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May 19th, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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, March 17th

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St. James United Church of Christ

2nd Sunday in Lent, March 17th, 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”)

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, and even in your dancing. 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 17th: 

10:00am Sunday School for adults in the Sanctuary with Janell and for children in the Fellowship Hall with Robin Scott.                                                                                                                                                    11:00am Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle; music by Janell. 

Next Sunday, March 24th:  

11:00am Worship led by Rev. Mike Morse; music by Sea Raven Morse.

Sunday, Mar 31st: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle; music by Janell.

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. 

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. 

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, March 10th, 2019

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St. James United Church of Christ

March 10th, 2019

Worship Leader:  Rev. Dr. Mike Lyle

Musician:  Sea Raven Morse

For Meditation and Reflection 

Lent is a season of forty days, not counting Sundays, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday. The English word “Lent” comes from the Anglo–Saxon word lencten,  which means “lengthen” and refers to the lengthening days of “spring.”

Historically, Lent began as a period of fasting and preparation for baptism by converts and then became a time for penance by all Christians. The First Sunday describes Jesus’ temptation by Satan; and the Sixth Sunday (Passion/Palm Sunday), Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem and his subsequent passion and death. The readings during Lent, until Passion/Palm Sunday, focus primarily on the meaning of baptism and discipleship, in continuity with the season’s original purpose. Because Sundays are always little Easters, the penitential spirit of Lent should always be tempered with joyful expectation of the Resurrection.

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Call to Worship    

Pastor:Rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Return to the Lord, your God,

People: for God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.  (Joel 2:13)

Opening Hymn   #198 – Lift High the Cross

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor) 

Today’s Scripture Reading:        (Luke 4:1-13) 

Sermon    Another Chance at Lent   by Rev. 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.  

Reflective Hymn: #211 – Lord Jesus, Who through Forty Days 

Sharing of Joys and Concerns 

Prayers of the Pastor and People

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

Closing Hymn:  #197 – Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Benediction or Blessing and Sending 

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

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.

Thoughts for the Day/Week

“Lent invites us to stop eating, so to speak, whatever protects us from having to face the desert that is inside of us. It invites us to feel our smallness, to feel our vulnerability, to feel our fears, and to open ourselves to the chaos of the desert so that we can finally give the angels a chance to feed us.”  (Ronald Rolheiser)

Franciscan  Blessing

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger, at injustice, oppression and exploitation,  so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

Announcements

This Sunday, March 10th: 

Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle; music by Sea Raven Morse.  Church Council meeting cancelled, due to unplanned absence of President Lauranne Oliveau. Tentatively to be rescheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 24th, the 4th Sunday of this month.

Next Sunday, March 17th: 

Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle; music by Janell. Adult Sunday School will be held in the sanctuary at 10:00 am, and children’s Sunday School also at 10:00 am in the large room of Fellowship Hall.  We are hopeful that the remodeled Sunday School room will be completed soon.

Sunday, March 24th:  

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 led by Rev. Mike Morse; music by Sea Raven Morse.

Sunday, Mar 31st: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle; music by Janell.

Sunday, April 7th: Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle.

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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 5th7-8:30pm at the Purcellville Libraryand Thurs. Mar 7th7-8:30pm at the Cascades Library. Topics to be announced via email.

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

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, January 27, 2019

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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

Continue reading

Sunday, March 25, 2018

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Palm Sunday

For Meditation and Reflection
“While the theological forms of yesterday no longer hold water, must we give up the experience just because the human explanation of that experience has become bankrupt? Is the reality of “transcend-ence,” “otherness,” and “God” dependent on the truth of ancient my-thology? I do not think so, but I do know that our explanations today cannot begin at the same place where they began in our religious past.” – John Shelby Spong

Welcome and Announcements
A warm welcome is extended to all. Especially those who are worshiping at St. James for the first time or who have returned after an absence. Your presence both enriches us and this time of celebration together.

Continue reading

Sunday, March 18, 2018

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Fifth Sunday in Lent

Meditation
“The marvels of God are not brought forth from oneself.
Rather, it is more like a chord, a sound, that is played….
I am, of course, the lyre and harp of God’s kindness.”
– Saint Hildegard of Bingen
Prelude and Lighting of Candles

Welcome – Reverend Doctor Mary Mason

Call to Worship – Responsive Psalm 51, Black Hymnal

Children’s Time – Led by Robin Scott

Hymn #575 O for a World

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Hymn #282 Every Time I Feel the Spirit

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-24

Sermon: “We would see Jesus”
– by Rev. Mary Mason

Hymn #451 Be Now My Vision

Offertory Prayer in Unison
Give thanks for the past, for those who had vision,
Who planted and watered so dreams could come true,
Give thanks for the now, for study, for worship,
For mission that bids us turn prayer into deed. Amen.

Offertory Music

Joys and Concerns

Prayer Responsive #878 A Litany of Intercession

The Lord’s Prayer (traditional, with debts)

Hymn #433 In the Bulb there is a Flower

Taking the Light to the World

Benediction Blessing
You are the light of the world, let your light so shine
That others may see the good things you do and glorify God.
God is with us now and always.
Go in peace to love and serve the world. Amen.

Passing the Peace

…and we hope you can join us for coffee and conversation in the Fellowship Hall.

Thought to Ponder:
“The God of the Christian religion is not the idolizing of Christ, not Christology, but that we are all one in Christ; …that we have a part in the life of Christ. This savior is a wounded healer, so that we may become as he is… Heal the sick, even those who without knowing it have contracted the great neurosis of our society, who know no mercy within themselves… To bless the children means to leave the trees standing.” – Dorothee Soelle

Many thanks to Janell Kinzie for providing our music.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, March 18th:
10 AM Sunday School (Adult and Children). Children meet in the Fellowship Hall with Robin Scott. Adults meet in the Sanctuary to hear and discuss Wisdom, Part 4 – Life and Death and Vegetables, by Rob Bell. See our website for the link to listen or download.
11 AM Childcare is available during service, thanks to Greta Harteis and Katie Sulek.
5:30 PM Dinner, 6:30 PM Music. All musicians and music fans are invited to Jammin’ at James open mike. Max Honn and Michael O’Brian, lead this fun monthly jam session.

Next Sunday, March 25th: Palm Sunday. Rev. Samantha Tuttle continues the Unbelievable worship series with “Reimagining the Christ Story.”

Friday, March 30th: Good Friday. Time TBD. Congregants from Grace Episcopal and St. James, meet at the Squircle for service, then walk the Stations of the Cross around town.

Sunday, April 1st: Easter Sunday. 6:45 AM Sunrise Service will be lay-led at the cemetery.
7:30 AM Fellowship Breakfast pot luck.
10 AM Communion Service Rev. Samantha Tuttle continues the Unbelievable worship series with “Reimagining Resurrection.”

Sunday, April 8th: 9 AM Council Meeting.
11AM Worship led by our favorite seminarian, Mark Dewey.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

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St. James United Church of Christ
Second Sunday in Lent, February 25, 2018

For Meditation and Reflection:
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. – Howard Zinn

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.
All: The Lord will come and rule for ever. Alleluia.

Opening Hymn When Morning Gilds the Skies 86

Prayer for Illumination (Pastor)

Today’s Scripture Reading: Romans 8:31-39

Sermon Unseparated (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 There is a Balm in Gilead 553

Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the Pastor and the People
The Lord’s Prayer (Traditional, with “debts”)

Closing Hymn We Shall Overcome 570

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…

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

And we hope you can join us for post-worship coffee and conversation in Fellowship Hall.

Thoughts for the Day/Week
It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.
– Martin Luther King Jr.

Announcements

Childcare is now available during services at St. James. Thank you to Greta Harteis and Katie Sulek for your generous and caring work.

This Sunday February 25th:
10 AM, meet in the Sanctuary before service for Safety Training.

Next Sunday March 4th:
Worship will be led by Reverend Samantha Tuttle
After service, come help celebrate fellowship with potluck brunch in the fellowship hall. This is a regular event held the first Sunday of each month.

March 11th: Worship will be led by Reverend Samantha Tuttle
March 18th: Worship will be led by Reverend Mary Mason
March 25th: Worship will be led by Dr. Reverend Mikael Lyle