- Four students willing to read with thought and prayer.
- Music: something like the theme tune from Friends or something from Queen's Live for Ever.
- Three poems
- 'Best Friends' by Adrian Henri (in A Poem for Everyone collected by Michael Harrison and Christopher Stuart-Clark, OUP, 2001)
- 'Friends' by Elizabeth Jennings (in 100 Best Poems for Children, ed. Roger McGough, Viking, 2001)
- 'A Friend' by Rachael Marshall (p.52 in Young Hearts ed Jane Colby, The Young ME Sufferers Trust, 2004 - see text below).
NB There is a large amount of material in this collective worship and it could be adjusted to run over more than one session.
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Start with music.
| READER 1: |
Today we are going to hear two stories from the Bible. I know some of you will be turning off already but these stories are about friendship, and we all have friends.
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| READER 2: |
Let's start with a poem. |
Reader 2 reads three verses from 'Best Friends' by Adrian Henri, starting 'It's Susan I talk to not Tracey', 'I used to go skating with Catherine', and 'I think that I'm going off Susan.'
| READER 3: |
With that in mind, let me tell you about David and Jonathan. The story of this friendship is in the Bible and happened over 3,000 years ago.
You may have heard of David. The story of him killing the mighty giant warrior Goliath with a slingshot is very well known. David was only a shepherd boy but after he killed Goliath he was immediately famous throughout Israel. Saul, the King of Israel, had not had to fight Goliath because David had volunteered, so he took David into his household. It was a new way of life and David became friendly with Saul's son, Jonathan.
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| READER 4: |
They became very close - like blood brothers or soul-mates. Best friends. But Saul started to become jealous of David because he was so popular with the people. So jealous was he that he started to plot to have David killed. Jonathan was horrified at what his father was doing. How could his father want to kill his best and closest friend! He tried to warn David and protect him.
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| READER 1: |
It all became too much. So David and Jonathan made a pact of eternal friendship, swearing loyalty to each other - something so strong that nothing could ever destroy it. Then Jonathan, the dutiful son, went back to his father and David went on his way, later becoming King of Israel himself. When Jonathan was killed in battle, David wrote a poem about Saul and Jonathan saying how sorry he was. You can read it in the Bible (2 Samuel 1:17-27). He finishes his poem: 'I am distressed about this, Jonathan my brother. You were so good to me and we enjoyed a great friendship.'
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| READER 2: |
Friendships can make you jealous. They become special to you and you don't want anyone to interfere. MY friend, MY relationship: |
READER 2 reads 'Friends' by Elizabeth Jennings, beginning 'It's very wrong of me And yet I must admit, When someone offers friendship, I want the whole of it.'
| READER 3: |
I hope we all have a friendship that is just as strong but there are other sorts of friendship. Sometimes we have friends with whom we just 'rub along', get on with OK but nothing as powerful as David and Jonathan. There are close friends like David and Jonathan, but other friends that we have are our friends for different reasons.
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| READER 4: |
In the New Testament, written 1,000 years after the story we have just heard, we read about Jesus choosing Peter to lead the other disciples after his death. So Peter became their leader. It was a difficult time as Jesus' followers were being persecuted. One of the persecutors was called Paul. He was on his way to hurt Jesus' followers when he had a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was amazed and so affected by what he heard and saw that he was converted. He began to follow Jesus and became a very important member of the early Christian community.
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| READER 1: |
But could the others trust him? He had been trying to kill them. So... They were wary of him. Not only had he tried to kill some of them but he had not been with them when they had been with Jesus. Why listen to him? Yet now he was a follower, one of them. Surely they had to be friendly with him. They had to love him as Jesus had told them to do.
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| READER 2: |
But Paul and Peter had a disagreement about how the followers of Jesus should act and behave. Paul says he had to talk to Peter 'face to face'. He called this 'speaking the truth in love.' By that he means you might love someone very much but sometimes you have to tell them the truth about something they have done or something about themselves. It is a hard thing to do but you MUST tell them because you love them. Peter and Paul were friends because they were followers of Jesus but they had to recognise that they had their differences while still remaining friends.
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| READER 3: |
That is just like us. We may be friends with someone but we don't agree with them about everything. We try to respect them, treat them properly and support them if they need help. The Bible is an old book, but if we read it and think about how like we are to some of the people, and how we go through the same joys and sadnesses, it doesn't seem so out of date. I hope you have a friendship like David and Jonathan and can handle friendships like Peter and Paul.
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| READER 4: |
We will finish with a poem. As I read it, think and reflect about your friendships - those in the past and those you have now.
This poem was written by a teenager with ME. ME is a disease that makes you feel exhausted and ill. You just don't feel up for things and can get left out.
A FRIEND
A friend should be someone who's always there
who no matter what happens will always care
And who'll pick you up when you are down
If your boyfriend dumps you will come around
Someone to help you through good times and bad
Someone to comfort you when you're sad
A friend to share with and listen to
And you'll be all of these things for them too
But a friend is not someone who when you're too ill to go out
Doesn't bother to call or come about
Or phone or text just to say hi
Who only lives round the corner so I don't know why
They haven't bothered to keep in contact with me
Cos I thought we were all best friends you see
But now you all seem to have forgotten me
It hurts - friends forever we said we'd always be.
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