United Church in the Grey Highlands: June 2012

Monday, June 18, 2012

Order of Service for June 17th 2012

EUGENIA UNITED / ST. JOHN’S UNITED

3^rd Sunday of Pentecost

Sunday of National Aboriginal Day of Prayer

June 17^th 2012

Welcome to worship. Please sign the guest book if you are visiting.

May God bless you during this time & renew your spirit.

OUR WORSHIP APPROACH TOWARD GOD

*Asterisks invite all who are able to stand

Gathering Music:

Welcome and Announcements:

Lighting of the Christ Candle:

*Introit: For the Fruit of All Creation VU 227

Call to Worship (adapted from Dancing Sun Vol. VIII):

One: Let us give thanks to our Creator,

for the Creator God is always with us.

ALL: God is with us in the call of a loon

and in the flight of an eagle.

One: Our Creator is with us in the changing of the seasons.

ALL: God is with us when we gather together

and when we are alone.

One: Our Creator is with us in our giftedness and in our search

for new understandings of ourselves, new visions of

our communities.

ALL: God is with us always. AMEN.

Our Personal Confession and Silent Prayer …

Silent Prayer ……………………… (F) Voices United pg. 959

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. AMEN

Prayer of Approach: (Dancing Sun Vol. VI)

One: Creator, We give thanks that you speak to us in our own ways,

in our own Traditions. Thank you that you also speak through

the traditions of others. Help us to see your love in all things

and to be guided with loving hearts to do that which is best

in our homes and in our communities AMEN.

(E)*Hymn: Jesus, Friend of Little Children VU 340

(E) Story Time:

*Hymn: Many and Great VU 308

WE LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD

I Samuel 15:34 – 16:13

Psalm 20 (VU pg. 742)

2 Corinthians 5:6-17

Mark 4:26-34

(E)Special Music: David Kell

(F)Choir:

Reflection: Sharing our Smayustas … the Spirit stirs …

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*Hymn: Thou Ancient Walls VU 691

Minute for Mission:

Offering:

Offering Hymn: “Praise God From Whom …” HFG 382

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost AMEN.

Offering Prayer:

* Hymn: Come and Find the Quiet Centre VU 374

Prayers of the People:

(F) *Hymn: Jesus, Friend of Little Children VU 340

(F) Story Time:

* Hymn: Sent Forth By God’s Blessing VU 481

*Benediction:

*Choral Response: When We Walk from Here x2 (VU 298)

Sermon for June 17th (Father's Day) 2012

In 1986, in Sudbury Ontario – the then Moderator of the United Church of Canada Robert Smith spoke the following words:

Long before my people journeyed to this land your people were here, and you received from your Elders an understanding of creation and of the Mystery that surrounds us all that was deep, and rich, and to be treasured.

We did not hear you when you shared your vision. In our zeal to tell you of the good news of Jesus Christ we were closed to the value of your spirituality.

We confused Western ways and culture with the depth and breadth and length and height of the gospel of Christ.

We imposed our civilization as a condition for accepting the gospel.

We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were. As a result you, and we, are poorer and the image of the Creator in us is twisted, blurred, and we are not what we are meant by God to be.

We ask you to forgive us and to walk together with us in the Spirit of Christ so that our peoples may be blessed and God's creation healed.

In 1988, the apology was acknowledged, but was not accepted. Instead the representatives of the All Native Circle Conference of the United Church of Canada took the courageous step of asking simply that the apology be LIVED out as we move together into the future. Representative Edith Memnook addressed the assembled Church at the General Council meeting in Victoria in 1988 by saying:

The Apology made to the Native People of Canada by The United Church of Canada in Sudbury in August 1986 has been a very important step forward. It is heartening to see that The United Church of Canada is a forerunner in making this Apology to Native People. The All Native Circle Conference has now acknowledged your Apology. Our people have continued to affirm the teachings of the Native way of life. Our spiritual teachings and values have taught us to uphold the Sacred Fire; to be guardians of Mother Earth, and strive to maintain harmony and peaceful coexistence with all peoples.

We only ask of you to respect our Sacred Fire, the Creation, and to live in peaceful coexistence with us. We recognize the hurts and feelings will continue amongst our people, but through partnership and walking hand in hand, the Indian spirit will eventually heal. Through our love, understanding, and sincerity the brotherhood and sisterhood of unity, strength, and respect can be achieved.

The Native People of The All Native Circle Conference hope and pray that the Apology is not symbolic but that these are the words of action and sincerity. We appreciate the freedom for culture and religious expression. In the new spirit this Apology has created, let us unite our hearts and minds in the wholeness of life that the Great Spirit has given us.

Today, 26 years after our first apology, the United Church of Canada has continued to live the apology, and struggle with First Nations Communities across Canada as they seek healing and wholeness … I have been blessed to live and minister in a First Nations’ community in the early years of my ministry, and I feel deeply blessed to continue to count amongst my friends folks from that community who have continued to share with me the struggles and achievements they face as a people and a proud First Nation.

And that is the heart of what started in 1986 – the planting and nurturing of a seed … a seed that gave rise to the Healing Fund, All Native Circle Conference, the Native Ministries of BC, and an awareness of the work needed to be done by ALL of us within the umbrella of the United Church as we live our faith journey of wholeness, healing and justice.

The relationship with the First Peoples of Canada remains a contentious issue that can quickly draw battle lines and bring division to a gathering … yet, it is also an issue that can bring profound wisdom into almost any debate or discussion …

The environmental impact of oil and gas exploration takes on a different dimension when a native elder speaks of the damage being done to the traditional hunting grounds and the animals they’ve depended upon for centuries for food … the stories of pollution effected fish in rivers that once ran clear and pure in the north remind us that our decisions here have far reaching effects … the Native Protesters remind us that the land is something precious that we are merely stewards of …

We may not agree with the native protesters about a particular issue, but we do need to think beyond this moment and consider the impact our decisions may have on future generations and on the other partners in creation …

Ultimately, living the apology – repairing the relationships with the First People, and being faithful in our witness to the past as we journey forward is about story … hearing, sharing, and most of ALL listening to the stories of our fellow pilgrims on the way … IN Bella Coola the term used to speak of the collective stories of the people is Smayusta – story, mythos, legend, the collective oral traditions of the people that vest meaning in the land, the water, the people and that tell of the relationships between the people and the creation in which they live. Smayusta are the sacred stories of creation and the mythic beings that are part of their traditional tales, but they are also the wisdom the elders pass on through their lives. Smayusta simultaneously informs, defines and inspires the people.

Looking back at my time in Bella Coola, I can honestly say the most meaningful moments – those beautiful glimmering moments of holiness, that I had in my ministry there, were moments when stories were being shared with laughter, tears and love …

Sitting in the back of the Church after Sunday night worship and having folks gather over tea and cookies to swap stories, left us breathless with laughter, and wiping away tears of both sorrow and joy … I heard stories about pranks and practical jokes, encounters with grizzlies, whales and even sasquatch, stories of how and where ancient legends had happened, and gut wrenching remembrances of loss and tragedies … I remember vividly sitting on the river bank one sunny evening with one of the town troopers.

Troopers in Bella Coola were a crew of men and a couple of women who together trooped around town collecting empty cans and bottles, then they trooped to the store to redeem them, and then trooped to the liquor store to make their purchases and trooped home to consume them … they were among the first people I got to know in town when I arrived one hot July day.

I quickly learned that they loved to tease and be teased. Anytime I saw them walking past the house I would shout out the front door – “Don’t forget the 10% for the Church!” Which was ALWAYS met with a roar of laughter and the same response – “If you want ten percent, come and help collect with us!!” Then they’d head off down the street giggling … Some time later, I was going to visit one of the elders who had just been in the hospital and the troops were sitting on the step of a house enjoying a sunny spring morning. One of them hefted the bottle they were sharing and said – “Hey we’ve got the wine, if you bring the bread we could have that communion thing …”

The time I went to visit Daisy I tucked a tiny homemade loaf of bread in my coat pocket before I left the house. As I passed the house I was met with the same laughter and the same challenge – “hey, we got a bottle of wine, if you have bread we could have communion …” I stopped and smiled and pulled out the loaf of bread and said “Sure …”

We had a wonderful communion that day on the steps of the house – a communion service full of laughter and a profound holiness …

That holiness extended to the evening when on the banks of the Bella Coola River, one of the town troopers shared with me his personal experiences at Port Alberni Residential School … the conversation began with Cougar saying quietly “I was there you know …”

“where?” I asked.

“Alberni …” he never looked at me, he watched the icy blue water flow past as he shared the horrors that he endured at the hands of the dorm supervisor who had recently been sentenced for similar crimes to OTHER boys at Alberni …

I was then, and I remain to this day, almost 20 years later, stunned into silence at the horrors Cougar endured as a young boy … months earlier, when Cougar’s father had died, I marvelled at the beautiful pictures of him as a young boy … now, decades later Cougar shared with me his STORY – the reason his life had descended into the bottle … he kept saying over and over, “I just want to forget …”

After that evening, my relationship with Cougar changed … I saw him in an entirely different light, and welcomed the trust he extended to me by sharing his story – a story he had never told anyone else … it was later that fall when Hannah was born that I took great delight in introducing my newborn daughter to Cougar and watched as his rugged worn face lit up in a HUGE smile as he cradled her in his arms … and the last afternoon we were in Bella Coola, it was Cougar who stopped at the back fence to say Good bye … we wept as we hugged each other and I wished him well and offered a heart felt “God Bless you my friend”

A few short months after moving from Bella Coola, Cougar died. When the news reached me, I cried. But I also found myself smiling despite the tears because I KNOW in my heart that Cougar – Robert by Baptism – had found the peace that had eluded him in life … he found wholeness in the very presence of God.

And it was the power of Story that not only revealed the breadth of who this man was, but dramatically altered the relationship between us … and that is perhaps the strongest lesson we can draw from living out the apology of the United Church of Canada to the First Peoples of our land … to share, listen and celebrate the stories – the life experiences – the faith journeys that have not only brought us here, but that have DEEPLY affected us and transformed us as Children of God.

The seed was planted, and it continues to grow …

Oh, and in those last Sunday night Services we had together at Emmanual United Church with the Nuxalkmc congregation, the troopers came – Cougar sat beside me – the first time in years he had darkened the door of the Church, and then one night when the offering was presented the troopers got up and walked to the front of the church and dumped handfuls of dimes on the collection plate … and one of them turned and said with a mischievous grin – “there’s your ten percent!!!”

The power of Smayusta – the power of a HOLY story told and shared unleashes the Spirit and transforms us and the world around us …

May it be so – thanks be to God … Let us pray …

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Order of Service for June 10th 2012

EUGENIA UNITED / ST. JOHN’S UNITED

2^nd Sunday of Pentecost

87^th Anniversary of Church Union Holy Trinity

June 10^th 2012

Welcome to worship. Please sign the guest book if you are visiting.

May God bless you during this time & renew your spirit.

OUR WORSHIP APPROACH TOWARD GOD

*Asterisks invite all who are able to stand

Gathering Music:

Welcome and Announcements:

Lighting of the Christ Candle:

*Introit: The Church’s One Foundation VU 332

Call to Worship (from the Inaugural Service of June 10^th 1925):

One: O Lord, open Thou our lips,

All: and our mouths shall show forth thy praise.

One: O God Eternal, the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus

Christ, whose Name is great and whose goodness is

inexhaustible, who are adored by the hosts of heaven

and dost accept offerings sanctified by Thy Holy Spirit:

sanctify us, we beseech Thee, in body, in soul and in spirit;

touch our understandings, search our consciences,

and cast out every unbecoming thought and base desire,

all falsehood and vainglory and indifference, every motion

of the flesh and spirit not in accordance with Thy holy will,

And grant us, O Lord, with freedom, with a pure heart,

contrite spirit, without confusion of face, and with

sanctified lips, boldly to call on Thee,

our holy God and Father in heaven.

All: Praise to our God now and forever! AMEN.

Our Personal Confession and Silent Prayer …

Silent Prayer ……………………… (F) Voices United pg. 959

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. AMEN

Prayer of Approach:

One: O God, who to an expectant and united church didst grant at

Pentecost the gift of the Holy Spirit, and hast wonderfully

brought into one fold those who now worship thee here:

grant us the hope of the same Spirit in all our life and

worship that we may expect great things from thee,

and attempt great things for thee, and being one in thee

may show to the world that thou didst send Jesus Christ

our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Spirit,

be all honour and glory, world without end. AMEN.

(F)*Hymn: A Voice in the Wilderness Calling VU 18

(E)*Hymn: Make a Joyful Noise VU 820

(E) Story Time:

WE LISTEN FOR A WORD FROM GOD

I Samuel 8:4-11, 16-20

Psalm 138 (VU pg. 860)

2 Corinthians 4:13 – 5:1

Mark 3:20-35

(E)*Hymn: A Voice in the Wilderness Calling VU 18

(F)Choir:

Reflection: Daring to live the dream … the UCC at 87 !!

WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*Hymn: Eternal, Unchanging We Sing VU 223

Minute for Mission:

Offering:

Offering Hymn: “Praise God From Whom …” HFG 382

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him all creatures here below,

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost AMEN.

Offering Prayer:

Service of Communion:

One: May God be with us.

ALL: God is with us.

One: Let us open our hearts to God.

ALL: We open them to God and to one another.

One: Let us give thanks to God.

ALL: It is right to give thanks and praise.

One: O Holy Wisdom of God, eternally offensive to our wisdom, and

compassionate toward our weakness, we praise you and give you

thanks, because you emptied yourself of power and entered our

struggle, taking upon you our unprotected flesh.

You opened wide your arms for us upon the cross, becoming

scandal for our sake, that you might sanctify even the grave to be

a bed of hope to your people.

Therefore, with those who are made refugees in their own land,

abandoned or betrayed by friends, whose bodies are violated

or in pain; with those who have died alone without dignity,

comfort or hope; and with all the company of saints who have

carried you in their wounds, we join to praise you, saying:

ALL: Holy, holy, holy, vulnerable God.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory!

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God.

Hosanna in the highest.

One: Blessed is our brother, Jesus, who, before his suffering, earnestly

desired to eat with his companions the Passover of liberation;

who, on the night that he was betrayed, took bread, gave thanks,

broke it, and said:“This is my body, which is for you. Do this to

remember me.” In the same way, after supper, he passed the cup,

saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this

whenever you drink it, to remember me.”

ALL: Remembering the death and celebrating the resurrection, we

await with hope the coming again of compassion and justice

to the earth.

One: Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are

proclaiming Christ’s death until he comes. In this communion,

we restore to memory and hope the broken and unremembered

victims of tyranny and sin; and we long for the bread of

tomorrow, and the wine of the age to come. Come then, life-

giving Spirit of our God, brood over these bodily things, and

make us one body with Christ, that we may labour with creation

to be delivered from its bondage to decay, into the glorious

liberty of all the children of God, as we join together sharing the

words of our faith:

ALL: We are not alone,

we live in God’s world.

We believe in God:

who has created and is creating,

who has come in Jesus,

the Word made flesh,

to reconcile and make new,

who works in us and others

by the Spirit.

We trust in God.

We are called to be the Church:

to celebrate God’s presence,

to live with respect in Creation,

to love and serve others,

to seek justice and resist evil,

to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

God is with us.

We are not alone.

Thanks be to God.

One: The Gifts of God, for the people of God.

The table is ready, let us share in joy!

Sharing of the Table:

Hymn: One Bread, One Body VU 467

Prayer after Communion: VU 719 – In Unison

Prayers of the People:

(F) *Hymn: Make A Joyful Noise VU 820

(F) Story Time:

* Hymn: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing VU 326

*Benediction:

*Choral Response: When We Walk from Here x2 (VU 298)

---------------------------------------

To mark our 87^th Anniversary as The United Church of Canada,

today’s service is utilizing a variety of United Church resources

from the breadth of history and heritage.

Our hymns are chosen from the June 10^th 1925 Inaugural Service

held in the Mutual Street Arena in Toronto, as well as from

United Church composers and authors.

Our prayers are selected from the Inaugural Service

and have been offered verbatim.

Our Communion Liturgy was composed in 1998 and used by

the Executive of General Council as part of a service of Repentance.

The service took place soon after the United Church of Canada

apologized to the First Nations People of Canada for the Church’s

role in the abuses that happened within the Residential School Systems.

The United Church of Canada has twice been the first Church

to offer apologies to the First People for mistakes of the past,

and we continue to work with our First Nation brothers and sisters

to create an inclusive environment where bridges are built,

and diversity is celebrated.

Our Order of Service today is a timely and celebratory reminder

of the 87 years of history and heritage that are part of

The United Church of Canada here

in our local community and across our nation!!