All Saints Sunday
CELEBRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION (and holy community)
Westport Presbyterian Church—“The Phoenix Is Rising!”
November 6, 2022 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: Antiphon for St. Cecilia’s Day—Charles Callahan
RESPONSIVE CALL TO GOD TO RENEW OUR SOULS
Leader: Dear, Loving God:
People: We know You by many beautiful names:
Leader: You are the Heavenly Father.
People: You are the Mother Miraculous
Leader: You are the Holy Spirit and You are the Rock of All Ages.
People: You are the Space in Grace! You are the Quest in all our questions
Leader: Why are we here?
People: Where are we going?
Leader: What am I living for?
People: What do I want, really?—at this time in my life?
Leader: In the midst of the world’s chaos and confusion and weapons and wounds, let us not stay asleep, God
People: Light this little light of mine!— so I can become an awakened soul.
HYMN: For All the Saints GTG#326
UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND COMMITMENT
O God, help me. I am slow to learn, prone to forget, weak to climb; I am in the foothills when I should be on the heights; I am pained by my graceless heart, my prayerless days, my poverty of love, my lack of endurance in the heavenly race, my doubtful conscience, my wasted hours, my unspent opportunities. I am blind while the light shines around me. grind to dust my heart of unbelief. Make it my highest joy to study You, meditate on You, sit like Mary at Your feet, lean like John on Your breast, appeal like Peter to Your love. I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. Amen.
SUNG PROMISE TO CHOOSE AND RECEIVE GOD’S GRACE: Oh, I Know the Lord’s Laid His Hands on Me STF#2139
BIBLE READINGS: John 15:9-17 Luke 6:20-31
PRAYER BEFORE SERMON
Leaders : May the words of my mouth
People : And the meditations of our hearts
All : Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen
MEDITATION: “Holy Community @ Holy Communion @ Westport Presby”
SUNG PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION: All Who Hunger, Gather Gladly GTG#509
SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Pastor: Let’s gather around this planet friendly, holy table, With holy bread & drink
People: The promise of Christ being alive among us
Pastor: This is the welcome table of God where all who intend to experience the non-physical spiritual dimension of life
People: And live in relationships of freedom and peace with neighbors!
Pastor: Hunger no more! Come to eat! Here, all who longs for otherwise elusive grace
People: May enjoy the strong love of God in Jesus Christ.
Pastor: Here you are embraced and held by Self Giving Love!—
People: One of God’s great and holy names!
Pastor: Come to drink, you are invited into this holy mystery.
People: We are ready!
Pastor: Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. All who come to me shall not hunger, and all who believe in me shall never be thirsty.”
People: We are hungry for Your Love, O God, We are thirsty for Your Deep Peace, O Lamb of God. We come seeking an unusual gift— an experience of wonder and joy.
Pastor: Come, Holy Spirit. Come. Open our eyes to the mystery of The living Christ’s presence in our midst. Through the broken bread…
People: We are becoming the Body of Christ—
Pastor: Whom we named Pat after our fire—a name crossing genders.
People: We celebrate the new life Christ gives us.
Pastor: Now Pat has a new life, Pat is a new person, as a particular Body of Christ.
People: Let us praise and pray to God by singing an African hymn!
CONGREGATIONAL SUNG PRAYER: Come, Bring Your Burdens to God GTG#851
PRAYER: Lift up names of people we wish to pray for, concluding with The Lord’s Prayer (Glory to God, page 35)…
BREAKING AND SHARING OF THE BREAD
POURING AND SHARING OF THE WINE
Pastor: The Grace, Peace, Love and Joy of Jesus Christ be with you.
People: And also with you.
Pastor: Let us pray…..
UNISON PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:
Gracious and loving God, You have united us into a body of Christ, And nourished us at Your table with holy food and drink. Thank you for feeding our hunger and relieving our thirst. Now send us into the world to do the great work You have called us to do; To find the lost and lonely! To heal wounded souls! To free people, including ourselves, who are not at all free! To give compassion to the vulnerable and marginalized! To love Beauty, the Planet and Sky, To persist in resisting evil, and to share by what we say and do The Message of Jesus Christ!—Who is The Light in the World. Amen.
SUNG COMMUNION RESPONSE: He Came Down #137 GtG
WELCOMING
OFFERTORY: Lead, Kindly Light (Tune: Sandon)—arr. Robert Lehman The Ensemble
Offering link
RESPONSIVE PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Leader: Confrontation is not bad.
People: Goodness is supposed to confront evil.
Leader: The best thing we can do
People: Is be a dedicated servant of God.
Leader: It does good to stand up and serve others.
People: We will no longer stand back while the future beckons us on!
Leader: The eyes of the world have been focused on us,
People: And somehow we are led to dedicate ourselves to this idea, idea—
Leader: That racial segregation will end in this country.
People: We are a fire you cannot put out. Amen.
—Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, founder, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights—Co-founder with Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, Bayard Rustin (pioneering Black gay rights leader) and Rev. Dr. Ralph Abernathy—of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC)
HYMN: Soon and Very Soon # 384 GtG (2. No more HUNGER there, 3. No more HATRED there)
BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE: Lead Me, Guide Me #740 GtG
POSTLUDE: When Saints Go Marching—Bradley Sowash
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• Volunteer needed for 2 hours, Monday, Nov. 14— to work with Stan Morgan in the Westport Weekday Food Refuge. 10 am-12 noon.
• Next Sunday, Nov. 13 FRIENDSGIVING POT LUCK after worship.
SIGN UP SHEETS TO ATTEND & BRING FOOD are on the table at the back of the sanctuary, or you can email or call the church during office hours.
Because a new version of THE DANCING WORD is scheduled in the Fellowship Room at 2 pm—and set up and rehearsal is needed THERE—we will have our pot luck around tables in the large area at the back of the sanctuary. Join us for our meal and friendship and then attend the Dancing Word (Free, donations welcome to support Westport Center for the Arts)
• 2023 Pledge Drive has begun. Pledge drive email/letter. Respond to God’s love and grace in your life as you are able. Our goal is $115,000, a $10,000 increase over what was pledged for 2022. Pledge online here: https://westportpresbyterian.org/pledge-drive/
• Anti-Racism and the Church Dialogue with Micah Rose Emerson and Rev Scott, Saturday, Nov. 12, 10:30 am-11:45 am. “Reparations: Why Can’t We Talk About It?” Ask for the Zoom link if you would like to attend.
• Dancing Word, merging poetry and dance, in a new art from that was generated here during the Pandemic, is this coming Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Free. Donations appreciated. A Westport Center for the Arts performance. Suzanne Ryanstrati, daughter of Westport Presby Bill Ryan, is the Choreographer.
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