Bulletins Archives - Page 3 of 7 - St. James UCC Church

Sunday, May 26, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on May 24, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Gathering Music

For Meditation and Reflection:

Biblical “Sin” as Escalatory Violence
Genesis 4 is not simply about an original fratricide. It is about escalatory violence almost as a seductive inevitability. But, of course, it is also about a God who asserted that it was not inevitable and proclaimed that it could be overcome: “You will rule over it.” In other words, the normalcy of human civilization is not the inevitability of human nature. […] We humans are not natural born killers (if we were, would we suffer posttraumatic stress after battle?). The mark of Cain is on human civilization, not on human nature. Escalatory violence is our nemesis, not our nature; our avoidable decision, not our unavoidable destiny. It is our “original sin,” but could then – and can still – be overcome.
From How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian,
By John Dominic Crossan

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship: Psalm 67, hymnal page 663

Hymn: Awake, Awake to Love and Work #89

Gathering Prayer

Sharing of Joys and Sorrows

Pastoral Prayer

Scripture Reading:

Acts 16:9-15

Revelation 21:10, 22:1-5

Sermon: Radical Disciplelship

Rev. M. Michael Morse

Responsive Sharing

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sung Response: #785

We give you but your own, whate’er the gift may be

All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully

Hymn: O Holy City, Seen of John #613

Benediction

Passing the Peace

Music to Take the Light out into The World

We hope you will join us next door in the Fellowship Hall for coffee and conversation.

Announcements

This Sunday, May 26^th: Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse

Next Sunday, June 2^nd:

11am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

12:30pm – First Sunday Potluck in Fellowship Hall

Sunday, June 9^th: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, June 16^th: Worship led by Rev. Mary Mason

Saturday June 22nd – Frederick Pride Festival

Have fun! Be a witness for love at St James’ booth! To volunteer, Call/text Lauranne: 703-346-3071

Remote Area Medical

We are collecting NEW socks and underwear, all sizes, for the Remote Area Medical event, in SW VA June 28-30. Dave Kirk and Bill Zenner will donate all we can collect! See gray tub in the breezeway.

Mobile Hope

This is the time of year when kids who have just turned 18, can find themselves homeless. Mobile Hope is collecting gently used duffle bags, plus toothbrushes, toothpaste, and toiletries. Donations can be left in the big basket on back pew in the sanctuary.

Vacation Bible School! July 22-July26:

Mark your calendar if you want to volunteer or have your children participate! Registration forms are available in the Fellowship Hall.

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you to Greta and Katie for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass for taking our donations.

Statement of Faith: We gather as an Open and Affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Cover Photo: Stepping Stones, photographer unknown

May 19th, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on May 16, 2019. Posted in Bulletins, Uncategorized.

St. James United Church of Christ

5th Sunday in Easter, March 19th, 2019

For Meditation and Reflection

As surely as we belong to the universe, we belong together. We join here to transcend the isolated self. To reconnect, to know ourselves to be at home, here on earth, under the stars, linked with each other. Let us take a moment now to settle into the silence. Hear and feel your quiet breathing. Hear and feel the quiet of this place and this community of people. In this quiet hour may our spirits be renewed. In this gathering of old and new friends may our minds be open to new truth, and our hearts be receptive to love, as we give thanks for this life we are blessed to share.

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship

Pastor: May we greet one another with open hearts and minds;

Congregation: inspire each other to consider new questions

Pastor: seek deeper meaning;

Congregation: and cultivate both wisdom and compassion.

Pastor: May this time together empower us to take some steps

Congregation: so all our living is transforming

All: and the yearning of our hearts become reality.

Opening Hymn #397 – Thank Our God for Sisters, Brothers

Opening Prayer

May we in our gathering and this sacred space be blessed. May we open ourselves ever more fully to that mystery which lures us onward toward life and creativity. May we hold one another in the deep and tender places with compassion, and may we grace one another by sharing our own vulnerabilities, being ever mindful of the divinity within that makes soul mates of us all. For we gather in the name of that humble Galilean who dared us to dream peace into being, who showed us creative ways to challenge injustice, and whose love embraced all. Amen.

Scripture Reading: The Story of Jonah, selected verses

Sermon Series: “Searching for the Missed Point – Part 2” – Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Hymn: #286 – Spirit, Spirit of Gentleness

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn: #556 – God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens

Blessing and Sending:

Let us take on this week’s life with renewed hope and imagination. May the rhythms of our coming together: the melodies of our celebration, and the harmonies of our farewells, uplift our souls this day, and into the inviting future. Go in peace, and may the peace of God go with you.

Sharing the Peace as we go…

Announcements

This Sunday, May 19th:

9:30am – Council Meeting

11:00am – Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Next Sunday, May 26th: Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse

St James will have outreach booths at two local festivals!

Volunteers needed:

Saturday, May 25th – Lovettsville Mayfest

Saturday June 22nd – Frederick Pride Festival

Have fun! Let folks know we exist! Call/text Lauranne: 703-346-3071

Remote Area Medical

We will once again be collecting NEW socks and underwear, of all sizes, for the Remote Area Medical event, which is taking place in SW VA the last weekend of June. Dave Kirk and Bill Zenner will transport all that we can collect in the gray tub in the breezeway.

Sunday, June 30th: Annual Congregational Meeting 12:30pm

Vacation Bible School! July 22-July26:

Mark your calendar if you want to volunteer or have your children participate!

Mobile Hope

This is the time of year when kids who have just turned 18 and graduated high school, can find themselves homeless. Mobile Hope is collecting gently used duffle bags, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoos, lotions, etc. Donations can be accepted on back pew (big basket) of sanctuary.

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you to Greta and Katie for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass for taking our donations.

Statement of Faith:We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we find spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and discover new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on May 10, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Fourth Sunday of Easter

For Meditation and Reflection:

“If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the Kingdom of God in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born within ourselves and within the world; we would know that the Kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things even when we don’t know its name or realize that it’s what we’re starving to death for. The Kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from and our truest prayers.”

– Frederick Buechner

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)

Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.

People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.

Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.

People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.

The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn Spirit of the Living God #283

(Sing Three Times)

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading John 10:22-30

Sermon The Sound of His Voice (Mike Lyle)

The Offerings and Offertory Music

A Litany of Thanksgiving:

Pastor: All things come from you, O God, and with gratitude we return to you what is yours. All that we are, and all that we have, is your gift to us

People: And so, in gratitude for all your gifts, we offer ourselves, and all that we have. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.

All: Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us #252

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the Pastor and the People

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn The Day of Resurrection #245

Prayer of Benediction: (Pastor)

Go forward in the comfort and strength of God’s blessing. Remember that you are loved, that God is ever near, and that divine mercy is your way in the world. Amen.

Sharing the Peace as we go… And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Rev. Lyle is happy to stay following the service to talk about questions, concerns or thoughts you may have about today’s worship.

Thoughts for the Day/Week

“We have to let go in order to be; we have to stop forcing ourselves, or we will never enter our own belonging. There is something ancient at work in us creating novelty. In fact, you need very little in order to develop a real sense of your own spiritual individuality. One of the things that is absolutely essential is silence, the other is solitude.”

– John O’Donohue

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, May 12^th: Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

Next Sunday, May 19^th: 9:30am – Council Meeting; 11am – Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, May 26^th: Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse

Volunteers needed. St James will have outreach booths at two local festivals:

Saturday, May 25^th – Lovettsville Mayfest
Saturday June 22^nd – Frederick Pride Festival

Have fun! Let folks know we exist! Call/text Lauranne: 703-346-3071

Sunday, June 30th: Annual Congregational Meeting 12:30pm

July 22-July26: St. James Vacation Bible School. Mark your calendar if you want to volunteer or have your children participate! (Please excuse last week’s misprint of the dates.)

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you to Greta and Katie for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass for taking our donations.

May 5th, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on May 3, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

St. James United Church of Christ

Third Sunday of Easter, May 5th, 2019

For Meditation and Reflection

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

“If the you of five years ago doesn’t consider the you of today a heretic, you are not growing spiritually.” – Unknown

Welcome and Announcements

Welcome to this place of worship, which we make special by our presence. Come into this place, where the ordinary is sanctified, the human is celebrated, the compassionate is expected. Let us celebrate the richness and diversity of this time, this life in the presentness of God.

Call to Worship

Pastor: We are people of all ages who enter this space

bringing our joys and our concerns.

People: We come together in hope.

Pastor: We greet each other warmly with our voices and our smiles.

People: We come together in peace.

Pastor: We share our growth and our aspirations.

People: We come together in wonder.

Pastor: We share our losses and our disappointments.

People: We come together in sorrow.

Pastor: We share our concern and our compassion.

People: We come together in love.

Pastor: We sing and pray and listen. We speak and read and dream. We think and ponder and reflect. We strive for justice and for mercy.

All: Welcome to worship.

Opening Hymn #4 – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You

Opening Prayer

Storytelling God, who speaks to us in myths, legends and parables, may we find our-selves in those stories and grow through them. May our hearts be touched with wonder so we can see ourselves more clearly in our fullness and complexity. We give you thanks for all things around us and within us. For health, food, drink, and shelter. For family, friends, good neighbors, and enemies who pray for us. We give you thanks for curiosity, laughter, and the ability to learn. For truth, courage and beauty. For hospitals and libraries, theaters, parklands and lakes. We give visible expression to this Source, this ultimate mystery. We are grateful for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become. As we marvel at life, let us celebrate the times we are creators of a better world, and when we leave behind us a trail of encouragement, hope, and possibility. This is our prayer. Amen.

Scripture Reading: Genesis 6:9-7:1

Sermon: Searching for the Missed Point – Part 1 –

Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Hymn: #433 – In the Bulb There Is a Flower

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Holy Communion

Communion Melody

Closing Hymn: #28 – For the Beauty of the Earth

Blessing and Sending:

May the places where you walk become sacred spaces of the Holy God. The places where you take your stand be signposts to the love of Christ. The places where you rest be filled with the renewing grace of the Spirit. Go in peace, and may the peace of God go with you.

Sharing the Peace as we go…

Announcements

This Sunday, May 5th:

11:00am Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

12:15pm – First Sunday PotluckBrunch

Next Sunday, May 12th^th: Worship led by Rev. Michael Lyle.

Sunday, May 19^th:

9:30am – Council Meeting;

11am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Volunteers needed. St James will have outreach booths attwo local festivals.

Saturday, May 25^th – Lovettsville Mayfest

Saturday June 22^nd – Frederick Pride Festival

Have fun! Demonstrate radical welcome!3-hr shifts.Call/text Lauranne: 703-346-3071

Sunday, June 30^th: Annual Congregational Meeting 12:30pm

July 29-August 2: St. James Vacation Bible School. Mark your calendar if you want to volunteer or have your children participate!

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you, Katie and Greta, for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass, for taking our donations.

Statement of Faith: We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on April 26, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Second Sunday of Easter

Gathering Music

For Meditation and Reflection:
During Holy Week, many of us sang and reflected upon the great hymn, “O Sacred Head Now Wounded.” The wounds of grief, anguish, guilt, and death seemed overwhelming. Easter is the proclamation that these wounds shall not prevail, nor be victorious. Post Easter, we sing another hymn, same magnificent tune, same harmony by J.S. Bach, “We Yearn, O Christ for Wholeness.” This hymn was written by Dosia Carlson, inspired by Harold Wilkie – who was born without arms, and was the principal voice behind the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. The work of healing, restoration, health care, and wholeness is the Easter message in action.
– Rev. M. Michael Morse

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship:
One:   Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
All:      Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
One:   Incline your ear, and come to me; listen so that you may live.
All:      For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty.
Isaiah 55

Hymn: “Now the Green Blade Rises” #238

Gathering Prayer (Pastor)

Sharing of Joys and Sorrows

Pastoral Prayer

Scripture Readings: Mark 2:1-12
Sermon: Healing and Health Care

Reverend. M. Michael Morse

Hymn: “We Have the Strength to Lift and Bear” #178

Responsive Sharing

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sung Response: #785

We give you but your own, whate’er the gift may be

All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully

Hymn: “We Yearn, O Christ, for Wholeness” #179

Benediction

Sharing the Peace as we go… And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation next door.

Thought for the Day/Week
Good news: Studies have found that the act of forgiveness can reap huge rewards for your health, lowering the risk of heart attack; improving cholesterol levels and sleep; and reducing pain, blood pressure, levels of anxiety, depression and stress. And research points to an increase in the forgiveness-health connection as you age.

From “Forgiveness, Your Life Depends on It” at www.hopkinsmedicine.org

Announcements

This Sunday, Apr 28^th: Worship with Rev. M. Michael Morse

Next Sunday, May 5^th: 11am – Communion Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle; 12:15pm – First Sunday Potluck Brunch

Sunday, May 12^th: Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

Sunday, May 19^th: 9:30am – Council Meeting; 11am – Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Festivals: St James will have outreach booths at Mayfest (Sat 5/25) and Frederick Pride (Sat 6/22). Volunteers needed. Have fun! Demonstrate radical welcome! Call/text Lauranne: 703-346-3071

Fellowship Hall Update: Our new kitchen is almost complete – a new refrigerator is on the way! Thanks to Tena, Jessie, Lauranne and her sister, all the kitchen gear is put away in newly lined drawers and cabinets. Now, we just need a volunteer or two to line the old shelves – which are staying.

Meanwhile, the Sunday school room walls are up, thanks to Bud and Mike, with finishing work to be done soon.

Statement of Faith:

We gather as an Open and Affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, April 21st, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on April 19, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

St. James United Church of Christ Easter Sunday – April 21st , 2019

For Meditation and Reflection

“Without Easter, there would be no Christianity! Whatever it was that constituted the Easter experience, the obvious fact is that there was enormous power in that moment that cries out for explanation.” – John Shelby Spong

Welcome and Announcements

A warm welcome is extended to all. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here in this safe and sacred place.

Call to Worship

Pastor: We come together this Easter morning to rejoice in the ongoing creation around us and within us. We would remember the teachings of Jesus, whose words and deeds embodied the outreaching of unconditional love. And we acknowledge that we yearn to be touched by such love.

People: On this Easter morning may our senses come alive, ready to respond to all the beauty and harmony of life around us.

Pastor: May the symbols of this place, cross and table, book and candle, bread and cup, speak strength and courage to our hearts and minds, as we come and as we go.

People: On this Easter morning may the heavy stones which burden us be rolled away, releasing our spirits to love and to new life.

Pastor: As we celebrate the message of Easter, may we be helped to say yes to life, yes to a new beginning, yes to the presence that gives us courage for whatever is ahead of us.

All: On this Easter morning may we discover a joyous and courageous faith coming alive within us all. Welcome to worship!

Opening Hymn Christ the Lord Is Risen Today – #233

Opening Prayer

On this Easter Day, we are grateful for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become. May we be helped to find that inner release and that outer confirmation to live life fully; to live life as connectedness with God with nature and with all other people. This gift of life has provided us with many excellent experiences, and a range of possibilities are before us every day. May we have an attitude of openness that draws us towards the best experiences and the best possibilities. And may we be prompted to be more expansive and more inclusive as we accept our responsibility to make love visible. May people see in us the spirit of appreciation, gratitude, and generous self-giving, that was seen in Jesus. This is our prayer. Amen.

Scripture Reading Isaiah 53, Mark 16:1-8

Sermon: “A New Awareness”- by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Hymn I Come to the Garden- #237

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (traditional, with debts)

Holy Communion (please see insert)

Communion Melody

Closing Hymn The Day of Resurrection – #245

Blessing and Sending

May God, who is the source of life, continue to expand your understanding of what it means to live. May God, who is the Source of Love, continue to free you to love beyond your boundaries and fears. May God, who is the Ground of Being, continue to give you the courage to be all you can be. Go in peace, and may the peace of God, go with you. Amen.

Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Announcements

This Sunday April 21st.

Easter Services:

Sunday, Apr 21st: Easter Sunday Schedule

8:30 – 9:30 – Potluck Easter Breakfast

9:30-10:00 – Children’s Sunday School and Easter Egg Hunt!

10:00 am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Next Sunday, Apr 28th

11:00 am Worship led by Rev. Mike Morse

Sunday, May 5th

11:00 Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall.

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food to church. Thanks to Tena for delivering it!

Fellowship Hall Update:

Have you seen the new kitchen? If not, check it out! We’re down to the finishing touches. This past week, the dishwasher was installed, and the cabinets were lined and restocked.

Our Statement of Faith

We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on April 12, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Sixth Sunday of Lent
Palm Sunday

Musician: Sea Raven on piano

Prelude: Laudate Dominum (Taize)

For Meditation and Reflection:

On Palm Sunday, the church remembers Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem just days before his death. The gospels report that he arrived in the city on a donkey and was greeted by an expectant crowd in a manner fit for a king: the people waved palms in reverence and laid them in his path. Acknowledging the one who had come to save, they shouted “Hosanna,” a word derived from the Hebrew scriptures, meaning “Save, we pray.”
The liturgical color for this day is red, the color of the Passion. On this last Sunday of Lent, we are closer than ever to the hope of Easter, but we are also entering into Holy Week, the most solemn week of the church year, set aside for remembering the events of Christ’s last days.

– Beth Bevis, God For Us

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Call to Worship:

Pastor: Hosanna to the Son of David!

People: Hosanna in the highest!

Pastor: Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord.

People: Hosanna in the highest!

Opening Hymn: All Glory, Laud, and Honor #216

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading: Luke 19:28-40

Sermon A Change to Live With by Mike Lyle

Sunday, April 7th, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on April 5, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

St. James United Church of Christ

5th Sunday of Lent, April 7th, 2019

For Meditation and Reflection

Let us take a moment now to settle into the silence. Hear and feel your quiet breathing. Hear and feel the quiet of this place and this community of people. In this quiet hour may our spirits be renewed. In this gathering of old and new friends may our minds be open to new truth, and our hearts be receptive to love, as we give thanks for this life we are blessed to share.

Welcome and Announcements

A warm welcome is extended to all. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here in this safe and sacred place.

Call to Worship

Pastor: We come from different places to this sacred place of communal caring and celebration.

People: Sharing life’s journey with others is always a privilege.

Pastor: We are enriched by the company of each other, and are drawn closer to the heart of love in this time of worship.

People: May this gathering be touched with tenderness, refreshing us anew by the grace that encompasses this day.

All: Welcome to worship.

Opening Hymn #397 – Thank Our God for Sisters, Brothers

Opening Prayer:

As we gather in the silence of this sacred place, let us become aware we are in a sustaining, life-giving Presence, active in our universe since the first moment of its existence.

(Silence)

We marvel at life. We celebrate ourselves as a life-form giving the source of all that is, a unique expression in our awareness, in our intelligence, and in our ability to communicate. Enfolded in this Presence may we realize that the world of the Spirit and the world of the body do not exist alongside one another but within one another. Human like us Jesus discerned where this Presence is found: in the everyday, in human interaction, in feeding, in caring, in clothing, in visiting, in sharing, in forgiving, in being neighbor. We remember his total commitment to living fully and loving totally. May we allow his life and teaching to motivate all that we do so that what we profess to have seen in his life and heard in his teaching might be evident in our living and loving. May God-in-us find generous and courageous expression in our words and actions as we undertake to make the reign of God evident in our community. May it be so. Amen.

Scripture Readings: Mark 2:15-17, Matthew 14:14-21,

Matthew 4:1-4, John 21:4-13, Luke 24:28-32

Sermon: “The Quantum Physics of Bread”

Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Holy Communion

Communion Melody

Reflective Hymn: #349 – I Come With Joy

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn: #391 – In the Midst of New Dimensions

Blessing and Sending:

Sharing the Peace as we go…

Announcements

This Sunday, April 7th:

Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle, followed by a First Sunday potluck, which will include informal, yet special poetry readings by Rev. Mike Lyle and others, from his newest book, The Everywhere of Light.

Next Sunday, Apr 14th:

9:30am – Church Council Meeting

Palm Sunday Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

Sunday, April 21st: EASTER SUNDAY SCHEDULE

6:30 Sunrise Service – TBD

8:30 – 9:30 – Potluck Easter Breakfast

9:30 – 10:00 Children’s Sunday School and Easter Egg Hunt!

10:00am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Fellowship Hall Update:

The granite countertops and sink have been installed, and water has been hooked up in the kitchen! Everything looks fantastic! Moving forward, we need 2 or3 volunteers to put everything back into the new kitchen cabinets. Please speak with Janell after worship if you’re available!

Progress on the children’s Sunday school room has been delayed due to an inexperienced drywall installer. But Bud Muller and son-in-law Mike are taking steps to remove the old and provide the new, so hopefully progress will be moving more quickly.

Easter Sunrise Service

Our traditionally held Easter Sunrise Service is in need of a worship leader. If you’re interested in leading a simple outdoor service please speak to Lauranne after worship.

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you, Katie and Greta, for your gracious care!

Statement of Faith:We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on March 30, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

4th Sunday in Lent

For Meditation and Reflection

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
– Anne Lamott

“You’ve always had the power, my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.”
– Glinda (The Good Witch)

We come together from our separate lives, each of us bringing our concerns, our preoccupations, our hopes, and our dreams. We are not yet fully present. The traffic, the last-minute cooking, the final details still cling to us. Our bodies hold the rush of the past few hours. It is now time to let go of these pressures and embrace and become aware of the present moment…When you are ready, repeat silently to yourself: ‘Hineini’ or ‘Here I am’. Hineini is used in the Torah to signify being present in body, mind, and spirit. It means settling into where we are and simply being “here.”

Welcome and Announcements A warm welcome is extended to all. Your presence both enriches us and this time of celebration together.

Call to Worship

Pastor: How good it is to be alive! To feel the beat of our own hearts, the pulsing of life in our veins, the rhythm of our breathing.

People: So we come into this time of worship, of prayer and reflection with gratitude for the gift of life this day.

Pastor: In a universe so vast, may we be helped to sustain a good sense of who we are, and a good sense of worth in ourselves.

People: When time and events and people go by so fast, help us to know the power in pausing, and in pausing, help us to find our life renewed.

All: As we come and as we go, we pray that each of us, in our own small inner world, will know that we have been in a sacred place, fully present, to listen for and experience the Divine presence in our midst.

Opening Hymn: #516 – O Grant Us, God, A Little Space

Opening Prayer In this caring and supportive community, during this time of prayer and quiet reflection, we come to be emptied, and to be filled with the spirit that flows in and among us and throughout the world. We, here today, are also people of spirit. We, too, are struck in awe before the great mystery of the cosmos. We, too, are powerfully moved by a deep concern for our world and our care for one another. The spirit moves in us as in others. We give thanks for love, which created us, which restores us, and which connects us to each other to unite and give purpose. Amen.

Scripture Reading: Psalm 46

Sermon “Unplug” – Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Meditation

Reflective Hymn: #288 – Let It Breathe On Me

The Offerings and Offertory Music

We are surrounded by the beauty of the Earth. We are supported by the abundance of the Earth. In thankful response let us share our offerings as part of our celebration of life in this place.

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn: #433 – In the Bulb There Is A Flower

Blessing and Sending: May the places where you walk become sacred spaces of the Holy God. The places where you take your stand be signposts to the love of Christ. The places where you rest be filled with the renewing grace of the Spirit. Go in peace, and may the peace of God go with you.

Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in the Fellowship Hall.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, Mar 31st: 11:00 Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, April 7th: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle, followed by a First Sunday potluck, which will include informal, yet special poetry readings by Rev. Mike Lyle and others, from his newest book, The Everywhere of Light.

Sunday, Apr 14th: Palm Sunday Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

Sunday, April 21st: EASTER SUNDAY SCHEDULE

6:30 Sunrise Service – TBD
8:30 – 9:30 – Potluck Easter Breakfast
9:30 – 10:00 Children’s Sunday School and Easter Egg Hunt!
10:00am – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Fellowship Hall Update: The kitchen renewal is almost complete! The granite countertops and sink have been installed and look fantastic! Moving forward, we need 2 or3 volunteers to put everything back into the new kitchen cabinets. See Lauranne after worship if you’re interested in helping out!

The Children’s Sunday School room is unfortunately taking some additional time to finish due to some setbacks with the drywall installation.

Childcare is available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you, Katie and Greta, for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass, for taking our donations.

Statement of Faith: We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on March 23, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Third Sunday in Lent

Gathering Music

For Meditation and Reflection:

We are living in the greatest revolution in history – a huge spontaneous upheaval of the entire human race: not a revolution planned and carried out by any particular party, race, or nation, but a deep elemental boiling over of all the inner contradictions that have ever been, a revelation of the chaotic forces inside everybody. This is not something we have chosen, nor is it something we are free to avoid. – Thomas Merton

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship:

All: We are gathered here with the truths of our story. Each contributes to the whole to make us the community of God. Let us hear, let us be open, let us give, receive, and share our love. Let us worship the Spirit of Creation.

Hymn: We Love Your Realm, O God #312

Gathering Prayer (Pastor)

Sharing of Joys and Sorrows

Pastoral Prayer

Scripture Readings: Isaiah 55:1-9; Luke 13:1-9

Sermon The Fig Tree: Time is Running Out

Rev. M. Michael Morse

Hymn: For the Healing of the Nations #576

Responsive Sharing

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sung Response: #785

We give you but your own, whate’er the gift may be

All that we have is yours alone, we give it gratefully

Hymn: Isaiah the Prophet #108

Benediction (Pastor)

Sharing the Peace as we go… And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation next door.

Thought for the Day/Week

For Peace
Increase
the love, be love
and decrease thorny hate
Through pure equality be fate
OF PEACE
Cinqtaine by Mahtab Bangalee, 2018

Announcements

This Sunday, Mar 24^th: Worship with Rev. M. Michael Morse

Next Sunday, Mar 31^st: Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, April 7th: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle, followed by a First Sunday potluck, which will include informal, yet special poetry readings by Rev. Mike Lyle and others, from his newest book, The Everywhere of Light.

Sunday, Apr 14^th: Palm Sunday Worship with Rev. Mike Lyle

Fellowship Hall Update: Our renewal is nearly complete. Next week, the new granite countertops will be installed. Then, we need 2 or3 volunteers to put everything back into the new kitchen cabinets. Et Voila!

Childcare is now available during services in the Fellowship Hall. Thank you, Katie and Greta, for your gracious care!

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food to church. Thanks to Tena for hauling it! .

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on March 1, 2019. Posted in Bulletins, Uncategorized.

St. James United Church of Christ

Transfiguration Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

For Meditation and Reflection

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.” – Robert Kennedy

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.”- Joseph Campbell

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship

Pastor: We give thanks for the life that pulsates within us

Congregation: breath and heartbeat, joy and sorrow, dance and stillness.

Pastor: We give thanks for the life that ebbs and flows between us

Congregation: loving, understanding, creating, embracing and letting go.

Pastor: We give thanks for the web of life that surrounds and sustains us

Congregation: feeding, protecting, teaching, inspiring mutual care.

Pastor: We give thanks for the source of all life,

All: this living universe, of which our lives are an expression.

Opening Hymn #394 – In Christ There Is No East or West

Opening Prayer

Spirit of life, in us and around us, here is our chance, once again, to live like we wish the world would live. May we find within our-selves the courage to be who we are. May we know when it is time to listen and when it is time to speak. May we trust ourselves to be the ones to find the words that need to be said or to do what needs to be done. May we trust one another and know there are many ways to go through life. May we know that though we cannot change some of what life gives to us, we can choose how we deal with what we are given. Together we can make possible justice and love. As we worship this morning, may we be reminded that we are all connected. We depend upon one another more than we know. We are one body. We are one. Amen.

Scripture Reading: Matthew 9:9-13

Sermon Series: “Boundary Breaking Awareness” – Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Hymn: #349 – I Come with Joy (verses 2-5)

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Holy Communion (see handout)

Communion Melody

Closing Hymn: #388 – Help Us Accept Each Other

Blessing and Sending:

The God we worship is never confined to this holy place. So go and travel with the God who is found in ordinary and surprising places. Worship need not cease. It can echo in our lives, in our words, in our deeds, in our moods, in our dreams. Carry worship with you wherever you may go. Be a blessing in your going out and your coming in. Go in peace, and may the peace of God go with you.

Sharing the Peace as we go…

Announcements

This Sunday, March 3rd:

11:00am: Communion Sunday Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Wednesday, March 6th, 7:00pm

Ash Wednesday Service with Elder, Tena Brass

Next Sunday, March 10h:

9:30am Council Meeting in the Fellowship Hall.

11:00am Worship with Rev. Mike Lyle and musician, Sea Raven

Sunday, March 17th:

10:00am Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary with Janell and Brenda and for children in the Fellowship Hall with Jessie Parsons and Katie Sulek. 11:00am Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle.

Sunday, Mar 24th: Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle.

Childcare: During services while the Fellowship Hall is under repair: Parents are welcome to bring children to church. Children can share worship with adults as their attention permits and then go to the “cry room” for Childcare in the back of the sanctuary. Thank you to Katie and Greta for your gracious care of the children.

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Thanks to all who are generously bringing non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass, for taking our donations.

BRIDGES* VOICES OF FAITH speaker series continues this week on Tues. Mar 5^th7-8:30pm at the Purcellville Libraryand Thurs. Mar 7^th7-8:30pm at the Cascades Library. Topics to be announced via email.

*Building Relationships for Interfaith Dialogue, Goodwill, Education and Service

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on February 22, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

Musician Sea Raven Morse

For Meditation and Reflection:

“God, wake me from the fog of my low expectations. Help me shake off the world’s despair, its pointless habits, desires, and attachments, its broken busyness, and the downward spiral of judging, consuming, and protecting myself. Give me the courage to trust that you are moving and acting, the courage to embrace the unimaginable. Give me the urgency to act, for now is the time, and the patience to wait for every moment.” ~Steve Garnass-Holmes

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship (Psalm 37)

Leader: The Lord invites us to graze on faith.

All: Let us graze on faith and trust in the Lord.

Leader: The Lord invites us to graze on faith.

All: Let us graze on faith and wait for the Lord

Leader: The Lord invites us to graze on faith.

All: Let us graze on faith and delight in the Lord.

Leader: Yet a little while, says the Lord, and wickedness will be no more. You will look for wickedness, and goodness will be in its place.

All: Let us graze on faith and trust in the Lord.

Opening Hymn: Arise, Your Light Is Come #164

Pastoral Prayer

Today’s Scripture Reading: Luke 6:27-38

Sermon Am I my brother’s keeper? by Mark Dewey

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on February 15, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

For Meditation and Reflection:

God, wake me from the fog of my low expectations. Help me shake off the world’s despair, its pointless habits, desires, and attachments, its broken busyness, and the downward spiral of judging, consuming, and protecting myself. Give me the courage to trust that you are moving and acting, the courage to embrace the unimaginable. Give me the urgency to act, for now is the time, and the patience to wait for every moment. — Steve Garnass-Holmes

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship (from Jeremiah 17 and Katherine Hawker)

Hear the words of the prophet Jeremiah: People who trust in human strength are like shrubs in the desert: they live alone in salt, and they can’t see relief when it comes. People who trust in the Lord are like trees by the stream, which send their roots into its water: they do not fear the heat; in drought, they are not anxious, nor do they cease to bear fruit.

Leader: Happy are we
All: when our treasures cannot be quantified.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our knowledge is tempered by mystery.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our pain is held in the balm of love.
Leader: Happy are we
All: when our delight comes from beyond ourselves.

Opening Hymn: Enter, Rejoice, and Come in #73

Children’s Time

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer (Alternate version, in memory of William Dewey)

Earth-maker, pain-bearer, life-giver: blessed be your work. Let happen here on earth what you will.

Give us what we need today in bread and insight, and release us from our offenses, as we release our offenders.

When we forget that life is both a gift and a task, forgive us; when we hold grudges or blame other people, forgive us; when we love ourselves more than we love other people, forgive us.

Don’t leave us alone with our private demons and fears, with our apathy and our indifference, but deliver us from the evil in us and around us.

Help us choose what is good, what is right, what is loving, what is just, for we are endowed with the power to make our world whole, forever. Amen.

Today’s Scripture Reading: Luke 6:17-26

Sermon Blessed Are the Self-Insufficientby Mark Dewey

Responsive Sharing

Reflective Hymn: God Will Take Care of You #460

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Prayers of Joys and Concerns

Lord’s Prayer (Traditional version, with debts)

Closing Hymn: What a Covenant #471

Blessing and Sending

Leader: Go out into the world in peace.
All: Have courage.
Leader: Hold onto what is good.
All: Return no one evil for evil.
Leader: Strengthen the faint-hearted.
All: Support the weak.
Leader: Help the suffering.
All: Honor all persons and all creation.

Leader: Love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sharing the Peace as we go…….And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Thoughts for the Day/Week

The Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas said the only thing that really converts people is the face of the other. The face of the other creates a moral demand on the heart that is far more compelling than the Ten Command-ments written on stone. So many Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. I think that’s why St. Clare used the word ‘mirroring’ so often. We are mirrored not by concepts, but by faces delighting in us, giving us the face we can’t give ourselves. It is the face of the other that finally creates us. — Richard Rohr

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, Feb 17^th: 10am: Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary led by Janell Kenzie and Brenda Lyle; Sunday School for Children resumes this month in the Fellowship Hall with Lauranne Oliveau. 11am: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey

Next Sunday, Sunday, Feb 24^th: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey and Sea Raven on piano.

Sunday, Mar 3rd: Communion SundayWorship with Samantha Tuttle.

Childcare is available during services. Thank you to Katie and Greta for your gracious care of the children.

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Please bring non-perishable food items to church.

– BRIDGES* VOICES OF FAITH speaker series –

Tues. Feb 19^th 7-8:30pm Purcellville Library: The Baha’i Faith, with speakers, Jenny Rahmani and Paria Akhavan.

Thurs. Feb 21^st 7-8:30pm Cascades Library: Islam, with speaker Hurunessa Fariad of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society.

Thurs. Feb 28^th 7-8:30pm Cascades Library: Christianity – The Emerging Church with Kurt Aschermann, of Christ Church, Lucketts.

*Building Relationships for Interfaith Dialogue, Goodwill, Education and Service

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on February 8, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Evolution Sunday

For Meditation and Reflection

“The most telling and profound way of describing the evolution of the universe would undoubtedly be to trace the evolution of love.”

― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

“When a human life is open to all that humanity can be, humanity and divinity flow together as one. It was and is a radical insight, and one the consciousness of the mystic is destined to understand.”

― John Shelby Spong

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship

Pastor: We gather at this time and in this place to celebrate the mystery of life.

Congregation: We commit to moving beyond our previous selves and to continue emerging into persons and into a community dedicated to enhancing this world.

Pastor: We affirm the worth of all, and commit ourselves to honoring the sacred in all.

Congregation: We seek to open ourselves to be more in tune, more involved with each other and the world.

Pastor: We commit ourselves to learning, changing, thinking again…deconstructing our faith and daring again to imagine how faith and risk lead us to each other,

Congregation: engaging us all in the depths and dimensions of what it means to be human, to be neighbor, to love, to include, to laugh, to be free.

All: Welcome to worship.

Opening Hymn #495 – Called as Partners in Christ’s Service

Opening Prayer

During this time of prayer and quiet reflection, may we be enabled to find that power that already lies within us: for love, for creativity, for hope. May our hearts be open to compassion, our minds open to wisdom, our spirits open to grace. This morning, we gather, sing, pray and think – offering ourselves to and with the reverberating hum, mystery and presence of life. We commit again to facing each other with new desire and intention, with embrace, laughter, tears and honesty. May we always rejoice in life and work to cultivate a sense of its giftedness. May ours be a faith that shines to the world as the light of deeds and the witness of actions. Amen.

Reception of New Members (See handout)

Sermon Series:

Words –

Misinterpreted, Misunderstood, and yet…Reimagined

“Cross” – Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Reflective Hymn: #539 – Won’t You Let Me Be Your Servant (Verses 1-4, & 6)

Responsive Sharing

The Offerings and Offertory Music

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn: #609 – Now is the Time Approaching

Blessing and Sending:

And now may the blessings of life be upon us, and upon this congregation. May the memories we gather here give us hope for the future. May the love that we share bring strength and joy to our hearts, and the peace of this community be with us until we meet again.

Sharing the Peace as we go…

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, Feb 10th: 9am: Council Meeting in Fellowship Hall on organizational structure 11:00am: Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle welcoming new members, Charlene DeRoche and Jean and August (Bud) Muller!

Next Sunday, Feb 17th: 10am: Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary led by Janell Kenzie and Brenda Lyle; Sunday School for Children resumes this month in the Fellowship Hall with Lauranne Oliveau. 11am: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey

Thursday Feb 21^st 7-9PM Cascades Library: VOICES OF FAITH, ISLAM with speaker, Hurunessa Fariad, of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. Presented in partnership with BRIDGES (Building Relationships for Interfaith Dialogue, Goodwill, Education and Service).

Sunday, Feb 24^th: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey

Sunday, Mar 3rd: Communion SundayWorship with Samantha Tuttle.

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Thanks to all who are generously bringing non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass, for taking our donations.

Statement of Faith: We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we find spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and discover new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on February 2, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Forth Sunday after Epiphany

For Meditation and Reflection:

“There is a voice within you that no one, not even you, has ever heard. Give yourself the opportunity of silence and begin to develop your listening in order to hear, deep within yourself, the music of your own spirit.”

~ John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)

Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.

People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.

Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.

People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands. The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You #4

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading: Mark 7:24-30

Sermon: “Choices” (Mike Lyle)

The Offerings and Offertory Music

A Litany of Thanksgiving:

Pastor: All things come from you, O God, and with gratitude we return to you what is yours. All that we are, and all that we have, is your gift to us.

People: And so, in gratitude for all your gifts, we offer ourselves, and all that we have. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world.

All: Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn Here, O My Lord, I See You Face to Face, #336

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the Pastor and the People

The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn How Firm a Foundation, #407

Prayer of Benediction: (Pastor)

Go forward in the comfort and strength of God’s blessing. Remember that you are loved, that God is ever near, and that divine mercy is your way in the world. Amen.

Sharing the Peace as we go… And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Rev. Lyle is happy to stay following the service to talk about questions, concerns or thoughts you may have about today’s worship.

Thoughts for the Day/Week

Roads,

No need to wonder what heron-haunted lake

lay in the other valley,

or regret the songs in the forest I chose not to traverse.

No need to ask where other roads might have led,

since they led elsewhere;

for nowhere but this here and now is my true destination.

The river is gentle in the soft evening,

and all the steps of my life have brought me home.

~ Ruth Bidgood – b. July 20, 1922

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, Feb 3^rd: Worship with Rev. Michael Lyle

Next Sunday, Feb 10^th: 9am: Council Meeting in Fellowship Hall on organizational structure 11am: Worship with Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, Feb 17^th: 10am: Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary led by Janell Kenzie and Brenda Lyle; Sunday School for Children resumes this month in the Fellowship Hall with Lauranne Oliveau substituting for Robin Scott. 11am: Worship with Seminarian Mark Dewey

Childcare: Children can share worship with adults as their attention permits. Childcare is available in the “cry room” at the back of the sanctuary, thanks to Katie and Greta’s gracious care of the children.

Lovettsville Food Bank Donations: Thanks to all who are generously bringing non-perishable food items to church. Thank you, Tena Brass, for taking our donations.

Cover art: Crumbs from Your Table, artist unknown, https://readingacts.com

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on January 25, 2019. Posted in Bulletins, Uncategorized.

Third Sunday after Epiphany
11AM Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse
and Sea Raven on piano

For Meditation and Reflection:
Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples.
~ Rigoberta Menchu

Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong.
~ Theodore Roosevelt

Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
~ Blaise Pascal

Welcome and Announcements

Prelude: Imbolc 1997
~ a poem by Sea Raven to the tune of Une Jeune Peucelle

Call to Worship: Psalm 19 page #630
(Responsive reading, sung response)

Opening Hymn: God Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens #556

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on January 18, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Second Sunday after Epiphany

For Meditation and Reflection:
“Though it’s a familiar story to modern-day Christians, in many ways it might have made little sense to the early church. Why would Jesus need to be baptized? If anything, shouldn’t the Son of God be doing the baptizing?
For the early church, eager to proclaim Jesus’s divinity to the world, the story would obviously have proved problematic. Reading backward, then, we can see that the evangelists seemed to be stuck with an event that would have been hard to explain to newcomers. There is little chance that they would have consciously made up something like this. In addition, the story is included in all three Synoptic Gospels and referred to in John, so it needs to be taken seriously.”
~James Martin, SJ, Jesus, A Pilgrimage

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Responsive Call to Worship (Traditional Monastic Liturgy)
Pastor: We wait for the word of the Lord as we wait for the rains.
People: and our God shall come down upon us like gentle dew.
Pastor: The hills and the mountains will be singing praise to God.
People: Every tree in the forest will be clapping its hands.
The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn #32, God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading: Mark 1:4-11

Sermon: “Baptism” (Mike Lyle)

Sunday, January 16, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on January 12, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

SERVICE CANCELLED DUE TO WINTER WEATHER.
Bundle up, enjoy these readings, and have a wonderful week!

First Sunday after Epiphany

Gospel Reading: The Baptism of Jesus
Luke 3:15-17, 21-22
As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

~ James Martin, SJ, Jesus, A Pilgrimage

Thoughts for the day:
Jesus was probably baptized near a site about eight miles north of the Dead Sea on the east bank of the Jordan. Today it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the river there is diminished, polluted and “shrunk to a miserable stream barely 3 m. wide”

~ Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, The Holy Land

A very touristy site is maintained far to the north of the original baptismal site, in one of the few places on the Jordan where water still flows. Those willing to pay a fee, and queue up with others, can be baptized there.
Thankfully, the holy mystery of baptism is a spiritual matter uncontrolled by location, volume of water, influence or profit.

~ Rev. Michael Lyle

Statement of Faith: We gather as an open and affirming community to worship God, however known. We welcome everyone, no exceptions. Together we seek spiritual comfort and challenge, learn from ancient and modern texts, and seek new dimensions of truth. We practice following the way of Jesus. We dare to demonstrate God’s love by working for justice and peace among all people.

Sunday, January 6th, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on January 4, 2019. Posted in Bulletins.

Epiphany Sunday

For Meditation and Reflection
“Compassion does not just happen. Pity does, but compassion is not pity. It’s not a feeling. Compassion is a viewpoint, a way of life, a perspective, a habit that becomes a discipline – and more than anything else, compassion is a choice we make that love is more important than comfort or convenience.” – Glennon Doyle Melton

“The text has disappeared under the interpretation.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

“A great thought begins by seeing something differently, with the shift of the minds eye.” – Albert Einstein

Welcome and Announcements
A warm welcome is extended to all. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here in this safe and sacred place.

Call to Worship
Pastor: Let us be the embodiment of the larger life in all the little things we do.
People: As we listen and ponder, deepen and explore our faith…As we laugh and play, greet and touch one another,
Pastor: As we live this day in the integrity of our own selves, and as we live this day in the community of precious people,
People: Breathe through us as the Summer wind caresses our bodies, as we live in the fullness of today.
All: Welcome to worship.

Opening Hymn #4 – Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on November 16, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

St. James United Church of Christ
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 18th, 2018

For Meditation and Reflection
“The loving parts of your personality have no trouble loving. That is all they do. You experience the loving parts as gratitude, appreciation, caring, patience, contentment and awe of life.” – Gary Zukav

Welcome and Announcements
A warm welcome is extended to all. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here in this safe and sacred place.

Call to Worship
Pastor: We are grateful for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become.
People: May we find it in ourselves today to work toward a better world.
Pastor: May we make use of that energy to take part in the lifting of burdens.
People: May our gratitude find expression in the care of others, both near and far.
Pastor: May we find ways to live and grow on the margins.
People: May we leave behind us a trail of encouragement and hope.
Pastor: As we come and as we go, we pray that each of us, will know that we have been in a sacred place, and that our lives have been made stronger.
All: Welcome to worship.

Opening Hymn: #397 – Thank Our God for Sisters, Brothers

Opening Prayer
Thanks be to God, Source of all Life and Being for all things around us and within us.
For health, food, drink and warm clothes. For family, friends, good neighbors, and even enemies who pray for us. Thanks for curiosity, laughter, and the ability to learn. For truth, courage and beauty. For hospitals and libraries, theaters, parks and lakes.
We lament that so often we take common things for granted. The bed that gave us rest last night, and the new day that greeted us on waking up. The pleasures of a warm shower and the feel of a soft towel on our skin. The aroma and flavor of the toast and coffee we had at breakfast. The smooth roads and paths on which we traveled safely here.
May we always give thanks for these quiet, repetitive gifts, that make it good to be alive, and good to be here together in this sacred place.
Enriched by this time spent together may we become part of a more caring, compassionate world; may we find the courage to make more ethical choices in our relation-ships; may we foster behavior to preserve and enhance our environments. As we marvel at life, let us celebrate the times we are creators of a better world, and when we leave behind us a trail of encouragement and hope.
This is our prayer. Amen.

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on November 9, 2018. Posted in Bulletins.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost & Veterans Day

For Meditation and Reflection:
Compassionate God, Source of mercy, we pay tribute to those veterans who have served our country, to express our gratitude for their courage and selflessness, both among us today and those of generations past. May we uphold the values of freedom, of the inherent dignity of every human being, by our own right conduct, by the kindness and tolerance we show to one another. May we lead the world by example, and become a light to the nations. Then will the labors and sacrifices of these veterans be honored not in words alone, but by our deeds. Amen
–Rabbi Lawrence Milder

Our hearts and thoughts are with the people of The Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg.

The Lighting of the Candles

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship Rev. Dr. Mary Mason

Opening Hymn: Come Holy Spirit
(sung to the tune of #42, O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing)

Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove.
With all thy quickening power;
Come, shed abroad a savior’s love,
And that shall kindle ours.

Responsive Reading
Leader: The Spirit of God is singing a new song.
People: Words of life, healing, and reconciliation.
Leader: We are no longer strangers or people far away.
All: We are family, welcoming one another
as Jesus has welcomed us.

Second Sunday of Easter

Announcements

Statement of Faith:

Jessie Parsons

Mike Lyle

UCC Website