Welcome to Worship

The United Church of Gainesville

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Broken Heroes

“When have you been given a second chance?”

Prelude –  “So What”  by Miles Davis

Centering Prayer 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.

Music –  “Amazing Grace” as performed by Ani DiFranco and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
A few notes on this: Ani DiFranco is one of the first folks I thought of when we discussed our broken hero theme: her work was critical to me in my college days, as she wrote songs that spoke to both intimate, personal affairs of the heart and offered indignant social commentary and critique. In more recent years, she has had some significant and public missteps around race, and the inclusion of transwomen. So I’m hesitant to use her stuff in worship in the way I once did. Still, this rendition of this hymn (which I know we already sang once this season) has always moved me so deeply. The bass notes urge us onward, reminding us that grace is not a one-time event, but moves in our lives. The horns speak to the triumph of love. — Bromleigh

Time with Children – “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak
Gospel Reading – Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32
Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’

Then Jesus said, ‘There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.” So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and travelled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.’ ” So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.” Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, “Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!” Then the father said to him, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
Reading – [My brother’s in Wyoming]  by Gary Young

My brother’s in Wyoming, and I’ve had that dream again. We’re fishing. The trout rise,

take our bait, and keep rising. In love once with a woman, and with my own capacity for

pain, I fell in with some cowboys, and broke my neck riding bulls in a little rodeo. That

night, drunk in the bunkhouse, not knowing how badly I’d been hurt, I thought it can’t get

worse than this, but I was wrong. That was twenty years ago. Thunder rolls down

South Fork Canyon. The Milky Way is a great river overhead. My brother is in Wyoming. I miss him more than ever when he’s there.

Music for Reflection – “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen

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?

Have you ever needed a second chance?
Wanted to come home again? Start over with someone?
Did you anticipate a warm welcome or were you nervous about how you would be received?

Have you ever had the opportunity to extend grace to someone?
To provide the warm welcome home? To be the safety net, the warm dinner, the caring relationship or the fatted calf? Did you take the opportunity? How did it feel to do so?
Special Music – “The Greatest of These Is Love”, offered by Anja Julian

A Benediction –  (A Good Word)  from enfleshed 

God is an invitation.

A lure.

A chance to do things differently.

Always before us,

God is the possibility of collective change.

Though everyday ordinary patterns of living

disguise evil and cover over sins of power,

God makes known what is hidden,

calls us to courage, makes us capable of radical solidarity.

We are not left powerless.

Every day there are openings.

Every day a chance to choose what is right.

Every day an opportunity to repattern the world.
Postlude “The Peace of the Earth” 

Grushers Needed! We are in need of more Grusher volunteers (aka greeter/ushers) at both services this spring. No experience necessary. Come 15 minutes early and basically be a welcoming presence for our friends and families returning to UCG after the long pandemic-related pause. Email denalidar@gmail.com for information or to help!

Thursday Taizé – 6:35 – 7:10pm – Join us for a contemplative service every Thursday during Lent, where we will sing Taizé chants, pray, and hear the words of Scripture.

Racial Justice 2022 Book Group for April, May, June– A three month group to read three books of significance to the Black experience in the US. These books were chosen for a variety of genres, different time in US history, and exploration of the works of famous black women. All are shorter books and available at a reasonable price. Click here for more information and to register.

First Wednesday Racial Justice Movie Nights – Join us for Racial Justice Committee’s First Wednesday Movie Nights each month from March – June, 2022. While many view movies merely as a form of escape, they also clarify and help us consider the world around us. It is our hope that the movies and documentaries we watch will each lead to a better understanding of the issues we face today. Click here for more information.

Women’s Lunch Group will be meeting in person, next Friday, April 8 at 12:00pm in the West Wing.

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Next Sunday, April 10
Palm Sunday

9:15 & 11:15am   Sunday Worship
10:15am               Fellowship & Beverages
10:30am               Sunday Seminar
Confirmation Class (High Schoolers only)
12:15pm               Young Adult Lunch
12:30pm               Special Congregational Meeting via Zoom
4:00pm                 YU & MST Family Meal & Open Mic Night

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Please mark your calendars for a Special Congregational Meeting confirmed for next Sunday, April 10. The meeting will begin promptly at 12:30 pm on Zoom. Click here to join zoom meeting. Zoom Meeting ID: 811 6716 6445 Passcode: 1624  

At this meeting, we will have just one topic of discussion: whether to authorize the Moderator to sign the collaborative agreement, as presented, with Constellation Charter School. The motion from Church Council needs to be approved by a 2/3 vote to move forward.

If you have not yet read through the sub-committee’s very informative FAQ’s, we encourage you to pick up a copy in the church office or to find them online here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18TKaZ3ztj0bIZyxZWsQt3uOJbmdPOQAqDiE3sAjWNqo/edit?usp=sharing.

Last Sunday’s listening session with two of the Charter School board members was also very helpful in addressing a number of questions. You can find that session here: https://youtu.be/0HElVlOWlTw.

Finally, you can peruse a copy of the most recently amended lease here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zHhtcZ_SVZU75Y1tuDjc3rmcT9PhzxyCZmrFba1xD9M/edit?usp=sharing . Please plan to join us.

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Looking Ahead for Holy Week

April 10 – Palm Sunday, Rev. Talia Raymond – This Sunday begins with the celebratory waving of palms and concludes with the contemplation of the ways the characters in the Holy Week drama wound one another, and how we might strive to change analogous narratives in our own lives.

April 14 – Maundy Thursday service at 6:30pm -In the Sanctuary – A simple service of song and holy communion, commemorating Jesus’s last supper and his commandment — mandatum — to the disciples: to love one another.

April 15 – Good Friday service at 6:30pm – In the Sanctuary – A service of personal storytelling and heart-rending music, as we enter into the story of Jesus’s last hours and days. If you have a story to share, please contact Bromleigh. 

April 17 – Easter Sunday services at 8:00, 9:15, and 11:15am – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan – The most joyful morning of the Christian year, we gather to sing and proclaim Good News, accompanied by brass, guided by rich traditions, and imagining a bright future of transformation in love.