ROCKY HILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Transcription

1 ROCKY HILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Established 1727 November 10, :00 a.m. Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost The Friendly Church at the Center An Open and Affirming Community

2 ~ O R D E R O F W O R S H I P ~ We welcome all and extend a special greeting to our guests; our service is enriched by your presence! Please join us in Chapin Hall for fellowship time after worship. The Welcome Table in Chapin Hall offers information about the church and members who can answer your questions. Hearing devices and large-print bulletins are available for worship ask an usher. Nursery care is always available downstairs in Room 4. WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Meghan D. Young Please include your full address and phone number as you sign our friendship registration pads, and please wear your nametags. All announcements should be written down and given to the ushers or pastors prior to worship. If you have a prayer request you would like read aloud for today s prayers, please fill out one of the prayer cards found in the pew racks (your name is optional) and be prepared to pass it to the center aisle at the time of the offering, when the cards will be collected. PRELUDE "Wayfaring Stranger", arr. Hugh Livingston, Jr. American Spiritual CALL TO WORSHIP The Rev. Dr. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza The God who is greater than we will ever understand, invites us to live in love. The God who is more loving that our hearts dare imagine, gives us more grace than we ever realize. The God who is wiser than we will ever know, teaches us all we need to live in discipleship. Let us open our hearts and spirits to God who loves and lives with us. *HYMN Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise Pilgrim 7 * P l e a s e r i s e i n b o d y o r i n s p i r i t. * B o l d t y p e d e n o t e s c o l l e c t i v e r e s p o n s e.

3 *GATHERING PRAYER AND THE LORD S PRAYER God of Compassion, Brother of Justice, Spirit of Grace, why should we fear? When we run around in circles, you fill us with your peace; When we stumble through each day, you energize us with your hope; When our spirits are empty, you come and dwell in us. You call us to follow you. We will extol you, we will bless you, we will praise you. God in Community, Holy in One, as Jesus has taught us, we say together: 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. *SUNG RESPONSE: Bless God, O my soul MESSAGE FOR ALL AGES

4 CHILDREN S RECESSIONAL (Children are invited to depart for S.P.I.R.I.T. Church School) We Will Keep a Place For You by John Corrado ANTHEM Never Grow Old by James C. Moore Val and Rhody Triblets I have heard of a land on the far away strand, Tis a beautiful home of the soul; Built by Jesus on high, where we never shall die, Tis a land where we never grow old. Refrain Never grow old, never grow old, In a land where well never grow old; Never grow old, never grow old, In a land where well never grow old. In that beautiful home where we'll never more roam, We shall be in the sweet by and by; Happy praise to the King through eternity sing, Tis a land where we never shall die. Refrain When our work here is done and the life crown is won, And our troubles and trials are oer; All our sorrow will end, and our voices will blend, With the loved ones who've gone on before. A READING FROM THE GOSPELS Luke 20:27-38

5 SERMON "God of the Living" Meghan D. Young *HYMN More Love to You, O Christ" New Century 456 OFFERING OF GIFTS Following the receiving of offerings by the ushers, the pastor(s) will come to the center aisle to receive prayer request cards. Invitation to the Offering For those who have already given their offering, Giving Cards are available in your pew so that all may participate in the act of the offering. Offertory Anthem "Swing Low" arr.and additional words by Don McKeever The Choir American Spiritual Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin' for to carry me home. Swing low, sweet chariot, Comin' for to carry me home. I looked over Jordan and what did I see Comin' for to carry me home A band of angels comin' after me Comin' for to carry me home. Swing low that I may see Your heav'nly, holy plan for me. Swing low that some day I may be In Your celestial glory. *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise God, all creatures here below; Praise God for all that love has done; Creator, Christ, and Spirit, One. Amen *Prayer of Dedication PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Joys & Concerns

6 Pastoral and Silent Prayer Prayer Response *HYMN Sent Forth by God's Blessing New Century 76 *BENEDICTION *POSTLUDE "The Spiritual Sailor" arr. James Boeringer from The Sacred Harp USHERS Neal Cox, Jim Griswold, Jay Jensen, Jim Stevens, John Sword The flowers are given in loving memory of her parents Arlene and Barry Pelc and her brother Barry Pelc by Brenda Pelc-Faszcza N E X T W E E K NOVEMBER 17 The Rev. Dr. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza is preaching TODAY SECOND HOUR 11:30 A.M. Join us in Chapin Hall where Rochelle Ripley will tell us about the hawkwing Organization that she founded in Hawkwing is a Native American Federal nonprofit 501(c)3 organization created to offer cross-cultural education while assisting the people of the Lakota (Sioux) Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota meet their basic human needs. With permission from her Elders, she is a Native Storyteller. Through hawkwing, Rochelle is fulfilling a promise to her Lakota Grandmother "to go home and help the people." Each year, hawkwing conducts a major collection drive in order to bring basic need items to some 3,000 children and 500 Elders on the Cheyenne River. Rocky Hill Congregational has contributed to this effort and last year sent a check to help build a food pantry at the reservation.

7 Mission Opportunity! Thanksgiving Food and Clothing Drive November 10 th 24 th This year the RHCC Missions Board is holding a food and clothing drive to benefit our friends at Peter s Retreat! We will be looking for warm weather clothing items that are either new or very gently used, both male and female, as well as dry goods and pantry items to help stock their kitchen. We will begin collecting items the week of November 10 th and end on Sunday November 24 th. Please drop off items to either the Missions Room, or by the Missions Board in Chapin Hall. Please contact Meghan Montana with any questions or meghan.montana1105@gmail.com Clothing Items Needed: sweaters/sweatshirts/fleece, long sleeve shirts, coats, gloves, hats, scarves, warm socks, blankets, twin bed sheet sets (sheet sets must be new) Food Items Needed: dry cake, muffin, and other baking mixes, dry pasta, sauces, rice, beans, canned soups, canned vegetables, canned fruits, dried fruits, oils, cooking spray, spices, etc. Peter s Retreat is a residential housing program that helps individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS to receive the comprehensive and compassionate services necessary to live healthier lives and break the cycle of homelessness. Please Note: This drive is replacing the Foodshare A Turkey and A Thirty drive that we have done in past years. However, if you wish to donate to the Foodshare campaign you can still do so at these locations in the area: West Side Market Place (Rocky Hill), Wethersfield Stop and Shop, Wethersfield Volunteer Ambulance or visit for more locations. The Rocky Hill Food Bank is in need of donations Please help feed our neighbors and our friends! Some suggested items are: 6 oz. tuna, baked beans, canned soups spaghetti sauce, rice, juice boxes snack bars, toilet paper and paper towels. Please bring items to service or drop them off at church during the week.

8 The next Church Council Meeting will be held Tuesday Dec 10 at 7 PM. The Council s previously scheduled November 12 meeting has been cancelled. WINTER ITEMS NEEDED On the Cheyenne River Lakata Sioux reservation, snow has already fallen. These native Americans are already in need of winter clothing, adults and children, especially men s. If you have warm, any size, winter items in good condition please bring them to Chapin Hall on Sundays during the month of November. Any questions about clothing, call Joan Tennyson (860) MUSIC MINISTRY AT RHCC Lessons and Carols will be held on Sunday December 8 at 4:00p.m. CHILDREN AND YOUTH MUSIC The Children (through grade 5) and Youth (grades 6-12) music programs are underway with rehearsals Monday evening at 6:00-6:40pm (children) and 6:45 to 7:20pm (youth). We are preparing some beautiful songs with chimes to present at the Lessons and Carols service. If your child would like to participate but cannot attend rehearsals, please contact Mary at Mary@RHCCUCC.or, or call the office and leave a message so that an alternate time can be arranged. THE ADULT CHOIR Rehearsals for Lessons and Carols are held every Wednesday evening from 7:00-7:45pm, and Sunday from 11:30-12:30. New members are welcome. Please come and experience the joy of singing the beautiful music of the Advent and Christmas seasons. THE HANDBELL CHOIR Rehearsal are held every Monday evening at 7:30-8:45 pm with preparations for Lessons and Carols underway. New members are always welcome. Please contact Mary at Mary@RHCCUCC.org with any questions for all the groups.

9 ADULT FAITH FORMATION OPPORTUNITY Fall Book Study Thurs. Nov. 14 and Thurs. Nov. 21, 7 p.m. Led by Rev. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, by Richard Rohr. All welcome for two-part discussion (half the book each time). Please note: Books can no longer be ordered through the church. You are welcome to obtain your own copy. SCRIP-SURE What is it? Scrip-sure is a fundraising program for our church, which allows the regular shopping we do at a variety of retailers to generate income for the church. How? Participating retailers sell gift certificates or gift cards to our church at a discount. Church members buy the certificates for full face value and redeem them for full face value, and our church keeps the difference as revenue. Everybody wins! The retailers get our business, and our church gets a regular source of revenue that involves nothing other than what we would all be doing anyway shopping/spending at grocery stores, drugstores, restaurants, gas stations, and many other businesses, including online retailers. Due to the heavy seasonal demand for scrip, we will be placing orders every other week for the next six weeks. Today is the first biweekly ordering deadline. Orders placed today will be available for pickup next Sunday. This provides extra chances to get cards that we don't normally stock in inventory - such as L.L. Bean, Lands End, Cabelas, Penney's, itunes, K-mart, and Sears. Complete listings of all participating retailers are available at the scrip table in Chapin Hall. We also have a variety of cards in inventory available for immediate purchase this morning, including (but not limited to) Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Bonefish Grill, Dunkin Donuts, Exxon/Mobil, Kohl's, On the Border, Panera, Subway, Sunoco, Target, and Walmart. In addition, we always carry cards for Big Y, CVS, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe's, West Side Marketplace, and Whole Foods. See Gail Hall at the scrip table for a full listing of available cards, or to have all of your questions answered. Think SCRIP!

10 THIS WEEK AT RHCC N o v e m b e r :00am Worship 11:30am Second Hour 11:30am Noah s Table N o v e m b e r 1 1 5:30pm Yoga with Lynn 7:00pm Women s AA 7:00pm RHCCNS 7:00pm Bowling 7:30pm Bell Choir N o v e m b e r 1 2 8:30am Breakfast Club 10:30am Staff Meeting 6:30pm Personnel Mtg S u n d a y Sanctuary M o n d a y Chapin Hall Chapin Hall Fiorilli Room Loft T u e s d a y Bob s Coffee Shop Fiorilli Room Fiorilli Room N o v e m b e r 1 3 W e d n e s d a y 9:30am Quilters Room 6 12:00pm Bible Study Fiorilli Room 7:30pm Adult Choir Choir Room N o v e m b e r 1 4 Newsletter Deadline 5:30pm Tops 7:00pm Book Study 7:00pm Fair Committee 8:00pm Men s AA N o v e m b e r 1 6 8:30am Yoga with Lynn T h u r s d a y Chapin Hall Parlor Fiorilli Room Chapin Hall S a t u r d a y Chapin Hall Nov. 10 Jon Morgan 11 Dale Rowland Harry Blaise Brianna Stewart 12 Diana Belliveau 13 Donna Rowland Karianta McCaw- Blaise David Rodriguez 15 Roland Lataille Elke Pierson 16 James Griswold Weekly Bible Study: Wednesdays, 12 noon 1 p.m. (Fiorilli Room) Led by the preaching pastor for the week, the study is based on the Scripture text(s) coming up for the following Sunday in worship. All are welcome. No experience necessary. Bring your favorite translation or pick one up from the shelf. Brown bag lunch is optional.

11 S.P.I.R.I.T. Corner Serve, Pray, Invite, Receive, Ignite, Tell S.P.I.R.I.T. Faith Nurture Ideas These faith nurture ideas coordinate with the weekly session plans for church school. We hope you will join us in learning, teaching, and growing together! Here s what we re learning about this week Today all classes will be joining together to participate in a church school wide missions project. We will be making holiday decorations for the residents of Apple Rehab in Rocky Hill. We will also be writing letters and making care packages for an Army infantry platoon that has just been deployed for a 9 month deployment in Afghanistan. The S.P.I.R.I.T. Church School will be supporting the soldiers of this unit throughout the coming year. ALL S.P.I.R.I.T. Missions Project How you can help! Today is our first S.P.I.R.I.T. Missions Project of the year. You can participate with us throughout the year as we support our adopted military troop. Here s how you can help: - Donate care package items for military personnel (small toiletries, snacks, magazines, gum, candy, jerky, etc.). Items can be dropped off at the church office. - Soldiers on deployment experience a wide range of emotions. Many do not have support networks back home that they can be in dialogue with to keep their perspective as well as process their experience. Some have found it helpful to have adult writing partners that they can be in correspondence with during their deployment. If you are interested in being paired with a specific soldier, and would like to find out more, please talk with Meghan Young. A Prayer For Today. God of all, thank you for the covenant you made with Noah and the rainbow promises you made to us. May we see the colors of your love all around us. May we be a part of your love, sharing and celebrating it. Amen. NURSERY VOLUNTEERS: Nursery Volunteers are needed. If you are interested in volunteering in the Nursery during Sunday morning worship, please contact a member of the Childcare Committee or them at RHCCchildcare@gmail.com for more information. You can also sign-up outside the Nursery.

12 PARENTS: Church school ends at 11:15 AM. Please pick-up your children at the following locations. (So that the children may focus through the end of their class, we ask that you do not look through the classroom windows, and that you wait for the teacher to end class by opening the classroom door.) CLASS Pre-K K - 1 st Grade 2 nd & 3 rd Grade 4 th & 5 th Grade 6 th -8 th Grade PICK-UP LOCATION FUN & GAMES RM. 24 Christian Education Hallway FUN & GAMES RM. 24 Christian Education Hallway HANDS ON RM. 23 Christian Education Hallway SHOW & TELL RM. 25 Christian Education Hallway COMMUNITY LIFE RM. 22 Christian Education Hallway NOAH S ARK The RHCC Youth Group (6 th -12 th Grade) has started. We meet every Sunday after church for lunch, fellowship, and faith formation from 11:30 AM 1 PM. If you are planning to attend, please RSVP with Diana Hellyar. YOUTH GROUP OUTING (6 th -12 th Grade) Dodge Ball Tournament Saturday, November 16 th, 10:45 AM 5:00 PM, at Trinity College in Hartford. Join us as for a mini-sports camp and dodge ball tournament hosted by the Trinity Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The day will include food, fun, sports, and ecumenical fellowship with youth groups from the greater Hartford area. This event is free. Parents are needed to assist with drop-off and pick-up at Trinity College. If you are planning to attend, please RSVP with Diana Hellyar.

13 Rocky Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ 805 Old Main Street Rocky Hill, CT Church Office: / Church Website: rhccucc.org Visit us on Facebook at: O f f i c e H o u r s Monday Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday 8:30 to 12:00 Open and Affirming Statement Because we believe that all people are created in God s image and thus are blessed and loved equally by God, and because love is a unifying and strengthening force within our Christian Faith, We, the members of the Rocky Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, hereby declare ourselves an Open and Affirming Christian community, actively expressing Jesus inclusive embrace of all people. We welcome all who seek to follow Jesus, including persons of every age, gender, race, national origin, faith background, marital status and family structure, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, mental and physical ability, economic and social status, and educational background, to share in the life, leadership, ministry, fellowship, worship, sacraments, responsibilities, blessings and joys of our church family. Jesus teaches us to welcome all God s children into God s covenantal community. As we grow together in faith and love, we will strive to celebrate the diversity in which God has created us. Approved by congregational vote June 2009 Ministry Team Ministers: All the members of the church Interim Senior Pastor: The Rev. Dr. Brenda Pelc-Faszcza brenda@rhccucc.org Acting Associate Pastor for Faith Formation: Meghan D. Young meghan@rhccucc.org Minister of Music: Mary DeLibero mary@rhccucc.org Office Manager: Mitsey Baker office@rhccucc.org Webmaster: Dave Hall webmaster@rhccucc.org