Dialogue in Black & White

Dialogue in Black & White SUNDAY in the Hot Summer
Westport Presbyterian Church June 25, 2023, 11:00 am

(Video will be posted LIVE on the church’s FB page at 11am and then cross-posted here.  If the video doesn’t load properly here, you should be able to click on the Watch on Facebook link and watch as a guest, even if you don’t have Facebook)

PRELUDE Elegy William Grant Still (Dean of African American composers)
CALL TO WORSHIP & RETURN TO OUR SOULS

Leader: In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness,
People: Courage to fear, hope to despair.
Leader: There is something in every one of us that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in ourselves
People: It is the only true guide we will ever have.
Leader: And if we cannot hear it, then all of our life we will spend our days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.
People: Listen to the long stillness: New life is stirring. New dreams are on the wing. New hopes are being readied.
Leader: God is at work.
People: This is the season of Promise. –Dr Howard Thurman

OPENING HYMN Comfort, Comfort, You My People
CALL TO CONFESSION AND COMMITMENT  (Today while the gong is rung three times, we silently make our personal and global confessions and our personal commitments at this time in our loves, conclude with a fourth ringing of the gong)
AFFIRMING OF HEALING, SAVING POWER OF GOD: Halle, Halle, Hallelujah!   GTG#591
PASSING OF PEACE

Pastor: The peace of Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us share the peace of Christ with each other.

ANTHEM: Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me arr. K. Lee Scott
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 100 Romans 5:1-8
SERMON:  A Dialogue in Black and White, Rev Scott and Brother John Anderson
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN   I Know the Lord’s Laid His Hands on Me
WELCOMING
PRAYER: Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer, Congregational Sung Response #851 Glory to God Come, Bring Your Burdens to God
OFFERTORY
                 Offering link
UNISON PRAYER OF DEDICATION
May we know the honor of being a human being. (Jake Swamp, Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) May we share the honor of being a human being. Let us unite a frightened world by acts of kindness.(early pandemic, viral social media post) Hate has no home here. (a 9 year old Muslim child wrote these words on a sign for a protest at Chicago’s airport when the January 27, 2017 travel ban from Muslim countries was announced) Let hate have no home where you are. Love your enemies. (Jesus) Replace apathy with curiosity! Violence with community. (Fred Culver) Never forget that what you give, you have. (Roman soldier) May our capacity for God be reborn. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN  Soon and Very Soon   GTG#384
BENEDICTION
SUNG BENEDICTION RESPONSE:   Soon and Very Soon   GTG#384
POSTLUDE: When Israel was in Egypt’s Land arr. David Cherwien

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS

• Brother John Anderson is a spoken word artist, storyteller, singer, educator, working in many schools, libraries, and performance venues throughout Kansas City, and Missouri and Kansas. At the Juneteenth in Steptoe celebration last week Brother John did a jaw dropping performance/portrayal of Winson Dillard, an enslaved man in Kansas City who bought his freedom and settled in Steptoe and Westport as a home and business place. Let’s welcome him to Westport Presby as he dialogues with Rev Scott in the sermon time this morning.
• Bread, Buns, Fruit are needed for our INTERRUPT HUNGER work.
• WESTPORT SHOWERS happen on Sundays and Thursday nights.Space for grace! We need men’s pants in all sizes! Men’s shoes! Bless you who are cooking, giving showers, washing and drying clothes, serving breakfast, sack lunches and sharing I-Thou love!
• Children’s Sunday School has restarted in the redesigned 2nd floor Children’s Space, teaching & learning will emphasize Care for the Earth, Sky and all God’s creation. 11:00 am. We will be taking off the month of July.
• Friendship Time before and after worship with snacks and coffee. Starts at 10:20 am in the main hallway. Continues after worship. Time for spontaneous friendship interaction. Smile.
• #GoodTrouble KC has gained a 2nd meeting with Chief of Police Stacey Graves to dialogue on our Principles of Police Reform, July 11, 2023. Board of Police Commissioner Attorney David Kenner has agreed to join in this meeting, along with Maurice Oates, former Vice President of the Police Union, now aide to Chief Graves. We are also meeting with 2 police leaders, Major Kari Thompson and Captain Luis Ortiz, Community Engagement Division on June 26. This Tuesday, 6-10 Good Troublers will speak at the Board of Police Commissioners montly meeting. Stan Morgan, Rev Scott, Marian Thomas, Brother John Anderson will be among the speakers.

People Exist for the Sake of One Another. Teach Them Then—or Bear with Them!