Liturgy for the Claiming of a New Name

Embracing our true identity is cause for ceremony and celebration. Naming ritual is a wonderful way to honor truth.

Collect for the Changing of a Name

Celebrant: God be with you.

People: And also with you.

Celebrant: Let us pray.

Holy One of Blessing, in baptism you bring us to new life in Jesus Christ and you name us Beloved.  We give you thanks for the renewal of that life and love in ______, who now fully claims _____ name.  Strengthen and uphold ______ as ____ grows into the power, and authority, and meaning of this name; we pray in the Name above all names, Jesus your Son, whom with you and the Holy Spirit, the Triune God, we adore.  Amen.

Readings

If the service is not bound by lectionary rubrics, readings might include some of the following:

• from Justin Tannis’s Trans-gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003): Gen 32:24-30; Song of Solomon 1:2b-3; Isaiah 45:3-4; Luke 10:20b
• from Changes: Prayers and Services Honoring Rites of Passage (New York: Church Publishing, 2007), 47-49: the Proper for the Feast of the Holy Name (Jan. 1): Exodus 34:1-8; Psalm 8; Romans1:1-7 or Philippians 2:9-13; Luke 2:15-21.
• From Rev. Karen Schaefer’s : Gen 1:27; Proverbs 3:13-20; John 1:1-5

Homily

The Candidate might be invited to give the homily, which might include some sharing about the Candidate’s journey to this point

At this point, prior to the start of the Prayers of the People, a congregation might renew its Baptismal Covenant (Book of Common Prayer, pp. 304-305) or do a similar process that reaffirms the empowerment of the ministry of the laity.

Prayers of the People

The prayers that follow draw upon scripture readings from the Great Vigil of Easter, calling upon us to join our voices with the voices of Scripture, that we might see in our own lives and in the world around us, the “stories of salvation history.”  The refrain is an ancient baptismal hymn from which the Apostle Paul quotes in his letter to the Galatians (3:28).  During the pause between the prayers, all are invited to offer prayers silently or aloud, and to come forward and light a candle (e.g. tea candles that surround a single large candle, or several large candles, set up on a table in front of the altar, near where the candidate will stand).

Leader: As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Leader: “The prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand and sang,” ‘Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously.’”  We pray for the renewal of God’s church in all its forms.

Pause

Leader:  As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Leader: “God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.’” We pray for the health and welfare of the earth and all its peoples.

Pause

Leader: As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Leader: “I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.” We pray for all who struggle against oppression, sickness, or any kind of trouble.

Pause

Leader: As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Leader: “‘And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,’ says the Lord”.  We pray in love and joy for all who have died.

Pause

Leader: As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

Leader: “For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”  We give thanks for all the blessings of this life.

Pause

Leader: As many of you as have been baptized have clothed yourselves with Christ.

People: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female, for all of us are one in Christ Jesus.

The Giving of the Name

The Candidate for renaming comes forward.  The Celebrant then continues:

Celebrant: Hear the promises and commandments of God:

Thus says our God: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and me deliverance be revealed.  “Happy is the mortal who does this, the one who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and refrains from doing any evil.  Do not let the foreigner joined to God say, ‘God will surely separate me from the people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am just a dry tree.’  For thus says God: to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

Turning to the person claiming the new name, the Celebrant asks:

Celebrant: How do you respond to God’s calling?

Candidate: I will seek God’s presence in all things.

Celebrant: We are here to affirm the name of ___________.  This name symbolizes all that _____ is and all that ______ is becoming, through the grace of God.  We honor the name given to _____ by ______ parents and acknowledge that the time has come to declare a new name.  This name is the culmination of a journey of discovery and, at the same time, its beginning.

Turning to the gathered community:

Will you do al in your power to assist ____________ to maintain justice, to do what is right, to honor God and hold fast to God’s covenant?

All: We will.

Celebrant: Will you honor __________ in name and in spirit as ____ continues on his path?

All: We will.

Celebrant: Dynamic and holy God, we remember how you changed the names of Abraham and Sarah, as they set out to follow you.  We know that you changed the name of Jacob, after a long night of wrestling with you.  We now declare publicly and affirm the name you have bestowed upon _____________.

All come forward and lay hands upon the candidate’s head, or upon the shoulders of those around the candidate.

______________, receive the blessings of God, Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Walk in the Spirit, this day and always, knowing that God has made an everlasting covenant with you that shall never be cut off.

Candidate: Holy Creator, you make us and you change us.  I come before you today, surrounded by community, with awe and humility to put on the mantle of a new name.  May your Holy Spirit surround us and transform me in all truth, that with the name of  _________ I might grow ever more surely into the full stature of Christ.

Celebrant: Jesus said, ‘Rejoice that your names are written in heaven!”

All: Amen!

Celebrant: O God, in renaming your servants Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Peter, and Paul, you gave them new lives and new tasks, new love and new hope.  We now hold before you our friend _________.  Bless ____ with a new measure of grace as _____ takes this new name.  Write ______ again in your heart and on your palm.  And grant that we all may be worthy to call ourselves Christian, for the sake of your Christ whose name is Love, and in whom, with you and the Spirit we pray. Amen.

Prior to the Peace, the service might continue with the Renewal of the Baptismal Covenant, Book of Common Prayer pp. 292-294

Peace

Celebrant: The peace of the risen Christ be always with you.

People: And also with you.

The people are invited to share God’s peace with one another.

Holy Communion

If the service continues with Holy Communion, the Candidate might be invited to serve at the altar and/or offer the cup.

An especially appropriate Communion hymn would be “One Bread, One Body.”

Post Communion Prayer

All: Gracious God, you have fed us heavenly food in the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ.  Grant that with ______, we may share in this mystery and may, with ____, ever turn to the One whose Name is above all names.  Amen.

Blessing

In the words of Bishop Barbara Harris, May the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, of Jesus, born of our Sister Mary, and of the Holy Spirit who broods over her people like a mother over her children, bless you and remain with you always.  Amen.

 

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Sources

• The opening collect is from Changes: Prayers and Services Honoring Rites of Passage (New York: Church Publishing, 2007), 47.
• The Prayers of the People are adapted from the Easter liturgical booklet of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s in Allston/Brighton, MA for the context of the name change of a transgender parishioner.  They were written by Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge, drawing on the suggested themes for the Prayers of the People, and the Great Vigil of Easter in the Book of Common Prayer (New York: Church Publishing, 1979).
• “The Giving of the Name” title comes from Changes (p. 48)
• The text from “Hear the promises and commandments of God” up until “that shall never be cut off” is from Justin Tanis, Trans-gendered: Theology, Ministry, and Communities of Faith (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2003), 189-191
• The prayer by the Candidate was adapted by Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge from a prayer written by parishioner Sam T.
• “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven!” and response is from Tanis, (quoting Luke 10:20b) p. 191
• The prayer “O God, in renaming your servants Abraham and Sarah,” is from Changes (p. 48)
• The Post Communion Prayer is also from Changes (p. 49)
• Bishop Barbara C. Harris (now retired, from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts) always uses her signature blessing!

Contributed by Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge

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