Compact Conversations
The United Church of Gainesville – May 10, 2020
Welcome to Worship!
If you would like to watch the service as a playlist, please click here and you will be directed to our YouTube page. If you prefer, you may click on the individual links below at your own pace.
Reading- “Lost” by David Wagoner, read by Anna Heineman
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. you must let it find you.
Opening Song – “Will You Come and Follow Me” by John Bell
Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown? Will you let my name be known?
Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?
Will you love the ‘you’ you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,
through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.
Welcome to United Tribes Worship!
Prayers & Hymn – Talia Raymond
Mother’s Day Prayer adapted from Rev. Leslie Nipps
Hymn – “In the Bulb There Is a Flower,” by Gary Freeland
In the bulb there is a flower;
In the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise:
Butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
There’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence,
Seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness
Bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
What it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning;
In our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing;
In our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
At the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.
Reading – Beatitudes – April 2020, written and read by Katherine Henderson
Blessed are those Who still aren’t over it yet
Blessed are those Who Pray with their tears
Blessed are those Who are doing ok
Blessed are those Who aren’t doing ok
Who find a way to laugh even though they aren’t doing ok
Blessed are those Who Are worried
Blessed are those Who Help others
And
Blessed are those Who are kind to themselves
Blessed are those Who believe that healing is possible
Blessed are those Who feel hopeless
Blessed are those Who hold hope for others
Ubi Caritas- offered by Mary Fukuyama, flute; Jackie Davis, bass; Tane DeKrey, piano
Reading – Yes, And – read by Lisa Wolcott
Yes, we can feel grateful AND disappointed about things being canceled
Yes we can enjoy extra time with our loved ones AND feel overwhelmed by their presence
Yes, we can be hopeful AND feel like everything is falling apart
Yes, we can be a source of support for others AND prioritize our needs, fill our own cup.
The Compact of the United Church of Gainesville, read by John Engels and Jen Stuart
We join as a spiritual community in this compact,
To worship God, however known
To welcome into our church those of differing understanding and theological opinion
To learn from our religious heritage, yet to grow by seeking new dimensions of truth
To follow, even imperfectly, the Way of Jesus in personal involvement with each other, and
Strengthend by this bond, to act in Christian concern for the welfare of all people.
Reading – The Christian Agnostic, Leslie Weatherhead, read by Paul George.
“I believe passionately that Christianity is a way of life, not a theological system with which one must be in intellectual agreement. I feel that Christ would admit into discipleship anyone who sincerely desired to follow him, and allow that disciple to make his creed out of his experience; to listen, to consider, to pray, to follow, and ultimately to believe only those convictions about which the experience of fellowship made him sure.”-
Reflection – “Perfect Imperfection,” by Andy Bachmann
Alleluia
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Here are the UCG friends celebrating a birthday this week.
Happy Birthday!
David Enrique Puig-Fields 05/10
Adam Hill 05/11
Ellen Louis-Stewart 05/11
Benjamin Stapleton 05/12
Karol Halter 05/13
Bill Hoppe 05/13
Bob Myrick 05/13
Ian Baldwin 05/14
Vivian Dick 05/14
Jenny Jones 05/14
Chuck Broward 05/15
David Evans 05/15
Mae Jewell McGinnis 05/15
Alexandra Ingram 05/16
Dar Mikula 05/16
Michael Myers 05/16
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Sunday Seminar at 11:15am – Helen Warren, UCG member and former Gainesville City Commissioner, will host a panel discussion on what has been accomplished across the globe to avert the worse case scenario with climate change and what’s next for us to meet the challenge of our climate emergency. What can we do to go beyond hopes and prayers for a better cleaner future? How is the global pandemic bringing the focus on climate change in a new way? Join here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82964570385
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If you are a regular supporter through our collected offering, please consider making your donation now. Our budgeted (anticipated) amount of Plate Income for 2020 is $40,000, so we rely on the weekly passing of the plate. To GIVE, click here to make a one-time donation to UCG -or- to set up a recurring donation via your bank account or credit card: https://www.shelbygiving.com/App/Giving/ucg Thank you for your support.
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