UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HANCOCK
We respect tradition — and we welcome inclusive language about people and expansive language about God. Please pray using words most meaningful to you.
Open and Affirming of ALL God’s Children
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost - November 10, 2024
This service will be in-person and on Zoom at 10 a.m.
(Recorded for Facebook and YouTube)
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 822 2425 2518 Passcode: 755650
The first pew in front of the pulpit has books and quiet activities for people of all ages.
Please borrow something that suits you, and return it after the service.
Silent Prayer
None of us are born depraved, in need of saving. We are not born with original sin but with original goodness. We are born a creature, as natural and singular as a mushroom on a log after the rain. We are the very fiber of the cosmos. Oh, but we need to be saved from lies we have ingested—lies of scarcity, of impossibility for change. Lies that we are separate from
one another, from the earth, from our creaturely kin.
* Indicates points in the service when we stand in body or spirit
Announcements
Prelude Built on a Rock Tune: Kirken Lindeman/ Martin
Welcome
*Introit Come, God, Creator, Be Our Shield B. #69
Come, God, Creator, be our shield, the One to whom our cares we yield;
And in our worship, faith impart, your grace and calm to every heart.
Come, gracious Jesus, be our guest, our morning joy, our evening rest;
And in our daily lives impart your love and peace to every heart.
Come, Holy Spirit, be our guide, our strength to risk against the tide,
That in God’s world we shall impart your light and hope to every heart.
*Call to Worship
One: Grace looks like a lavender sunrise, like pale blue robin eggs.
All: Grace feels like hands resting kindly on either side of your face, like a deep, full inhale.
One: Grace sounds like the wisdom of elders—a tuning fork, a supper bell.
All: Grace moves with the dreams of the young—dancing bodies, determined feet.
One: Grace is the reality that in this moment, we can begin again— choosing the most compassionate option at hand.
All: Grace is that, amidst the turmoil of dusty and depraved systems, New Worlds are ripening for the picking.
One: By Grace we have been saved.
All: We worship together a Grace-Loving God.
*Passing of the Peace (ASL) and Lighting of Peace & Justice Candle
*Hymn How Beautiful, Our Spacious Skies B.#594
How beautiful, our spacious skies, our amber waves of grain;
our purple mountains as they rise above the fruitful plain.
America! America! God's gracious gifts abound,
and more and more we're grateful for life's bounty all around.
Indigenous and immigrant, our daughters and our sons:
O may we never rest content till all are truly one.
America! America! God grant that we may be
a sisterhood and brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
How beautiful, sincere lament, the wisdom born of tears,
the courage called for to repent the bloodshed through the years.
America! America! God grant that we may be
a nation blessed with none oppressed, true land of liberty.
How beautiful, two continents, and islands in the sea
that dream of peace, nonviolence, all people living free.
Americas! Americas! God grant that we may be
a hemisphere where people here all live in harmony.
*Invocation (in unison)
Grace is the gift of leaning back into the reality from which we came—where tenderness is the law of the land. Where connection weaves a web within and around us. Help us, Wonderful Grace. Remind us who we are. Open our hearts to Your presence among us. Amen
Children’s Message
Greek Scriptures Ephesians 2:14-22 Contemporary Reading
Special Music Gracious Spirit Dwell With Me Adore te devote/ K Lee Scott
Message Rev. TJ Mack
*Hymn There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy B. #23
There's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea;there's a kindness in God's justice, which is more than liberty.There is no place where earthly sorrows are more felt than in God's heaven;there's no place where earthly failings have such kindly judgment given.
For the love of God is broader than the measures of our minds;and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.If our love were but more faithful, we would gladly trust God's Word,and our lives would show thanksgiving for the goodness of our God.
Prayers of the People – Sharing Joys & Concerns
Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou Lord, thou Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.
Invitation to Offering – Come, you beautiful, interconnected beings. Bring forth what you have today to share, that resources may flow where they belong. Bring forth efforts, skills, presence. Bring forth money, dreams, material goods. The Kin-dom of heaven is among us, let us bring it forth, placing our collected resources on the altar of Hope.
Offertory Trio on “Jefferson” From Southern Harmony/ David Lasky
*The Doxology
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below;
Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen
*Prayer of Dedication (spoken in unison)
May all beings everywhere have enough. May each child be loved as if they were our own. May every animal have her ecosystem. May every single evil lie that has taken root that separates us crumble to dust. Bless our offerings to the Kind-dom of Heaven on earth, so that our dreams of all thriving and ripening on the vine may come to fruition. Amen
*Hymn Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound R. #401
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
that saved and set me free!
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see!
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
‘tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.
My God has promised good to me,whose word my hope secures;God will my shield and portion beas long as life endures.
When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise,
than when we'd first begun.
*Benediction
*Sung Blessing Go Now in Peace (sing twice) R. #347
Go now in peace, go now in peace, may the love of God surround you
everywhere, everywhere, you may go.
Postlude Come, Christians, Join to Sing Tune: Madrid/ H. Robert James
(Please remain seated for the Postlude)
The Union Congregational Church of Hancock, United Church of Christ will conduct its 2024 Annual Church Meeting on November 10th, 2024, immediately following the 10:00 AM Worship Service for the following purposes:
1. To Elect Church Officers, Board and Committee members;
2. To receive Board and Committee Reports;
3. To vote on the Proposed 2025 Church Budget
4. And to hear any other business to come before the congregation.
Jeanne Edwards, Clerk
October 27, 2024
Support our Church Financially
Please visit Hancock (Maine) UCC on Facebook or our new webpage www.hancockucc.com
or visit this link to our PayPal account: paypal.me/hancockucc
or mail offerings to:
Union Congregational Church, PO Box 443, Hancock, ME 04640 (Attention: Treasurer)
Contact Us
207.422.3100 207.323.6743
Many thanks to those who make this service possible –
in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Music Minister – Debbie Riley
Deacons – Pat Summerer & David Wildes
Liturgist –
Audio-Video Support – Mike Summerer
Office Administrator – Vicky Espling
Student Ministry Intern – Sarina Brooks
Settled Minister – Rev. TJ Mack
The Body of Christ – You
Resources
enfleshed: liturgy that matters, adapted - Silent Prayer, Call to Worship, Invocation, and Offertory Prayers
The New Century Hymnal (B.) Hymns of Truth and Light (R.)
Copyright © 1995 The Pilgrim Press Copyright © 1998 First Congregational
Church of Huston, Texas
"Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE,
License #A-738532. All rights reserved
There's a Wideness in God's Mercy
Words and Music - © OCP
Contributors: IN BABILONE, Fredrick Faber
Go Now In Peace
Words and Music - ©1976 Hinshaw Music, Inc.
Contributors: Natalie Sleeth
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