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Sunday, January 26, 2020

Written by St. James UCC on . Posted in Bulletins.

Gathering Music

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship led by Tena Brass; written by James Weldon Johnson, 1921

One: God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way.

All: Thou who hast by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

One: Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we meet Thee,

All: Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.

One: Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand

All: True to our God, true to our native land!

Hymn: When Israel was in Egypt’s Land #572

Prayer of Illumination led by Tena Brass

We stand in the light of truth, the light of love, the challenge of justice. Fill us, O God, with the power and grace to be the light’s brightness for the world and strong witnesses of sacred justice.

We have condemned racial injustice in our pronouncements, yet we cling to the privileges derived from social inequities. All too often we are blind to our complicity in maintaining systems of oppression and deferring the hopes and dreams of the oppressed for freedom. Give us the courage to name our sin, give us the strength to claim responsibility for our actions. Give us the grace to pay the price for changing our behavior. Amen.

Hymn: We Shall Overcome #570

Scripture: read by Tena Brass

  • Psalm 27:1-3
  • Matthew 4:18-22

Sermon: How Long, How Long, Push On Rev. Mike Morse

Part I To Kill a Mockingbird

Part II Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

Song: Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round

Part III John Lewis

Song: Precious Lord #472

Congregational Response

Offertory

And so, in gratitude we offer ourselves, and all that we have. May we be one with Christ, one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sharing Joys and Concerns

Pastoral Prayer

Lord’s Prayer

Hymn I Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Stayed on Freedom #85

Benediction

Song: Lift Every Voice and Sing (1st verse) #593

Lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmony of liberty.

Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies; Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us; Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on, till victory is won.

Sharing Peace

All are invited to join fellow congregants for coffee and conversation in the Fellowship Hall after service.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

This Sunday, Jan. 26th 11 am – Worship led by Rev. Mike Morse

Next Sunday, Feb 2nd 10 am – Adult Sunday School with Sea Raven and Mike Morse; 11 am – Communion Worship with Rev. Mike Lyle; 12:15 pm – Join in for Congregational Pot Luck!

Sunday, Feb. 9th 10 am– Sunday School for Adults and Children; 11 am – Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle; 12:30 pm – Council Meeting

Sunday, Feb. 16th– Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

Sunday, Feb. 23rd– Worship led by Rev. Mike Morse

Lovettsville Food Bank: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. See sign and box in Fellowship Hall.

During the Week at St. James:

Mindfulness Meditation. Wed. mornings 10 am, Fellowship Hall. Free. All welcome; beginners encouraged!

Stretch It Out! Fri. evenings 6:30 – 7:30pm. Fellowship Hall: Come feel good with relaxed stretching and strengthening for all ages. First class free.

English Language Classes for adults. Please pass the word. Saturday mornings 8:30 -10:30am, Free. Led by a certified ELL teacher. Childcare provided. Fellowship Hall. Help Needed: come work with adult students or help with childcare. No experience needed. Talk with Lauranne.

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 Credit: Za’atari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan; children with completed Art Education project by Joel Bergner with AptART and ACTED.

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Written by St. James UCC on . Posted in Bulletins.

Epiphany Sunday

For Meditation and Reflection:

“Am I my brother’s keeper? No, I am my brother’s brother, or my brother’s sister. Human unity is not something we are called on to create – only something we are called on to recognize.” — William Sloane Coffin

Welcome and Announcements

Opening Prayer (Pastor)

Call to Worship (Lay Reader)

Leader: The prophet’s message is confirmed.

People: We do well to be attentive!

Leader: As to a lamp shining in a dark place,

People: until the light of Christ shines in our hearts.

Opening Hymn: Arise, Your Light Is Come #164

Prayer for Illumination (Lay Reader)

Scripture Reading: Matthew 2:1-12 (Lay Reader)

Sermon “If It Happened” 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: As with Gladness Those of Old#159

The Sacrament of Holy Communion

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the Pastor and People

Lord’s Prayer [Traditional, with “debts”]

Closing Hymn: GoTell It on the Mountain #154

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.

Thought for the Week

“Every heart is the other heart. Every soul is the other soul. Every face is the other face. The individual is the one illusion.” — Marguerite Young (From Miss MacIntosh, My Darling)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CORRECTION: Beginning in January, Adult Sunday School will meet in the sanctuary at 10:00 on the 1st and 2nd Sundays of each month. In January, Mike Morse will lead an inquiry into “Saving Jesus” from the “Living the Questions” curriculum. In February, Sharon Lloyd-O’Connor will teach and, in March, Brenda Lyle.

This Sunday, Jan. 5th 10am – Adult Sunday School with Rev. M. Michael Morse – first in a two week inquiry into “Saving Jesus” from the “Living the Questions” curriculum.

11am – Communion Worship led by Rev. Mike Lyle

12:15pm – Help take down the Giving Tree and join in at First Sunday Congregational Pot Luck.

Sunday, Jan. 12th 10 am – Sunday School for children with Robin Scott and adults with Mike Morse. 11 am – Worship led by Rev. Dr. Michael Lyle

Sunday, Jan. 19th– Worship led by Rev. Dr. Michael Lyle

Sunday, Jan. 26th 11 am – Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse

During the Week at St. James:

Mindfulness Meditation. Wednesday mornings 10:30am, Fellowship Hall. Free. All welcome; beginners encouraged!

Stretch It Out! Friday evenings 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Starting January 10th, Fellowship Hall: Come feel good with stretching and strengthening for all ages. Bring a yoga mat. $10. First class free.

English Language Classes for adults. Please pass the word. Saturday mornings 8:30 -10:30am, Free. Led by a certified ELL teacher. Childcare provided. Fellowship Hall. Need volunteers.

Lovettsville Food Bank: Please bring non-perishable food items to church. See sign and box 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 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, July 14, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . Posted in Bulletins.

Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gathering Music

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship

Musical Introduction and Meditation

Poem by Shirley Eren Murray;

Music by Calvin Hampton                             #587

Through all the world a hungry Christ must scavenge far for daily bread.

Must beg the rich for crumb and crust – We are the rich, the daily fed.

Beyond the church, a leper Christ takes each untouchable by hand,

Gives hope to those who have no trust, whose stigma is our social brand.

Musical Interlude and Meditation

In torture cell, a prisoner Christ

for justice and for truth must cry

To free the innocent oppressed

while we at liberty pass by.

We do not know you, beggar Christ,

we do not recognize your sores,

We do not see, for we are blind;

forgive us, touch us, make us yours.

Musical Interlude

Hymn:       God of Grace and God of Glory               # 436    

Gathering Prayer

Sharing of Joys and Sorrows

Pastoral Prayer

Scripture Readings:

Amos 7:7-17

Luke 10:25-37

Sermon:   We’re All in the Ditch:  The Good Samaritan Recast

Rev. M. Michael Morse

Hymn:              Let Justice Flow Like Streams                    #588

Responsive Sharing

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:  From the Crush of Wealth and Power        #552

Benediction

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Summer Schedule:  10am worship July and August.  

This Sunday, July 14th

10:00am – Worship led by Rev. M. Michael Morse

11:00 – Potluck Brunch

Sunday, July 21st – Worship led by Rev. Samantha Tuttle

Sunday, July 28th – Worship led by Rev. Michael Lyle

Backyard Fencing Underway:  Over the next few weeks, Andrew Potter and Lovettsville Troop 962 are building a wooden fence behind the Fellowship Hall along with two benches and raised flower beds along the side fence. They intend to be done before VBS. Wow. Community!!!

Inova Blood Drive Saturday, July 20th: 9:30-2pm. Please see your email from Allison Harteis and follow the sign-up link.

Vacation Bible School! July 22nd – July 26th

See website for enrollment and volunteer information.

Adult EL Classes:  Saturdays at 12 noon during August.  

Free English Language classes are offered in the St. James Fellowship Hall. No registration required. If popular, classes will be offered indefinitely.

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

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

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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 28th:  Worship with Rev. M. Michael Morse

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

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

Sunday, May 19th:  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, March 24, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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 24th:  Worship with Rev. M. Michael Morse

Next Sunday, Mar 31st:  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 14th: 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! .

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, February 24, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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

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Sunday, January 27, 2019

Written by St. James UCC on . 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

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Sunday, September 30, 2018

Written by St. James UCC on . Posted in Bulletins.

Order of Worship on Sunday, September 30, 2018
Worship leaders: Rev. M. Michael Morse and Sea Raven, D.Min.

Prelude – Rockin’ UCC Part I (Sea Raven, piano)

Welcome, Announcements and Introduction (Lay leader)

Call to Worship

The Negro Speaks of Rivers
I’ve known rivers:
I’ve known rivers ancient as the world
and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I’ve seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
–Langston Hughes, 1902 – 1967

Opening Hymn: #597 Shall We Gather at the River

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