By Season
Practice Celebrating!
During a recent Sunday morning worship service, my church celebrated a new partnership between our church and an organization in Uganda called Malayaka House. This celebration was a year in the making, made possible by the hard work of our missions team and a handful of dedicated others. Our celebration was not a “dog and pony show” but it was a regular worship service supplemented with a brief greeting from the director of the organization, a special sermon, a special collection, a special prayer time with maps and pins, and a...
read moreShow the Way
Here are hymn lyrics by Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder set to the hymn tune: Aberystwyth (composed by Joseph Parry) which is found in many common hymnals. The lyrics call upon the biblical texts, Mark 6 and Ezekiel 33 and were written to be used in Sunday morning worship at the United Church of Strafford, VT in July of 2018. You can also find the music and lyrics here formatted to print as a bulletin insert TOM REQUESTS THAT YOU CREDIT HIM AND THAT YOU LET HIM KNOW WHEN YOU USE IT AT: rev.thomas.cary.kinder@gmail.com Someone needs to show the way,...
read moreBlessing of the Graduates
In June, many congregations take time in worship to celebrate those who have reached academic milestones. Here is a short prayer that can be used or adapted for use in your setting. God of knowledge and reason, we pause at the end of this academic year to recognize and to celebrate those who have graduated from various programs and institutions. The names on our bulletin inserts, and on our tongues, represent a tremendous amount of commitment, dedication and hard work. [Invite congregation to call out names of graduates] Thank you for...
read moreVTCUCC 2018: Sharing Sacred Stories
~ Sunday Worship Resources for Congregations drawn from the worship services of the 223rd Annual Meeting of the Vermont Conference, United Church of Christ Theme: “Sharing Sacred Stories” ~ Annual Meeting Worship Team: Mary Kay Schueneman, Tracy Weatherhogg, Jeffrey Tuper-Giles, Ned Davis and Eric Tuper-Giles, musician Hymn Suggestions from The New Century Hymnal: I Love to Tell the Story (NCH 522) Precious Lord, Take My Hand (NCH 472) God, When I Came into This Life (NCH 354) Help Us Accept Each Other (NCH 388) My Life Flows On...
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