Bulletin 6.11.23

LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRISTA Just Peace Church
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
June 11, 2023
10:30 a.m.

SUMMER SUNDAYS

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE    Colleen Coughenour, liturgist

         The one who angers you conquers you.

Elizabeth Kenny 1880-1952, adapted

PRELUDE    Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Webster & Fain/arr. George Shearing

GATHERING TIME

*  HYMNS OF HOPE                  403, 488, 572                     

SCRIPTURE READING           Jeremiah 32:1-15, 42-44
SERMON     History and Hope        Rev. Kim P. Wells

INTERLUDE    Prelude No. 4 in F Major, Op. 103    Fauré
MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal is to:
         ●  Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in                              our world.
         ●  Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all                                        people.
         ●  Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING

Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar. If you would like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.

         Offertory        Ashokan Farewell        Unger                

         Prayer of Dedication         

MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER  [hymnal p. 60, prayer B]
*  HYMN      We Are Often Tossed and Driven        444

*  BENEDICTION               

*CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE  (please form a circle)                                                  Rosemary Crow
        
Weave, weave, weave us together;
                  Weave us together in unity and love.
         Weave, weave, weave us together,
                           Weave us together, together in love.         

        
Teje, tejenos juntos, Tejenos juntos en unidad y amor.
         Teje, tejenos juntos, Tejenos juntos, juntos en el amor.                

*  POSTLUDE   It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got that Swing 
                         
Mills & Ellington

Circle of Concern
Kelsey, friend of Barbara Donohue  –  Yvonne Riesen  –  Bob Bell Sherry Santana  –  Tony Rogers  –  Erik Johnson  –  Ann Quinn is under Hospice care  –  Janet Hall  –  James Waterman  –  Caregivers
Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff
                                                                                                                                                    Lakewood United Church of Christ 2601 54th Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33712
727-867-7961  lakewooducc@gmail.com  lakewooducc.org
On land originally inhabited by the Tocabaga




Bulletin 5.4.23

June 4, 2023
10:30 a.m.

WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE Jim Andrews,
liturgist
The energy of compassion in you will transform your life and make it more
beautiful. Compassion is always born of understanding and understanding
is the result of looking deeply.

Thich Nhat Hanh 1926-2022

PRELUDE
* OPENING READING Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
1881-1955
O God, I praise You for the universe which You have evolved over unending
centuries, vitalizing matter with energy, bringing forth all things as the peak
of Your creating wisdom, working to unify mankind, initiating a process of
spiritualizing humanity. O Creator God, let me be a willing partner in
building the universe of Your will and in divinizing humanity, in unity with
You, permeating Your creation with love and incorporating souls into the
eternal.
* HYMN Over My Head
514
SCRIPTURE LESSON
Let us prepare ourselves for the word of God as it comes to us in the reading
of Holy Scripture. Our hearts and minds are open.
Psalm 139, page 715
For the word of God in scripture, for the word of God among us, for the word
of God within us, Thanks be to God!
MYSTIC READING — What is Grace? St. John of the Cross 1542-1591,
Adapted

* HYMN We are Dancing Sarah’s Circle
501
REFLECTION A Journey Barbara
Donohue
UNISON READING Ruth
Richardson, 20th c.
I am a vessel that is broken.
My many pieces lay at Your feet.
And I long for what You’ve intended.
But all I offer is frailty.
That’s what You ask for —
You ask for weakness,
that in my weakness
Your strength can be known.
It’s hard to understand;
Your ways aren’t mine, but
if You want weakness —
take all of me.
MUSICAL REFLECTION
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Lakewood United Church of Christ, as part of the Church Universal
is to:
● Celebrate the presence and power of God in our lives & in our world.
● Offer the hospitality and inclusive love of Christ to all people.
● Work for God’s peace and justice throughout creation.

MORNING OFFERING – COMMUNION OFFERING
Morning offerings may be brought forward and placed in the plates on the altar.
You are invited to write your prayer requests on the sheets provided in the bulletin
and bring them forward and place them in the basket on the altar. If you would
like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.
Offertory
* Time of Dedication
Celtic Blessing
In the world people
get what they pay for.

So the rich,
who have much to spend,
have much to enjoy;
While the poor,
who have little to spend,
have little to enjoy.
In church they should
get what they need.
So the rich,
who at present have much,
should give much and receive little;
While the poor,
who at present have little,
should give little, and receive much.
Let the world flourish
and prosper;
And the church
set right its wrongs.

* PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION As We Gather at Your Table
332
CELEBRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION
Invitation
Communion Prayer – Savior’s Prayer
Our Creator, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kindom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory for ever. Amen.
Blessing the Bread and Cup
Sharing the Meal

Unison Prayer of Thanksgiving — cast off William B.
Jones
to compare and contrast no longer the lives
I have not had with this one:
not larger, more noticed
nor quieter, steadier,
not better accompanied
nor less attached,
not gifted more
nor costed less,
just this life
this one life
to take
and eat
and know.
* HYMN Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ
347
* BENEDICTION
Celtic blessing
Always
A mind has sought you
An eye has seen you
A mouth has named you
A heart has desired you. Amen.
* CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (please form a circle) Rosemary
Crow

Weave, weave, weave us together; Weave, weave, weave us together,
Weave us together in unity and love. Weave us together, together in love.
Teje, tejenos juntos, Teje, tejenos juntos,
Tejenos juntos en unidad y amor. Tejenos juntos, juntos en el amor.
* POSTLUDE

Take action: Gov DeSantis plans to kill schizophrenic man in two weeks


Governor DeSantis is planning to kill a mentally ill man two weeks from today.


Duane Owen, the man DeSantis wants to kill on June 15, was first diagnosed with schizophrenia over thirty years ago. Two weeks ago, an expert concluded Duane Owen was incompetent to be executed. Nonetheless, a commission appointed by Governor DeSantis found that Duane Owen has no current mental illness and is eligible to be executed.

Actions to take:
•  Sign a petition and read details about Duane’s casehere, urging the Governor to stay the execution and grant clemency for Duane.  This link also has a petition for faith leaders.

•  Read threeaward-winning 250-word essays urging common sense on the death penalty by three of Hillsborough County’s top high school seniors.

•  Join Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) and other death penalty opponents for the Tampa Bay area vigil to stay the execution of Duane Owen and to oppose the death penalty
   – Time: 5:00-6:00 PM on Thursday, June 15
   – Location: the northwest corner of Ulmerton Road and 49th Street North in mid-Pinellas County, a busy intersection near the Pinellas court and jail complex.
   – Park in the vacant lot behind Checkers.  We will provide signs, or you can bring your own.

•  Contact Governor Ron DeSantis at (850) 488-7146 or email the Governor (flgov.com). Prepare for your call or email with the essays cited above, with FADP’s excellent Florida Death Penalty Fact Sheet, and with the details of Duane’s case.

• For the latest updates and powerful analysis of the death penalty, sign up for Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty’s excellent email

From FADP Executive Director Maria DeLiberato:

Sadly, Duane’s pending execution serves as a reminder that Florida has a disturbing history of executing people with serious mental illness. FADP, in conjunction with journalist Alan Johnson, has compiled a booklet of stories shining the light on Florida’s shameful past. Read the first of these tragic stories here.

Every execution is a devastating reminder that Florida is on the wrong side of history.  But to repeatedly execute the most ill and the most vulnerable in our society is simply unconscionable. Help us continue to expose this truth about Florida’s fatally flawed death penalty system.