amazing life of (Sir Will) on a Zoom meeting.
Please use this ZOOM link to join us:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/Passcode: 1234
Or open ZOOM from your Browser or App: Type in the Meeting ID and Passcode:
Meeting ID: 519 315 8573
Passcode: 1234
Memorial Liturgy for
William “Bill” Boorman
Victoria : Victoria sounds the singing bowl X 3 to gather our community together and welcomes and introduces family members of Bill, those present and those on Zoom, and any other new or visiting people and then offers:
Our Emmaus community’s celebration tonight is to remember and honor our dear brother and loving friend, William “Sir Will… Bill” Boorman. Tonight we will touch upon the themes of: beauty in the midst of grief and loss, using the image of standing at the precipice of grief, and yet at the same time, standing open, and holding onto our longed for dreams and possibilities.
There is a lovely Swedish Proverb that goes like this: “Every grief (and loss) needs...a hundred tellings.” (repeat X 2) And, not just any tellings...but tellings, (the sharing of these deepest stories) with those people who can hold such stories...those who can bear them...those who know how to really feel with us. Tonight I hope, will be the beginning of our hundred tellings, not only with our readings, but also during our shared homily when we will share our own remembered stories of Bill.
So, let’s begin by singing our Opening Song, a song of resilience and strength in the face of the many adversities and losses we face, yet embraced by the overwhelming constancy of our loving God:
ALL: Opening Song: Be Not Afraid!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
[Verse 1]
You shall cross the barren desert
But you shall not die of thirst
You shall wander far in safety
Though you do not know the way
You shall speak your words in foreign lands
And all will understand
You shall see the face of God and live
[Chorus]
Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
And I will give you rest
[Verse 2]
If you pass through raging waters in the sea
You shall not drown
If you walk amid the burning flames
You shall not be harmed
If you stand before the power of hell
And death is at your side
Know that I am with you through it all
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
Blessed are your poor
For the kingdom shall be yours
Blessed are you that weep and mourn
For one day you shall laugh
And if wicked tongues insult and hate you
All because of Me
Blessed, blessed are you!
[Chorus]
Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come follow Me
And I will give you rest
Come follow Me
And I will give you rest
Victoria: Opening Prayer: (from Jan Richardson’s: The Magdalene’s Blessing)
You hardly imagined
standing there,
everything you ever loved
suddenly returned to you
looking you in the eye
and calling your name.
And now
you do not know
how to abide this ache
in the center
of your chest
where a door
slams shut
and swings open
at the same time,
turning on the hinge
of your aching
and hopeful heart.
I tell you
this is not a banishment
from the garden.
This is an invitation,
a choice,
a threshold,
a gate.
This is your life
calling to you
from a place
you could never
have dreamed
but now that you
have glimpsed its edge
you cannot imagine
choosing any other way.
So let the tears come
as anointing,
as consecration,
and then,
let them go.
Let this blessing
gather itself around you.
Let it give you
what you will need
for this journey.
You will not remember
the words---
they do not matter.
All you need to remember
is how it sounded
when you stood
in the place of death
and heard the Living
call your name.
Liturgy of The Word:
Patti : First Reading: Isaiah 25:6-10
On this mountain, Yahweh will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines. On this mountain he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations, he will destroy Death forever. The Lord Yahweh will wipe away the tears from every cheek; he will take away his people’s shame everywhere on earth for Yahweh has said so. That day, it will be said: See, this is our God in whom we hoped for salvation; Yahweh is the one in whom we hoped. We exult and rejoice that he has saved us; for the hand of Yahweh rests on this mountain.
Jim leads us ALL in singing : Responsorial Psalm
Open My Eyes Love (note: the word Love throughout the song)
Open my eyes, Love
Help me to see Your face
Open my eyes, Love
Help me to see.
Open my ears, Love
Help me to hear Your voice
Open my ears, Love
Help me to hear.
Open my heart, Love
Help me to love like You
Open my heart, Love
Help me to love.
I live within You
Deep in your heart, oh, Love
I live within You
Rest now in me.
• Dan Vrooman : Second Reading: Mysteries, Yes (a poem by Mary Oliver)
Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
In allegiance with gravity
While we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds
Will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
Scars of damage,
To the comfort of a poem.
Let me keep my distance, always, from those
Who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” And laugh in astonishment,
And bow their heads.
• Dan Lambert : Gospel: The Gospel of John 12: 23-26
• A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus said to his disciples: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.
The Gospel of the Lord.
• Victoria. : Dialogue Homily: Victoria begins by offering an invitation: to tell our stories, our memories of Bill; our “tellings” of grief and loss, and also our stories of how Love endures.
• As our dialogue homily concludes:
• Jim and ALL: will lead us in singing: Celtic Song of Farewell:
(Londonderry Aire, sung to the tune of “Danny Boy”):
May choirs of angels lead you into paradise,
and may the martyrs come to welcome you
to bring you home into the holy city,
so you may dwell in new Jerusalem.
May holy angels be there at your welcoming,
with all the saints who go before you there,
that you may know the peace and joy of paradise;
that you may enter into everlasting rest.
• Victoria : For What Blessings or Burdens Do We Pray this night?
Liturgy of the Eucharistic:
Cathy. :
Holy One, we gather together this night, and come to you worn down by the awareness of the systemic racial inequities in our governing structures, by political strife and polarization, and by the loss of so many dear members of our Emmaus community. Hold us close to your heart, O God, that we might find strength and courage to persevere in love and hope.
Peter. :
You have filled us, and all creation, with your blessing and fed us with your constant love; you have redeemed us in Christ Jesus and knit us into one body.
Through your Spirit you replenish us and call us to the fullness of life.
Cathy :
On the night before he died, Jesus was at table with his friends. He took bread, gave thanks to you, broke it, and gave it to his friends saying,
All: “This is my body, broken for you.”
Peter :
As supper was ending, Jesus took the cup of wine. Again he gave thanks to you, gave it to his friends and said,
ALL:
“This cup is the new covenant of my lifeblood shed for you and for all. And as often as you do this, You do this in memory of me.”
Cathy. :
Now gathered at your table, we offer to you our gifts of bread and wine, and ourselves, as living offerings of your love. Pour out your Spirit upon all these gifts and all of us that we may be the Your Living Body, Your Lifeblood. Breathe your Spirit over the whole earth and make us all your new creation.
Peter. :
In the fullness of time bring us with all your saints from every tribe and language, from every people and nation
to feast at the banquet prepared from the foundation of the world.
(Both Cathy and Peter hold up the bread and wine as we all say together:)
All: For it is... Through Him With Him And in Him In the unity of the Holy Spirit
All glory and honor is yours, Almighty God, Now and forever
Amen
Amen
Jim leads and ALL sing: We Remember How You Loved Us
We remember how You loved us to Your death, and still we
celebrate, for You are with us here; and we believe that we will see
You when You come in Your glory, Lord. We remember, we
celebrate, we believe.
Joe Silva : “Let us offer the prayer, our brother Jesus, taught us:” ALL: Heavenly Father, heavenly Mother, Holy and blessed is your true name. We pray for your reign of peace to come, We pray that your good will be done,
Let heaven and earth become one. Give us this day the bread we need,
Give it to those who have none. Let forgiveness flow like a river between us, From each one to each one. Lead us to holy innocence
Beyond the evil of our days —
Come swiftly Mother, Father, come.
For yours is the power and the glory and the mercy:
Forever your name is All in One
-PJPalmer
Rosemary : invites everyone: “Let us now offer each other a sign of peace!”
Cathy : offers our Welcoming Communion Prayer:
This is the table, not of the church, but of Jesus. It is a table made for those who love God. And for those who want to love God more.
So, come, you who have much faith, and, come, you who have little.
Come, you who have been here often, and you who have not been here long.
Come, you who have tried to follow, and you, who have had a hard time, even TRYING to follow.
Come, you who are thirsty, and you who are hungry, and you who do not know whether you are hungry or not. Come, you who feel burdened and exhausted, and you who feel lost. Come to the table. Come, because it is our brother Jesus who invites us.
Everyone present, and on Zoom, partakes of Communion at this time.
Communion Hymn: Here I am Lord (by Dan Schutte).
Sung by All
I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save
I, who made the stars of night
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart
I, the Lord of snow and rain
I have borne my people's pain
I have wept for love of them
They turn away
I will break their hearts of stone
Give them hearts for love alone Who
will speak my word to them
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart
I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame
I will set a feast for them
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide
'Til their hearts be satisfied I
will give my life to them
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart
• Victoria. : Closing Blessing:
• First, I want to preface our Closing Blessing by saying:
…the people we have loved, and those who have loved us, not only make us more human, but they become a part of us and we carry them around, with us, all the time, whether we see them or not. And in some way, we are a sum total of all those who have loved us, and those to whom we have given ourselves in love.
• With this in mind, I invite us all to envision all those we have known who have died, and even those we have not known, but have only admired from a distance…all those who have gone on before us, those who have loved us, and those to whom we have loved…I invite us all to
• envision them circling around our gathering here tonight. Let us see them, and listen to them… as we hear them saying, to all of us, this, our closing blessing:
• I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
That we still are.
• Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
• Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of shadow on it.
• Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
• I am but waiting for you,
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.
All is well. (from the words of Henry Scott Holland)
And the good people of this beloved Emmaus Community say:
AMEN!
AMEN!
Recessional Hymn: On Eagle's Wings (by Michael Joncas)
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge, My Rock in Whom I trust."
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no
fear; Under His Wings your
refuge, His faithfulness your shield.
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make
you to shine like the sun, And hold
you in the palm of His Hand.
You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you, Near
you it shall not come.
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make
you to shine like the sun, And hold
you in the palm of His Hand.
For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up, Lest
you dash your foot against a stone.
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
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