Category: Bulletins
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
Bulletin 5.28.23
An Open and Affirming Church
A Creation Justice Church
May 28, 2023
10:30 a.m.
PENTECOST!
GATHERING MUSIC I Love You Son Lux
[from the movie, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”]
WELCOME and ANNOUNCEMENTS
LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE Barbara Donohue, liturgist
You don’t have to have fought in a war to love peace.
Geraldine Ferraro 1935-2011
PRELUDE Chariots of Fire Vangelis
* OPENING PRAYER Jan Berry b. 1953
Exuberant Spirit of God,
bursting with the brightness of flame
into the coldness of our lives
to warm us with a passion for justice and beauty,
we praise you.
Exuberant Spirit of God,
sweeping us out of the dusty corners of our apathy
to breathe vitality into our struggles for change,
we praise you.
Exuberant Spirit of God,
speaking words that leap over barriers of mistrust
to convey messages of truth and new understanding,
we praise you.
Exuberant Spirit of God
flame
wind
speech,
burn, breathe, speak in us;
fill your world with justice and with joy.
* HYMN Come, O Spirit, with Your Sound 265
MYSTIC READING Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179
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.
Acts 2:1-21
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!
* HYMN On Pentecost They Gathered 272
SERMON Powered Up! Rev. Kim P. Wells
UNISON READING — Blessed are you who bear the light Jan Richardson b. 1967
Blessed are you
who bear the light
in unbearable times,
who testify
to its endurance
amid the unendurable,
who bear witness
to its persistence
when everything seems
in shadow
and grief.
Blessed are you
in whom
the light lives,
in whom
the brightness blazes—
your heart
a chapel,
an altar where
in the deepest night
can be seen
the fire that
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith,
in stubborn hope,
in love that illumines
every broken thing
it finds.
ANTHEM Fire of Justice, Fire of Love HKJ
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. 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 Clair de Lune Debussy
[from the movie, “Everything Everywhere All At Once”]
* Time of Dedication Christine Valters Paintner, b. 1970, adapted
Fiery Spirit, Source of all creative power,
Kindle your Holy Spark within us,
Breathe into us your Sacred Passion,
Fill us with your Flame until we have become fire,
Offering warmth and light to the world. Amen.
* PREPARATION FOR PRAYER Loose the Spirit Porter
MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos, focus your light within us—make it useful. Create your reign of unity now; Your one desire acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms. Grant what we need each day in bread and insight. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strand we hold of others’ guilt. Don’t let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back. From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all; from age to age it renews. Amen.
(Peshita Syriac-Aramaic translation)
* HYMN Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Wing 270
* BENEDICTION Digby Hannah, Australia
The wind and flame of Pentecost is surely here
stirring in our hearts
glowing in the faces of those we love
in the still, small voice
of compassion for those on the margins
of passion for justice
many candles and flames quietly and resolutely burning
in distant places
in our own neighborhood
within our small community of faith
Who will shout, “look here it is” or “there it is”?
There is no need
because Pentecost is within us.
* 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 Ring of Fire Cash
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Pilgrim, Trinity, Lakewood Cooperative Ministry
Pilgrim, Trinity, and Lakewood UCC churches in St. Petersburg have begun having discussions about how we can cooperate and support each other’sministries. At the first meeting, a list was generated of things that we might work on together. At the next meeting, the group will pick several things to focus on.
In preparation for that meeting, LUCC leaders would like input from the LUCC congregation about what projects and initiatives are of most interest to our congregation. There are three opportunities for you to be involved in this conversation.
There will be an in person conversation about prioritizing the list of potential projects after worship TODAY in the church sanctuary.
There will be a Zoom conversation about the list of possible projects on Tuesday June 6 at 6:30 p.m. Here is the Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2700683648.
And there will be another in person conversation about the ministry possibilities at the next Advisors meeting, Sunday June 11 following worship in the Fellowship Hall.
Please know that your input is needed as we explore working with our neighboring UCC churches.
Operation Attack Update
Operation Attack is an ecumenical food pantry located at Lakeview Presbyterian Church. LUCC was a founding partner in this ministry in the 1960’s. Volunteers are needed to serve on Thursdays. Help is needed putting food away, serving clients, and doing clean up and re-stocking. Pick a time that suits you: 9:30-12:30, 1-4, 4:30-6:30. Help is needed during each of those time segments.
Please consider volunteering for this important ministry serving those most in need in our community.
Donations of non perishable food is always welcome.
Summer Sundays Ahead
For the Sunday services this summer, Rev. Wells would like to hear from you!
What would you like to hear a sermon about? Is there a theme or a topic or a scripture lesson or an issue or a story that is of interest to you? Kim would love to hear from you and she will plan the summer services around your requests.
Congregational Meeting Ahead
There will be a congregational meeting following morning worship on Sunday June 25. This is a special called meeting to discuss a financial plan for the church for the second half of 2023.
Guided Labyrinth Walks
The weekly guided labyrinth walk is now scheduled for Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. There are several factors that have led to this change including the construction on the property next to the church. All are welcome!
Climate Card Initiative Ahead
LUCC will be participating in the UCC Climate Card initiative letting legislators know that we support efforts to eliminate global warming. Look for more information soon!
Choir Ministry Concludes
This is the last Sunday that the choir will sing for this season. The choir has brought much meaning and beauty to the worship services this year. MANY THANKS to the choir members and especially to Music Director Hilton Jones!
Exhibition Closing June 8
The exhibit “Civil Rights in the Sunshine State” at the St. Petersburg Museum of History will be closing June 8. You are encouraged to see this important, extensive exhibit about the Civil Rights movement in Florida. We all know the image of the marchers crossing the Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL but there were many significant Civil Rights demonstrations and actions in Florida. This important exhibit at the Museum of History shares those stories, which, sadly, may no longer be taught in schools. The exhibit will be on display through June 8.
Circle of Concern
Yvonne Riesen recovering from a fall
Barbara Donohue’s friend, Kelsey
Lucille Ruga
Sherry Santana
Tony Rogers, church custodian
Erik Johnson
Ann Quinn is under Hospice care
Janet Hall
Caregivers
Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff.
Church Staff
Rev. Kim P. Wells Pastor
Hilton K. Jones Music Director
Claudia Rodriguez Childcare
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
LAKEWOOD UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
A Just Peace Church
Bulletin 5.21.23
Bulletin 5.21.23
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
LIGHTING THE PEACE CANDLE Colleen Coughenour, liturgist
I will not be involved with the dreams of angry men.
Hmong Villager, Laos
PRELUDE As Time Goes By Hupfeld
* OPENING READING — Lady in Waiting Hebe Welbourne
Waiting — for what?
For your child to wake,
To need you, to leave you?
For the coming of Christ?
For social security, justice, aid?
For a lucky chance?
For the passage of time?
Enduring the pain
Which can only be borne
Enfolded in the space
Between times.
Lady, let me join you
In the space between,
Where all joys and sorrows are
Meeting.
* HYMN What a Covenant 471
SCRIPTURE LESSON – 1 Peter 4:12-16, 5:6-11
Don’t be surprised, my dear friends, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst. It is a test for you, but it shouldn’t catch you off guard. Rejoice, instead, insofar as you share the Savior’s sufferings, so that when the glory of Christ is revealed, you will rejoice exceedingly. Happy are you when you are insulted for the sake of Christ, for then God’s Spirit in her glory has come to rest on you.
See to it, however, that none of you suffers for being a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a destroyer of another’s rights. If anyone suffers for being a follower of Christ, however, that one ought not be ashamed, but rather should glorify God in virtue of that Name.
Therefore, humble yourselves before God’s mighty power, that you may be exalted by God on the appointed day.
Cast all your cares on God, who cares for you. Be sober. Be watchful. For your adversary the Devil roams about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Stand up to the devil as one strong in faith, fortified with the knowledge that your sisters and brothers throughout the world share the same afflictions.
But the God of all grace, who called you to eternal glory through Jesus Christ, will fulfill, restore, strengthen and establish you after you have suffered a little while. To God be glory and dominion forever and ever! Amen.
* HYMN Be Not Dismayed 460
SERMON Rev. Kim P. Wells
UNISON READING — Give Me Someone
Author once known, Japan, adapted
When I am famished,
Give me someone who needs food;
When I am thirsty,
Send me someone who needs water;
When I am cold,
Send me someone to warm;
When I am hurting,
Send me someone to console; . . . .
When I am poor,
Lead someone needy to me;
When I have no time,
Give me someone to help for a moment;
When I am criticized,
Give me someone to praise;
When I am discouraged,
Send me someone to encourage;
When I need another’s understanding,
Give me someone who needs mine;
When I need somebody to take care of me,
Send me someone to care for;
When I think too much of myself,
Turn my thoughts toward someone else.
ANTHEM Come by the Hills Irish, trad.
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
Bring forward. . .If you would like assistance, please turn to someone seated near you.
Offertory Syncopated Clock Anderson
* Time of Dedication Celtic Blessing
When Jesus came to earth as a baby,
He depended entirely on human love —
That of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds.
When Jesus preached and healed,
He depended entirely on human love —
The alms given by those who heard him.
I too depend on human love.
The kindness of others sustains my soul.
The gifts of others sustain my body.
Every person depends on others’ love.
Let no one be ashamed of their needs.
To depend on others is to imitate Christ.
* PREPARATION FOR PRAYER
Won’t You Let Me Be Your Servant 539
MORNING PRAYERS – SAVIOR’S PRAYER
Fathering and Mothering God, lover of us all, most holy one.
Help us to respond to you
To create what you want for us here on earth.
Give us today enough for our needs.
Forgive our weak and deliberate offenses,
Just as we must forgive others when they hurt us.
Help us to resist evil and to do what is good.
For we are yours, endowed with your power to make the world whole. Amen.
* HYMN Send Me, Lord 360
* BENEDICTION Catholic Bishops of Appalachia
They sing of a life
free and simple,
with time for one another,
and for people’s needs,
based on the dignity of the human person,
at one with nature’s beauty. . .
* CONGREGATIONAL RESPONSE (please form a circle)
Teje, tejenos juntos, Teje, tejenos juntos,
Tejenos juntos en unidad y amor. Tejenos juntos, juntos en el amor.
* POSTLUDE I’m Bidin’ My Time Gershwin
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AHEAD –
LUCC will be participating in the UCC Climate Card initiative letting legislators know that we support efforts to eliminate global warming. Look for more information soon!
For Pentecost, please plan on bringing a candle to church to be used in worship.
Circle of Concern
Jeff Wells and family over the death of his brother, Frank Wells
Erik Johnson
Ann Quinn is under Hospice care
Ron Spivack
Janet Hall
Family and Loved Ones of Dave Radens, husband of Marg Radens
Schools: Students, families, teachers, and staff
Congregational Meeting
Lakewood United Church of Christ 