1. Morning Worship Liberation
St Julian of Norwich (8th)
Easter Season 8th May 2015
Bishop Justus Church of England School

2. Gather The Lord be with you And also with you
Despite the name, Julian was a woman. She is celebrated on 8th May. She is believed to be the first woman in England who wrote a book in English. She was an anchoress nun who lived a life of simplicity in a cell.
Info from Very little is known of her early life, even her real name. What we know about her is gleaned from her book and from other contemporary writings. She was born in 1342 during the time of the Black Death. This was a very unpleasant age to live in England. The black death or plague led to very bad social conditions and the oppression of the poor. There was a shortage of labour, high taxes and bad harvests, prices were soaring and unrest was bound to follow. The climax of this unrest was the Peasants Revolt in The wider Church was also in a sorry state: the Religious Orders were at loggerheads, the Papacy had left Rome and was in exile at Avignon in France, and not half a mile from St. Julian`s Church, the early followers of the Protestant John Wycliffe, The Lollards, were being burnt in the Lollards Pit, just the other side of the river. It is into this dire situation that the girl we know as Julian of Norwich who calls herself a simple, unlettered creature, comes bringing with her a message of divine love and hope.

3. "This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?
Matthew 6: 25-27
Saint Julian of Norwich said:
‘All shall be well, and all shall be well
and all manner of things shall be well.’
How does this Bible Reading relate to this?
Receive

4. Engage Information about St Julian Her life as an Anchoress and her
visions
Why is Julian of Norwich
still popular today?
How do you feel about St Julian
talking about God
as male and female?
How would our lives be different if we lived believing all would be well?
How would our lives be different if we stayed forever positive?
Other Ideas
Anchorites—giving up all that distracts us away from God
Load a volunteer with a few things to carry—add a couple of extra books / bags / cabbages anything that comes to hand... Ask them how they would feel carrying these things round today...
Consider how the baggage might represent the things of life which weigh us down—this might be things—too many to sort out or find places for, or it could be worries, difficulties, disorganisation, unhappiness etc.
Reflect as a class how we can simplify our baggage...
How do we remove some of the things that weigh us down?
What should we remove from our lives and what should we keep?
Reflection....
Show a small hazelnut (or even better give students a nut to hold) then encourage them to reflect on the nut using Julian’s inspirational ideas.....
Julian once had a vision of God holding in his hand a small hazelnut. The hazelnut represented everything that ever was, everything that ever existed. It existed simply because God looked at it and loved it. God too looks at us and loves us. We exist because he has made us. We exist because he loves us. So don’t worry about this or that—all shall be well.

5. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins,
Respond
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever.
Amen.

6. Go All shall be well, and all shall be well,
and all manner of thing shall be well.