What I Learned on My Summer Vacation
Sunday, September 1, 2024 – 10 a.m.
Our livestream begins here at 10 a.m.
”No story is the same to us after a lapse of time; or rather we who read it are no longer the same interpreters.” ― George Eliot
WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
PRELUDE – “Minuetto” by Luigi Boccerini – offered by Ruth Saunders, violin; Sally Simonis, flute; and David Turner, cello
CALL TO WORSHIP – adapted from Psalms 137 and 96 – Rev. Chad McGinnis
One: By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
Many: For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’
One: How could we sing God’s song
in a foreign land?
Many: We will sing to the Lord a new song;
We will bless God’s name and tell of salvation and love.
OPENING HYMN – “Earth and All Stars”
TIME WITH CHILDREN AND BIRTHDAYS – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
INTERLUDE AND OFFERING – Your gifts support all facets of the UCG community. You can also give online: bit.ly/ucgplate
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE – Rev. Chad McGinnis
MEDITATIVE MUSIC – offered by Ruth Saunders, violin; Sally Simonis, flute; and David Turner, cello
READING – “Marginalia” by Billy Collins – read by Shi Anne Breedlove
skirmishes against the author
raging along the borders of every page
in tiny black script.
If I could just get my hands on you,
Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O’Brien,
they seem to say,
I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head.Other comments are more offhand, dismissive –
“Nonsense.” “Please!” “HA!!” –
that kind of thing.
I remember once looking up from my reading,
my thumb as a bookmark,
trying to imagine what the person must look like
who wrote “Don’t be a ninny”
alongside a paragraph in The Life of Emily Dickinson.Students are more modest
needing to leave only their splayed footprints
along the shore of the page.
One scrawls “Metaphor” next to a stanza of Eliot’s.
Another notes the presence of “Irony”
fifty times outside the paragraphs of A Modest Proposal.
Or they are fans who cheer from the empty bleachers,
hands cupped around their mouths.
“Absolutely,” they shout
to Duns Scotus and James Baldwin.
“Yes.” “Bull’s-eye.” “My man!”
Check marks, asterisks, and exclamation points
rain down along the sidelines.And if you have managed to graduate from college
without ever having written “Man vs. Nature”
in a margin, perhaps now
is the time to take one step forward.
We have all seized the white perimeter as our own
and reached for a pen if only to show
we did not just laze in an armchair turning pages;
we pressed a thought into the wayside,
planted an impression along the verge.Even Irish monks in their cold scriptoria
jotted along the borders of the Gospels
brief asides about the pains of copying,
a bird singing near their window,
or the sunlight that illuminated their page–
anonymous men catching a ride into the future
on a vessel more lasting than themselves.
And you have not read Joshua Reynolds,
they say, until you have read him
enwreathed with Blake’s furious scribbling.
Yet the one I think of most often,
the one that dangles from me like a locket,
was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye
I borrowed from the local library
one slow, hot summer.
I was just beginning high school then,
reading books on a davenport in my parents’ living room,
and I cannot tell you
how vastly my loneliness was deepened,
how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,
when I found on one page
a few greasy looking smears
and next to them, written in soft pencil–
by a beautiful girl, I could tell,
whom I would never meet–
“Pardon the egg salad stains, but I’m in love.”
SPECIAL MUSIC – “Loch Lomand,” traditional – offered by Jasmine Angelini-Knoll, Calliope and Fiona Hammond, Bromleigh McCleneghan, and Hannah Norton, vocal, and David Evans, guitar
READING FROM SCRIPTURE – Acts 17:22-28
SERMON – “Singing a New Song” – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
CLOSING HYMN – “God Is Here! As We Your People Meet”
BENEDICTION
ALLELUIA
POSTLUDE
Here are our UCG friends celebrating a birthday this week:
Dotty Faibisy
Millie Herchel
Kevin RamosSeptember 4
Nancy Dana
Patsy Frenchman
Ron Haase
Carol Sarisky
Charlotte Seubert
Jean SperbeckSeptember 5
Kisaye Winchester
Giovanni Conrad
****************ANNOUNCEMENTS******************
Today at UCG
Food First Sunday
9:45 a.m. Childcare – children’s wing
10 a.m. Worship Service – Sanctuary
10:15 a.m. Activity Time – children’s wing
11 a.m. Fellowship and Beverages – courtyard
11:30 a.m. Sunday Seminar – Reimer Hall
4 p.m. Pathfinder Subcommittee Session – Zoom
Food First Sunday is today – Please place your donations for the Gainesville Community Ministry food bank in the cart provided. Thank you for your generous commitment to stocking the Food Pantry at Gainesville Community Ministries with monthly donations. To date in 2024, we have provided 1.2 tons of food!
Sunday Seminar: United Church of Gainesville Emergency Response Team – Have you ever wondered, ‘How can I help those communities that have been hit by disaster?’ Participate in a discussion about how UCG’s emergency response phone tree is coming back and spreading its branches with Alachua County’s Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD.) David Evans and Helen Warren will help lead this discussion. Join us in Reimer Hall at 11:30 or on Zoom. Meeting ID: 829 6457 0385 Passcode: 1624
Pathfinder Subcommittee Session at 4 p.m. on Zoom, Meeting ID: 833 1613 5073 Passcode: 1624
Next Sunday, September 8
9:45 a.m. Childcare
10 a.m. Worship Service – Rev. Bromleigh McCleneghan
10:15 a.m. Kids United
11 a.m. Fellowship and Beverages
11:15 a.m. Common Threaders
11:30 a.m. Congregational Meeting
6 p.m. Open and Affirming Sunday Social
Sacred Sound Symphony
7 p.m. Youth United
Middle School Together
Pathfinders Subcommittee
The Pathfinding Subcommittee report was emailed to all church members on August 22.
- If you did not receive the report via email, or need an alternate method to access the report, contact the church office or email Lindsey Telg at moderator@ucgainesville.org
- If you would like to ask a question about the report, please submit it via the Google Form found at bit.ly/PathfindingQs
- There are 9 opportunities for small group question and answer sessions. You can see all available opportunities at bit.ly/PathfindingQAs
Special Congregational Meeting Sunday, September 8 at 11:30 a.m. We will have a congregational meeting after the service to discuss the Pathfinders subcommittee report. All are encouraged to attend in person or via Zoom. Please stay tuned to your email and the bulletin for more information.
Looking Ahead
Join UCG’s Open and Affirming Committee (ONA) at our next Open & Affirming Sunday Social. Come get to know members of UCG in a fun and inclusive environment, hosted by ONA. We meet up on the Second Sunday of the month in the evening. The next Sunday Social will be on September 8 from 7-9 p.m. We will be singing our hearts out doing karaoke at Stage 7 Karaoke (4110 SW 34th St #1, Gainesville, FL 32608). This event will be for adults. We are renting a private room which means we are limited to the number of people who can attend. If you plan to attend, you must sign up.
UCG Boomer Single Mingle – Get to know other UCG Boomer singles! Two far-out evenings of fun and conversation at First Magnitude Brewing Co., 5:30 to 7:00, on Thursdays, Sept. 12, and Sept. 26. We’ll be meeting on the garden deck area of First Magnitude. Food trucks and beverages both with & without alcohol will be available. Feel free to bring a snack to share, and feel free to invite other Boomer singles. The more the merrier! Come to one event or come to both. Be there or be square! First Magnitude Brewing Co. is located at 1220 SE Veitch St, Gainesville, FL 32601.
Creation Justice Climate Events – Gainesville Art Exhibit: August 27-October 19 the Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) will be hosting “HEAT,” their Biennial National juried exhibit. As part of this exhibit, they are partnering with UCG and other community groups to host climate change related events. They are located at 1314 S. Main Street. There is also a Climate Book Discussion Group September 9 from 6-7 p.m. at The Lynx Bookstore, we will be discussing the book “The Heat Will Kill You First” by Jeff Goodall. Later, on September 28 at GFAA, the author will speak and do book signing. The book is available at The Lynx and other local bookstores. Discussion will be led by Allan March and Jackie Davis. This book discussion is sponsored by Creation Justice Committee of UCG, GFAA, and The Lynx Bookstore. The Creation Justice committee has several exciting events and opportunities happening for September, see them all in the August newsletter or visit bit.ly/CJ0824 
UCG Supper Club – The ever-popular UCG Supper Club is a great way to meet members and share a meal and fellowship. We meet in groups of 8-10 in the homes of participants. Recipes are provided so that each group shares the same menu. The next Supper Club will be Saturday September 28 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature a salmon entree. Please contact Anne Casella or Kimberly McCollough if you would like to participate. If you are able to host one of the groups, please let them know. The deadline to sign up is Sunday, September 15.
Calling UCGers of all ages! Come to our Ent’racte Food 4 Kids Benefit concert on Sunday, September 22 at 2 p.m. Tap your foot, sing along, and enjoy the afternoon. An offering will be collected to help fund our Food 4 Kids program which gives food to children whose families need help feeding them on the weekends. If you’d like to volunteer, please email Nan Ryan.
Alachua County Faith Leaders Alliance – The second Alachua County Faith Leaders Alliance Interfaith Potluck in honor of International Peace Day will be September 22 at 5 p.m. at Baha’i Community, 4451 NW 19th St. Bring a vegetarian potluck dish and your own silverware and plate and learn about and build relationships across different faiths.
UCG Emergency Volunteer Phone Tree – If you are not already on the call recipient list of the UCG Emergency Volunteer Phone Tree and you would like a call from the UCG Phone Tree about any hurricane warnings issued for the Gainesville area, please contact the front office to add your name to the list.
Capital Campaign Feasibility Study Update: One of the important findings of this spring’s Capital Campaign Feasibility Study was that congregants needed to learn more about the projects on the “Essential Repairs and Improvements” list, what they entailed, why they were necessary, and so on. As part of the effort to address this need, the UCG Capital Campaign Visioning Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee are assembling a series of short videos to describe projects on the “Essential Repairs and Improvements” list. Three new videos have been added:
in addition to the first five videos about water supply, the beam that separates Reimer Hall from the west wing, west bathrooms and HVAC. The videos will be available on this YouTube playlist. Please send any questions or comments about the projects, and about the effectiveness of these videos, to either Tim Martin or Erick Smith.
