The Congregational Church of Westborough

Transcription

1 The Congregational Church of Westborough UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST West Main & Church Streets, Westborough, Massachusetts Come To the Table! OPEN DOORS GROWING FAITH!

2 Children... Some Notes to Help You Feel at Ease this Morning Four and Under: The nursery is available downstairs during the service if needed. Pre-K and Up: Will go to Faith Formation after the Children s Time! Outside the sanctuary are bags filled with crayons to keep little hands busy in pews! Visitors of all ages... We're glad you are here! We have large print bulletins and an elevator too! You are welcome to an all-age fellowship after worship in the room downstairs directly under the sanctuary. Folks new and returning to worship... There are no assigned seats; sit where you feel most comfortable. We celebrate the noises of small children; they remind us that we're alive! Generally, we stand for the opening of the service and for singing. We sing with joy and Spirit, without fear of judgement. We share our prayers vulnerably, and hold them with care. We pray with our eyes closed and open, our heads bowed and raised. We pass the peace with hugs and handshakes, with nods and smiles. We share communion with all who are willing-especially children! Statement of Inclusion We, the people of The Congregational Church of Westborough, United Church of Christ, believe that all people are created equal, in God s image. We are all God s children. In our journey of faith, we strive for justice and equality for all. We invite and welcome into our community and into the full life and Christian ministry of this church, persons of every race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, family structure, faith background, economic circumstance, mental and physical ability. We say, and mean, No matter who you are, or where you are on life s journey, you are welcome here. We declare ourselves an Open and Affirming Christian community, actively expressing our belief in diversity and inclusion. We seek to be a faith community centered in Christ, ready to proclaim the Gospel and seek to grow through the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. We offer to each person acceptance and the responsibilities and blessings of participation in this congregation. 1

3 THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF WESTBOROUGH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Feb 4, :00 AM Whatever your spiritual disposition-skeptic, seeker, follower - we welcome you and pray that you might hear something of the Good News today! *The congregation is invited to stand. MUSIC FOR REFLECTION WELCOME! Rev. Elaine We re glad you re back! *OPENING SONG Here I Am to Worship Tim Hughes Led by Joyspring (Music can be found ALPHABETICALLY in the BLACK BINDERS in the pews.) Verse 1: Light of the World, You stepped down into darkness, Opened my eyes, let me see. Beauty that made this heart adore You, Hope of a life spent with You. Refrain: Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, Here I am to say that You re my God. You re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, Altogether wonderful to me. Verse 2: King of all days, oh so highly exalted, Glorious in heaven above. Humbly You came to the earth You created, All for love s sake became poor. Refrain Bridge (x2): And I ll never know how much it cost To see my sin upon that cross. Refrain (x2) *OPENING PRAYER Wendy Reardon 2

4 *LORD S PRAYER (Debts) Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. (Everyone may be seated) (Children leave now to go to Faith Formation.) SERVICE OF THE WORD AND RESPONSE MISSION MOMENT Molly Pietrantonio Habitat for Humanity CHOIR ANTHEM The Last Supper Allen Pote PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Rev. Elaine S. Gaetani OFFERING OF OUR GIFTS Invitation: Let us bring our offerings before God with thanksgiving! In each of our pews today is a black friendship book which we encourage you to fill out and pass to the person next to you during the offering. If you have been with us before, just put down your name, but if you are new today, please let us know who you are. Please place the attendance sheets on top of the black books. Thanks! Offertory Anthem Gracefully Broken Redman, Myrin, Cobbs Joyspring Torwalt, & Torwalt *DOXOLOGY (unison) Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God above, ye heavenly hosts: Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost. Amen. *PRAYER OF DEDICATION God of hope, use these gifts and our lives that we may serve You and one another, in Jesus name, Amen. SERMON SCRIPTURE Luke 9:10-17 (pew Bible page 842) Jesus feeds a huge crowd. SERMON Come to the Table! Pastor Paul Sangree COMMUNION SONG #408 Come, Share the Lord DIVERNON 3

5 (Communion is served with gluten free bread.) *INVITATION TO COMMUNION SACRAMENT OF THE LORD S SUPPER *AFFIRMATION OF FAITH (as found on the inside rear cover of your hymn book) INVOCATION WORDS OF INSTITUTION SHARING THE BREAD AND CUP PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING O God, we give thanks for this open table, and for this meal filled with hope. We pray that we would choose to follow You in the days and weeks ahead, for Your glory, Amen. *CLOSING HYMN #399 O God, Unseen Yet Ever Near BELMONT *BENEDICTION *SUNG BENEDICTION #445 Go in Peace OCEAN PARK *PASSING OF THE PEACE *POSTLUDE The flowers on the altar are to celebrate Rev. Elaine s return. Adam Dapolite greeted you this morning and served as liturgist. Joan Truesdell and Tracy Owens are Deacons of the day. Communion servers are Beth Dapolite, Judy Ellis, Pam Faustine, Liz Jarobski, Audrey Lord and Elaine Moore. Join us for refreshments at the Souper Bowl Tailgate downstairs after worship! PRAYERS & CELEBRATIONS FOR FEB 4, 2018 Continued Prayers: Jessica (friend of Bonnie Rossi); Joan Clancy (friend of Paula Davis); Egline Hollfelder (Nila Gray s mother); Dee Mumby (Cathie Achorn s mother); Olivia L.; Lois Gray & family (sister-in-law of Betty Gray); Michael Newton; Pari, a dear friend of Cathie Achorn and Angela Caron; Nick & Sue Perron s granddaughter Annika. Prayer requests: You can place prayer concerns on the church s distribution list at eprayers@uccwestboro.org. If you would like a prayer request included in today s service, please let a Deacon know prior to the start of worship. Prayers will remain listed for 8 weeks. If you would like a prayer renewed, please call the church office. 4

6 Check out the insert in today s bulletin for the Small Group offerings starting this month! PARKING OPTIONS Please know that in addition to parking in our lot or on the street, you can park next door in the library parking spaces on Parkman St. We re glad you re here! KID S CHIMES AND BELLS The kids chimes and bells will begin rehearsals today after the service. CALL TO ANNUAL FISCAL MEETING The 293nd Annual Fiscal Meeting of The Congregational Church of Westborough will be held Sunday, February 11, 2018 at or after 11:15 AM downstairs in the church vestry. The purpose of the meeting is as follows: 1. To hear and act upon the reports of the Church Clerk, Missions Committee, Stewardship Committee, Treasurer and Moderator. 2. To vote on the operating budget for To discuss action items presented by the Strategy and Visioning Team. 4. To transact such other business as may regularly come before the meeting. David R. Smith, Church Clerk WINTER BREAK CHURCH FAMILY RETREAT On Friday night Mar. 23-Saturday, Mar. 24th, we as a church will be heading down to the Marriott in New Bedford for an all-church retreat! All ages are included! We will be gathering Friday evening for a reception, staying overnight (there is a heated pool!), enjoying a buffet breakfast together Saturday morning, doing a service project that does not require specific skills, eating lunch in historic New Bedford, and ending with a celebration dinner Saturday night, finishing by 7:30 PM. What fun we will have! We have gotten reduced rates at the hotel for being off season. Speak to Pastor Paul or Wendy for more details and SIGN UP DOWNSTAIRS! We also have scholarship money available, so speak to Pastor Paul or Wendy. WOMEN S FELLOWSHIP VALENTINES BOXES DEADLINE TODAY! Again this year, the Women s Fellowship is going to send Valentine s Day packages to our college students, and those in the military away from home. All who have a family member who grew up in our church and is currently either a scholar attending an institution of higher learning, or is on active duty, please be sure to let me know their current mailing address* or APO/FPO address. If you put it in writing it helps reduce mistakes. To have a package returned will not only add an expense (usually doubled because it has to be re-sent), it will prevent them from getting it in time for Valentine s Day. *If they live in an apartment/house rather than on campus, it would be helpful to know. Also, if they are commuters and/or have any known allergies, please let us know. We can customize! Please Donna Morgan at DKMNM@aol.com as soon as possible If you have a relative (niece, nephew, grandchild, etc.) who is not a member of our church family, we d be glad to send them a package but will need to ask for a donation to cover the postage (approximately $10 if they are attending a school in New England). 5

7 HAITI MISSION TRIP Our church has built a powerful and life-changing relationship with the ministry of Heartline in Haiti over the past few years, and we will again be sending a team to visit! This year, we will be leaving Mar. 10th and returning Mar. 19th. It will be a travel experience that will change your life, so if you are interested, please speak to Mike Lawler, Art Sharkey, Rev. Elaine, or Megan Huber. Thanks! GROCERY CARDS 2018 Goal: $ 8, YTD Sales: $ Last week s profits were $ Grocery Shoppers: Our Church budget continues to be a challenge. If you shop for groceries, you can help us achieve or even surpass The Grocery Card Team s commitment to the Operation s Budget. Even if you don t shop Stop & Shop, Roche Bros, or Price Chopper on a regular basis (we wish you would), you probably run in for an item or two. Stop by our table after worship, visit the Church Office, or add your name to our delivery list and buy a grocery card to keep on hand for those quick stops. Eat healthy, shop local, and always carry a grocery card! Karen Hutchinson at or millarhutch@aol.com or Nancy Quimby at or nquimby11@gmail.com or Sally Petersen at sbpetersen4@gmail.com and A NOTE FROM YOUR DEACONS We have many new people and we want to call you by name. Please wear your name tag. Thanks again to Ed Wong for making and maintaining our name tag board. If you don t have one, let a deacon or the office know. Temporary name badges for you and your visitors can be found by the guest book outside the sanctuary. Thank you! PASTOR PAUL AT PANERA Pastor Paul is available every Thursday morning for a conversation at Panera! Just him and let him know what time is good for you! DISMAS HOUSE Our church goes on the first Thursday of the month to cook and serve a meal with the people of Dismas House, a home for ex-prisoners. If you would like to help, be in touch with Karen Hutchinson at millarhutch@aol.com. We will go again Thursday, March 1 st. Donations of Stop and Shop cards are greatly appreciated to help with the shopping for the meals! Thank you. E-PRAYERS AND E-NEWS Are you new to the church? Two ways our church community can stay in touch with up to date notices and prayer concerns is to make sure you are signed up to receive eprayers and enews. The two programs are separate and intended to have separate content and not be duplicative. Enews is for announcements about our church s activities, and eprayers is for prayer requests, concerns of the congregation, celebrations and other spiritually related matters. To subscribe to eprayers please your request to eprayers@uccwestboro.org. If you would like to subscribe to enews, contact the church office at or send your request to either brossi6@verizon.net or westboroucc@verizon.net. Once you do, you will then receive an asking you to subscribe to the service. All you have to do is accept the and you will be put on the list. 6

8 PRAYER TIME CARDS We are encouraging people to speak to a pastor upstairs before the service if you want a prayer lifted up on Sunday morning, or you can fill out a blue card (located at a table near the front entrance, outside the sanctuary and in the pews) and give it to a Deacon, Thanks! Pastor Paul Sangree, Senior Pastor phsangree@gmail.com Rev. Elaine S. Gaetani, Pastor of Spiritual Development - revelaineg@aol.com Wendy Reardon, Director of Children s and Youth Ministries - wendysreardon@yahoo.com Clayton Heidbreder, Minister of Music/Organist claytonlh1@gmail.com Sue Menzel, Director of Bells westcongmusic@gmail.com Linda Hartley, Pastoral Associate lhartley@ants.edu Office hours: Mon & Fri 9-1, Tues, Wed, Thurs. 9-2, Church office phone 508/ General Church westboroucc@verizon.net Church website Calendar Feb 4 th Feb 11 th Feb 4 Communion Sunday 9:00 AM Bible Study/Chapel 10:00 AM Worship & Faith Formation Souper Bowl Tailgate Party 11:15 AM Kid s Chimes & Bells 11:30 AM Deacons/Kerygma Room 2:30 PM GSA/Vestry 5:30 PM GSA/Vestry Feb 5 Monday 6:30 PM Women s Fellowship/Vestry 7-8:30 PM Men s Group/Chapel 7:30 PM AA/Nursery Feb 6 Tuesday 10:30 AM Whitney Place Service 11:15 AM Willow s Communion 7:00 PM Festival Ringers Feb 7 Wednesday 10:30 AM Staff Meeting/Nursery 3:30 PM Journey Home Singers 7:00 PM Choir Rehearsal 7:30 PM Joyspring Rehearsal Feb 8 Thursday 2:30 PM PCC/Fannie Forbes 4:30 PM GSA/Vestry Feb 9 Feb 10 Friday (no events scheduled) Saturday (no events) Feb 11 Sunday 9:00AM Bible Study/Chapel 10:00 AM Worship & Faith Formation 11:15 AM Annual Fiscal Meeting 2:30 PM GSA/Vestry 5:30 PM GSA/Vestry 7