By Season
Passport to Advent
For many congregations, Advent is a season filled with special signs, programs and wonders!! Advent wreaths, Christmas trees and lights, special concerts, pageants…to name a few. Those who are familiar with your church may know what to expect, but visitors don’t. In addition, newcomers and oldcomers alike may not know the significance behind what you are doing in your worship services and programs. What is Advent again? Why light an Advent Wreath? To let people know what your congregation is offering, and what visitors can...
read more“What Do You See?”
What Do You See? A Sermon by Rev. Amy Pitton, delivered at Bethany Church, UCC Montpelier, VT on Sunday, August 25, 2019 Based on: Luke 13:10-17 Read: “Words of a Modern Day Prophet,” by Mary Oliver “There are things you can’t reach. But You can reach out to them, and all day long The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of god. And it can keep you busy as anything else, and happier. I look; morning to night I am never done with looking Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around As though with your arms...
read moreWorld Communion Sunday 2019
SERVICE PRAYERS Call to Worship Women/Girls: We worship our God in Christ this morning, mindful that we’re not alone. Men/Boys: Old and young, near and far, different and the same, gather like this to sing, pray, listen, and commune. Left-Side: God of unity and diversity, join us. Right-Side: Christ of unity and diversity, love us. Pastor: Spirit, of unity and diversity, inspire us. Widening Prayer Provincial. Sectarian. Narrow and small. We confess these words are part of our stories, part of our behaviors, part of us. ...
read moreRe-Gathering
During the summer months in our church, like so many others churches, our people attend worship less frequently. Vacations, visitors, calls from the mountains to go hiking, nice weather, or one of 1000 other things keep people out of the sanctuary on Sunday mornings. In early September though, as the school year begins and our program year starts anew, more people attend worship more often. To visibly mark this change of seasons and the regathering of our community, we have developed a ritual using our leftover dried palms from the previous...
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