PRIDE is stronger than Extremism!

Open and Affirming Sunday—Celebrating LGBTQ people during PRIDE Month—Westport Presbyterian Church
June 11, 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 because Facebook decides to object to the hymns again, 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: Morning Has Broken (BUNESSAN)—arr. Rudy Davenport
RESPONSIVE CALL TO WORSHIP FOR PRIDE SUNDAY

Leader 1: King Nebuchadnezzar constructed a huge golden statue and used his power and political influence to declare that everyone in the kingdom should worship his statue. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to conform.
People: The world is constantly using power structures, money, oppression, and marginalization to encourage individuals to silence their uniqueness and conform to the status quo. It’s okay to reject pressure to conform.
Leader 2: Once they refused to be like everyone else, haters told the king that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should be punished for being different.
People: Sometimes people will try to pressure or bully us to be just like everyone else in order to make them feel better. It is okay to love who we are and who God made us to be.
Leader 3: After Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to change, the king threatened them with violence and embarrassment. They still refused to change.
People: Bullies with use their power and influence and encourage everyone to meet their standards. It is okay to stand up to bullies and live your truth without the approval or acceptance of others.
Leader 4 : After Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not conform they were put into a fiery furnace as punishment for not changing. Never be surprised at the lengths people go through to reject your individualism.
People: The three survived the flames and through their witness the power structures that supported their oppression were changed. Standing up for the right thing can bring positive change.
Leader 5: The LGBTQ community is currently under attack all over the world. Politicians, individuals, and even some churches are using their power and influence to harm these and other underrepresented groups.
All: Let us live and walk in our truth. Let us encourage others to do the same. Let us not be ashamed or afraid to be who God created us to be. Let us resist all forms of hate. God is love and God loves all. Amen.

HYMN:  Here in this Place   GTG#401
UNISON CALL TO CONFESSION AND COMMITMENT

Holy One of Blessing, eternally we co-create ourselves in Your love. All companionship orientations; All gender identities and expressions; All ways of having family. We celebrate LGBTQ peoples everywhere Knowing that many are still not safe to come out; To be free; To live life abundantly. We confess that we have been silent, complicit, unfriendly to people simply seeking the freedom to be. Now heal all who are ill in body, mind, heart or spirit. Bind up all wounds and provide adequate care. Extinguish any stigma people are enduring. We celebrate because everyone should be celebrated. We are your body on earth. May our love and hope be sent on the mystical wings of this prayer
To all who need refreshing, affirmation, and love’s embrace. May it be so. Amen.

AFFIRMING OF HEALING, SAVING POWER OF GOD:  Halle, Halle, Halle (sing refrain twice)    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: By the Babylonian Rivers—Latvian tune, set by Richard Erickson
SCRIPTURE: Daniel 3: 1-28
SUNG RESPONSE TO SCRIPTURE: The Light Comes as a Rainbow

The light comes as a rainbow, infusing us with colors,
Assuring us of welcome, a covenant of care.
The rainbow fills horizons, surrounding us with beauty
Reminding us to honor the love that’s always there.

The light lives in our bodies, inspiring us to wonder,
Inviting us to passion, a covenant of joy.
The rainbow is a present, a gift to all creation
A promise from the holy to bless and not destroy.

The light grows in our healing. It draws us to each other.
It helps us to imagine a covenant of peace.
The rainbow is a model of difference in relation.
Apart and yet together, the colors never cease.

SERMON— PRIDE is stronger than Extremism! GAY PRIDE and GOD’S LOVE are Stronger than Extremist Religion & Politics!
CONGREGATIONAL HYMN:  O for a World   GTG#372
WELCOMING
PRAYER: Pastoral Prayer, Lord’s Prayer,
Congregational Sung Response:  Come, Bring Your Burdens to God  GTG#851
OFFERTORY: None of Us Alone—Words and Music by Mark A.Miller, Luke Gilmore, tenor
                 Offering link
RESPONSIVE PRAYER OF DEDICATION

Quartet: How long, O Lord?
People: How long must your lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people hide, afraid to come out to wholeness?
Quartet: How long, O Lord?
People: How long must our Black, Latinx, and Indigenous siblings bear the scars our legacy of white supremacy and racism have left on this nation, on this world?
Quartet: How long, O Lord?
People: Before the lament we carry in our souls is heard and comforted?
Quartet: Divine Beloved, we have trusted in your steadfast love.
People: Our hearts have rejoiced at the promise of your mercy and compassion.
Quartet: This Open and Affirming Sunday, let us praise the Lord, Our God.
People : Let us raise the songs of our ancestors, committing to give of ourselves in money, time thinking and with deeds of power for justice and mercy, until all God’s people are free. Inspired by Psalm 13)

CLOSING HYMN:  Over My Head   STF #2148
BENEDICTION
SUNG BENEDICTION RESPONSE  Over My Head (refrain)  STF #2148
POSTLUDE: True Colors—Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, arr. William Haviland

CHURCH AND COMMUNITY NEWS

• Bread, Buns, Fruit are needed for our INTERRUPT HUNGER work.
• WESTPORT SHOWERS happen on Sundays and on Thursday nights. We need men’s pants in all sizes! Men’s shoes!
• 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. On Easter Sunday the Westport Rising Children’s Sunday School was re-born after the pandemic! During that first class, the children planted milkweed seeds in peat pots, and learned how essential milkweed is to Monarch butterflies- it is the only food they eat! Zack Capps already knew about Monarch butterflies from his preschool teacher. We teachers (Laura Hughes, Martine Roesel and Marian Thomas) are focusing on care for the earth in our Sunday School classes. Recent lessons have featured the importance of clean water for children living in other countries as well as for kids in America. The milkweed seeds sprouted, and tender plants were moved to larger pots which were placed outside so the plants could “harden.” June 4th was the day the children became“co-creators” with God, and set the plants in the ground on our church property. We hope that when the plants blossom, Monarch butterflies will be attracted by the scent, will lay eggs on the leaves, which will hatch into caterpillars which will feast on the leaves. They will transform first into chrysalises, and then into very beautiful Monarch butterflies.
• Steptoe Lives is celebrating Juneteenth in Steptoe next Sunday afternoon, June 18, 4 pm. Events will be held at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church, at new Steptoe street sign and here at Westport Presby.
• 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.
• Session meets Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.