UNITED CHURCH OF GAINESVILLE
Self-Guided Worship Service
April 16, 2023

PRELUDE – “I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow” From O Brother, Where Art Thou?

O Brother is a 2000 satire written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey, it features three escaped convicts in the 1930s Deep South, trying to get back to the home of their charismatic ringleader. The soundtrack is amazing.

CENTERING PRAYER from enfleshed

God of fresh starts,

of new beginnings,

of renewal and restoration,

We awake to your grace,

embraced by love unconditional.

With each morning

You birth new possibilities

in us; around us.

We are surrounded by Sacred potential.

There are so many ways to love.

May we rise to the day’s call

To listen for the aches

To give voice to the beauty

To be a companion to justice.

INVITATIONAL MUSIC – “Down To the River to Pray” as performed by Allison Krauss (also on the O Brother soundtrack)

HEBREW BIBLE READING – Genesis 12

Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Have you felt called to leave your home and venture out into the world?

TIME WITH CHILDREN – “The Owl and the Pussycat” By Edward Lear

This poem was written in the 19th century and tells the story of an owl and a cat who venture off across the sea together. In three stanzas, we get adventure and romance, and a vocabulary lesson. Do you know what a runcible spoon is? I had an album as a child that featured this poem rendered as a song performed by Lou Rawls and Deniece Williams (who sang “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” which featured in my recent sermon on drag!). I listened to the album constantly: you can hear this version of the poem here, at the 5:50 mark. Or, here’s a read-a-long version of an illustrated rendition, with pictures by Jan Brett.

Have you ever been on an odyssey? An adventure? Did things go as you expected? Lots of stories are told — and have been told throughout time — about journeys, often because we learn so much about ourselves and the world by exploring places that are new to us.  This silly poem is one. Can you think of others? — Bromleigh

READING – The Odyssey, Book 1, Verses 1-20 

SPEAK, MEMORY—
Of the cunning hero,
The wanderer, blown off course time and again
After he plundered Troy’s sacred heights.

                                                 Speak
Of all the cities he saw, the minds he grasped,
The suffering deep in his heart at sea
As he struggled to survive and bring his men home
But could not save them, hard as he tried—
The fools—destroyed by their own recklessness
When they ate the oxen of Hyperion the Sun,
And that god snuffed out their day of return.

                                   Of these things,

Speak, Immortal One,
And tell the tale once more in our time.

By now, all the others who had fought at Troy—
At least those who had survived the war and the sea—
Were safely back home. Only Odysseus
Still longed to return to his home and his wife.
The nymph Calypso, a powerful goddess—
And beautiful—was clinging to him
In her caverns and yearned to possess him.

From The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Stanley Lombardo and published by Hackett Publishing Co., Inc. © 2000 by Stanley Lombardo with permission of Hackett Publishing Co., Inc., Indianapolis, IN and Cambridge, MA. All rights reserved.

MUSIC FOR REFLECTION –  “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin
(Or click here for the ballet from the stage musical)

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Spend some time with these readings and reflect on your own story:

Have you ever gone off to seek your fortune, left home for somewhere new?

  • Did you go to have an adventure, or because leaving was the only option? What did you find? Did things go well? Was the leave-taking or the new-life-building harder than you anticipated?

Have you ever had the experience of watching someone you loved leave?

  • Did you miss them? Resent them? Want them to come back? Rejoice that they’d gone?  What moments called them back to mind for you?

What has prevented you from coming home again?

  • The machinations of Poseidon and Zeus? The fear that things would not be as they were? Commitments elsewhere?

How did your odyssey change you?

A BENEDICTION from enfleshed

The One who raises the sun each morning

and lifts high the moon at night,

ushers us too,

through cycles of rising, falling, and rising again.

Though we stumble, God lifts us.

Though we doubt, God remains.

Though we get weary, God revives.

May God be with you.

 

 

 

Here are our UCG friends celebrating a birthday this week!

James Dickens 04/16
Edward Thompson 04/16
Lucy Tims 04/16
Paul Lyrene 04/16
Jade Tudeen 04/17
Finn DeMouey 04/17
Hendrix Robinson 04/18
Hannah Norton 04/18
Nikolai Gutierrez-Hernandez 04/19
Leslie Wade McLendon 04/19
Christine Denny 04/19
Shartel McVoy 04/19
Maxwell Burger 04/20
Ian Ragsdale 04/20
Valerie Aslakson-Jennings 04/20
Owen Niemann 04/21
Alyssa Collins 04/22
Juniper Barros 04/22
Melissa Varady 04/22
Jill Ragsdale 04/22
Announcements

Bloomin’ 4 Food4Kids! –  The Winn-Dixie on NW 13th and 23rd is making a donation to Food4Kids throughout the month of April, whenever you buy a Bloomin’ For Good Bouquet for $12.99. Thank you for your continue support!

NO Sunday Seminar TODAY – Join us next Sunday, April 23 at 10:30am for “Last Chance to Voice Your Opinion on the Creation Justice Covenant” – Join members of the Creation Care and Climate Justice Task Force for a discussion of our Creation Justice Covenant. Our hope is to get your thoughts and feedback before it comes to the congregational meeting for a vote. Here is a link to the proposed covenant from the Creation Care and Climate Justice Task Force.

Capital Campaign Update – One of the possibilities to be considered is whether we would hire a consultant to assist in planning and conducting a capital campaign. To help us understand the benefits and potential costs related to using a consultant we invite you to participate in a presentation scheduled for THIS Thursday evening, April 20th at 6:30 pm in the Sanctuary or on Zoom. Childcare is available upon request. Join the Zoom meeting at https://bit.ly/CapcamMeeting ID: 212 046 6883 Passcode: 1624.

For Andy’s Farewell Celebration, we are creating a very special guest book. Please join us in Seminar A on Sunday, April 23rd immediately following the first service to sign Andy’s book and drop off some memorabilia (think a wallet-sized photo or another flat object). You may also email or send your memorabilia to Heidi Stein or 715 NW 40th Terrace, Gainesville, Florida 32607. All items must be received on or before April 23rd. Andy’s book will also be available for signatures at his celebration on April 30th.

Eat Local, Grow Hope Global – The Compassion in Action Committee asks you to continue shopping with our partners at local farmers’ markets throughout April and plan to celebrate our collaboration with local partners to improve food security by joining our Break-Fast soup and salad potluck, a live event at UCG on Thursday, May 4 beginning at 6pm. Childcare with a kid-friendly supper will be provided upon request. We will be tabling between services on Sundays, April 23 and April 30.

Andy’s Farewell Celebration – Join us April 30 for ONE service at 10 am as we celebrate Andy Bachmann’s tenure as our minister at the United Church of Gainesville. THEN, join us at First Magnitude Brewing Company at 12:30pm for Andy’s Farewell Celebration. Special music will be provided by the Hogtown Pickers at 1:30 and Stella Bachmann’s band Breakfast for Dinner at 2:30.

Congregational gifts in honor of Andy Bachmann – If you’d like to honor Andy Bachmann’s 20 years of service to UCG with a financial gift, here are two options that speak to important threads in Andy’s ministry and spiritual journey:
  • A Camp Highlands Foundation scholarship fund to enable a child(ren) from the Lac Courte Oreilles band of the Ojibwe tribe to attend camp (Andy has been working to strengthen connections between Highlands and local indigenous communities), OR
  • A Pilgrimage Support Fund to help enable the continuation of Andy’s commitment to pilgrimage as an avenue for spiritual exploration, growth, and rejuvenation.
You are also welcome to contribute to both! To give, please send a check to UCG Accountant Catherine Cake with either “Highlands Scholarship” or “Pilgrimage” in the memo line or click here.

Next Sunday, April 23

9:00am                  Childcare
9:15 & 11:15am     Worship – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
9:30am                  United Tribes
10:15am                Fellowship & Beverages
                              Art in the Library Reception
                              Andy’s Farewell Book Submissions
                              UCG Puzzler Exchange
                              Youth United & Middle School Together
10:30am                Adult Seminar
12:15pm                Lively Arts Committee
12:30pm                Young Adult Lunch
2:00pm                  OWL Session

Racial Justice Committee invites UCG members to support our sister Alachua County towns in showing up for this sacred event of the High Springs Soil Collection on Saturday, April 22 at 10am at Catherine L. Taylor Park (18100 Douglass Street, High Springs, Fl 32643.) We will continue to be allies and do the work of preserving all of Alachua County’s history. Click here for more information and other upcoming community events.

Young Adult (YA) lunch is on Sunday, April 23. If you are older than high school age and younger than 30ish, please join us at the fountain after the 11:15 service is over. We will go to a nearby place to grab a bite together. For more information contact Judy Parsons at judyp482@gmail.com.

Patticakes Potluck is Back! – Patticakes is a group for UCG member and visitor families with children infants through 1st grade, as well as their siblings. Each month, we have a potluck gathering at a different home. Join us Saturday, April 29, 4-6 pm at Amanda and Michael Tudeen’s Treehouse at 4908 NW 16th Pl, Gainesville. Please bring a finger-food appetizer or easily shareable dish. We will have snacks and drinks for the kids.

Visitors’ Coffee with Rev. Bromleigh on Sunday, May 7 at 10:15am – If you’ve been visiting UCG and would like to learn more about the church, please join us at a visitors’ coffee, where Rev. Bromleigh and members of the Board of Membership will be available to answer questions you may have.

UCG Supper Club – The last supper club of the season will be on Sunday, May 21 at 6:30 pm. Once again, Jim and Lisa McElwee-White are welcoming the entire group to their lovely home on Kanapaha Prairie and Barbecue King, Jim White, will be firing up his smoker to prepare pork.  All of the sides will be vegetarian so there will be plenty for the vegetarians to eat as well.   Please contact Anne Casella (256-5960) or Kimberly McCollough (378-8371) if you would like to participate. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, May 14.

April 14 COVID update – According to the CDC, Alachua County residents have a low risk of serious illness from COVID-19 (the Green Zone). Hospital admissions have decreased. However, the presence  of COVID in all the County’s wastewater samples show that the virus is still being passed around. Masks are not required and are optional for people with medical risks.