United Church of Gainesville
Sunday, July 3, 2022 – 10:00 am
In My Backyard

Click here to join the live stream beginning at 10am.

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan

PRELUDE – Phillip Herr-Klepacki

A BLESSING FOR TELLING THE TRUTH (no matter how bitter or sweet)  – Offered by Mary Fukuyama       

Blessed are you, resisting the urge to reframe.
You who are sick and tired of silver linings.
Blessed are you, speaking honestly
about what is right in front of you:
This is hard.
Things might not get better.
This really has gone horribly.
There may not be a different way.
You who risk honesty,
especially when the world around us craves a brightside.
Blessed are we in our gratitude and our pain,
our pleasures and our limitations.
Blessed are we, the truth-tellers.
Whose candor finds a chorus that echoes back: “Same.”
May we feel ourselves answered
by this language of love,
changed where we can,
and confirmed where we can’t.
But loved loved loved all the same.
Amen.    — Kate Bowler

OPENING SONG – “This is My Song” – Accompanied by Tim Martin and Brian Martin, Trumpets

TIME WITH CHILDREN AND BIRTHDAYS – “Born on the Water” by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson 

INTERLUDE 

READING –  “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes

SPECIAL MUSIC – “Christ for President” – Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Jeff Tweedy & Jay Bennett. Offered by The Hogtown Pickers: Alan Hill, Jack Nettles, and Ned Stewart

READING – 1 Peter 2:9-10

…You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.

SERMON – “As It Was In The Beginning” – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE   

HYMN AND OFFERING – “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land”

This land is your land this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
Saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I roamed and rambled and I’ve followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
All around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

This land is your land this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

BENEDICTION

ALLELUIA


Here are the UCG friends celebrating a birthday this week!
Happy Birthday!

Geoff

Dahl

07/04

Michelle

Einmo

07/04

Darrell

Hartman

07/05

Tom

Dana

07/06

Jenny

Land

07/06

Theresa

Foster

07/07

Nadal

Gutierrez-Hernandez

07/07

Nati

Gutierrez-Hernandez

07/07

Donn

Smith-Lopez

07/07

Amanda

Davis

07/08

Vicki

Evans

07/08

Alice

Hill

07/08

Jenny

Hill

07/08

Lilliam

Pancorbo

07/08

Elizabeth

Sugalski

07/08


Announcements

Today at UCG

9:45am        Childcare
10:00am      Worship – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
10:15am      Activity Time for Kids
11:00am      Fellowship and Beverages – Courtyard
                   Art in the Library Reception

New Library Art Installation! – Betsy Harris’: “Stiches from My Collection” fabric art has been hung in the library. Please join Betsy and the Lively Arts Committee for a reception at 11am this morning.

United Tribes – Summer is Activity Time for kids. United Tribes resumes in August.

Food First Sunday – Please place your non-perishable food items in the cart provided. Unbreakable containers are preferred. If you are watching from home, you may donate here. Thanks for providing much needed food for the Gainesville Community Ministry (GCM) Food Pantry!

Grushers Needed on Sundays this summer. Come 15 minutes early and be a welcoming presence for our friends and families at UCG. Please email  hannah.norton@gmail.com for more information or visit https://bit.ly/grusher to sign up now!

The Racial Justice Committee of the United Church of Gainesville is dedicating one of the shelves in our library to banned books. In the foyer is a list of books banned by counties across the country and in Florida. These books are often labeled as being “too woke,” “liberal propaganda,” and “anti-white,” among other ridiculous claims. Being a committed congregation that seeks to “Learn from our religious heritage, yet to grow by seeking new dimensions of truth,” we invite you to join us, loan to us, borrow from us, and grow with us. Please do not donate books that are not on the list. Titles will be removed as they are purchased. Please chose the shipping address labeled “UCG Library (c/o Shanna Swiers.)” Thank you for your support!

Gathering Water – Wherever you are this summer- in your own yard, at the beach, in another state or country– remember to gather a small amount of water to bring to our annual “Gathering of Waters” service on August 28. This service is our ritual of re-gathering as a church community at the end of the summer.

C.A.M.P. UCG – For children rising K-6th Grade will be July 25-29, 2022! 
Rates: $30 per child (8:30-12:00pm), $50 family cap for children in the same household; Aftercare from 12:00-5:00pm: $100 for the week, $20 per day. Email taliar@ucgainesville.org with any questions, or to volunteer. Monetary donations or gift cards to grocery/big box stores are also welcome. Register hereThe deadline to register is July 20.

The Church office will be closed on Monday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day.

Next Sunday, July 10

9:45am        Childcare
10:00am      Worship – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
10:15am      Activity Time for Kids
11:00am      Fellowship and Beverages
6:00pm        Sacred Sound Symphony

July 1 COVID Update

 According to the CDC Alachua County residents have a high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 (the Orange Zone). New cases and hospitalizations in the County continue to slowly rise. Masks are required upon entering the sanctuary for Sunday worship.

The United Church of Christ in Fort Lauderdale, in partnership with the Florida Conference, the local League of Women Voters, and others, is observing “Gun Lock Safety Sunday.” Noting the distressing prevalence of gun deaths each day, and the impact that gun locks can have in reducing the risk of homicide, suicide, and domestic violence fatality, the UCC of Fort Lauderdale has provided UCG with a number of gun locks, and related information, free of charge to distribute as “one way to do something.” If you are interested in receiving a gun lock for yourself or someone else, they will be available in the church office while supplies last.