ROCKY HILL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST Established 1727 ~ An Open and Affirming Community Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, 1633 by Rembrandt. Stolen in 1990 June 24, 2018 ~ 10:00 a.m. Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Open and Affirming Sunday
~ORDER OF WORSHIP~ 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 are available for worship ask an usher. Nursery care is available downstairs in Room 4. WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS 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 pastor 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 friendship registration pads (your name is optional) and be prepared to pass it to the aisles at the time of the offering, when the cards will be collected. PRELUDE Prelude in C J.S. Bach CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: All: It s awesome when all of the people live together in unity! When waters are rough, We hold each other tightly. When the sea begins to swallow us, We hold each other tightly and call on God. Michael Andonucci Leader: All: But we also need God and each other when there are no looming waves. We can also enjoy the shallow waters that lap around our ankles. God is with us in the waters, shallow and deep, and never leaves us alone. Let us rejoice! *HYMN O Master, Let Me Walk With Thee PH 418 This Hymn was requested by Joan Tennyson *Please rise in body or in spirit. (Bold type denotes collective response)
*PRAYER OF INVOCATION AND LORD S PRAYER Ever-living God, you are like the sea: Powerful and endless, yet soothing and constant. Let us feel your refreshing presence as we gather near your waters to wade in the possibilities of life that you offer us this day. We ask this in Jesus name, who taught us to pray, saying, 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 Grant Us Wisdom to Perceive You v.1 NCH510 MESSAGE FOR ALL AGES
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 Spirit I Have Heard You Calling Thew Elliott Vocal Ensemble:Victoria, Jillian, Katie, Bob, Mike, Jared, Tom, Frank SCRIPTURE READING Mark 4:35-41 NT (Pew Bible) p39 SERMON Getting to the Other Side Rev. Craig L. Cowing *HYMN Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me NCH 441 OFFERING OF GIFTS Following the receiving of offerings by the ushers, Rev. Craig will come down 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
*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 CHURCH Joys & Concerns Sung Call to Prayer Be Still and Know that I am God (NCH743) Pastoral and Silent Prayer *HYMN We Are Often Tossed and Driven N444
BENEDICTION *POSTLUDE Prelude in G Minor J.S. Bach LITURGIST USHERS HOSPITALITY Michael Andonucci Sue Vanness, Michael Bower & Bob Inderbitzen Lynn McKenna The tower is lit this week in honor of Charles Pawlich Sr. by Rich, Mary and Rick Pawlich-Pagliccio WELCOME VISITORS! Interested in joining the church? If you d like to learn more about our church community; please join us during coffee hour after worship and ask to speak with Pastor Craig Cowing or any Deacon. We are an Open and Affirming Christian community, actively expressing Jesus inclusive embrace of all people.
LGBT PRIDE MONTH - JUNE From the UCC: We can make schools and communities safe for LGBT youth. LGBT teenagers are at least four times more likely to take their own life than their heterosexual peers. The publicity has subsided, but the threat of LGBT suicide has not. ONA congregations are asking how they can help. Here are four suggestions: BE VISIBLE. It s not enough to adopt an ONA covenant if your congregation does not demonstrate its commitment to LGBT inclusion. Don t hide your light! LGBT youth need to know that churches accept them as they are. So make sure a brief statement welcoming LGBT people is posted prominently on your website and Facebook page. Consider advertising in local newspapers. Gather your youth to march as a group in the next Pride parade in your community. Use our Evangelism for ONA Churches toolkit for other ideas for your church. HOLD YOUR SCHOOLS ACCOUNTABLE. Organize clergy and lay leaders to meet with your superintendent of schools. Ask if the school district s bullying- and suicide-prevention programs specifically address LGBT youth. Ask if the school system mandates training programs for faculty and staff, and if they follow Federal guidelines. POST A VIDEO ON YOUTUBE. Through the It Gets Better project, thousands of LGBT people and allies have shared inspiring video testimonies that encourage LGBT youth to look with hope towards the future. Members of your congregation may have stories to tell that can reach out to LGBT youth who ve been bullied, or are close to a decision to end their lives. VOLUNTEER AT YOUR LGBT COMMUNITY CENTER. Many centers provide a safe space for at-risk LGBT youth, and need volunteer and financial support. Some centers also reach out to homeless LGBT youth. AND IF YOUR CONGREGATION IS NOT YET ONA, now is the time to seriously consider taking this step. Your public witness as an Open and Affirming church will show LGBT youth that they have a future in God s family.
New Governance Ministry Teams OUR WORSHIP CORE MINISTRY SEEKS COMMUNION SERVERS The worship core ministry is looking for a few good people who have never served communion before to be included in the new serving schedule beginning this October. Servers in the past have all been deacons or life deacons, but we would like to open it up to people who never served on diaconate. Communion each month will be led by a current member of the worship core ministry or an experienced life deacon, so all you have to do is bring yourself to church at 9:30 instead of 10:00. The lead server for that month will guide you through the process. If you want to serve but cannot navigate the steep stairs to the balcony-no problem. We already have servers who always stay downstairs and you can join them. Would you prefer to have some training in advance? We will happily do that too, probably in September. If you are interested please contact the church office or Christopher Sheehan at sheehancole@att.net or (860) 529-5151. We look forward to hearing from you! VMT VISITOR MINISTRY TEAM Bring a smile and a prayer to a church member. One of the new ministry teams is being formed to visit church members in person, by mail or phone. If you would like to learn more or be included in with team, please contact Steph Heneghan, Wendy Ware or Don Pagnucco. TIME, TALENT & TREASURE MINISTRY TEAM With the passage of our new governance structure and the start of another church year on May 1, the Time Talent and Treasure Ministry is officially off and running. While we re still gearing up, there are many activities in the works. Here are a few: We have started planning for our next pledge campaign and hope to better link the idea of Stewardship in all of our ministries We are starting a new Ministry Team to help us all connect our individual time and talent with the various ministries that are important to us. We have also started a new ministry team to begin exploring ways for us to build on the foundation of our current history and endowment with a campaign for planned giving and/or legacy fund creation. TTT Ministry: Ruth Fitzgerald, Deb Copes, Barry Wilcock, Gail Hall, and Doretta Andonucci. If you are interested in helping out or have questions, please contact Ruth Fitzgerald rfitzgerald@fhiplan.com.
Appeal to Support Graduate Studies for Zulu Lemtur Many of you will remember Zulu Lemtur, who was a student at Hartford Seminary several years ago, enrolled in their International Peacemaking program. Zulu is a native of Nagaland (in the very eastern part of India), and during his year at Hartford Seminary, he regularly attended RHCC, sang in the choir, and preached one Sunday. After earning his graduate degree from Hartford Seminary, Zulu returned to Nagaland, but has maintained contact with several church members through Facebook and email. He clearly considers our church to be his home church in the U.S. Zulu has recently received a substantial scholarship to pursue his Ph.D. at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, starting in the fall. His graduate program and research will deal with theology and peace building practices in conversation with the Indian tribal people's cultural situations and voices that join people's aspirations for dialogue and peace. He estimates that his uncovered costs will still be approximately $20,000-$25,000 for the next year. While he hopes to be able to find some part time work to provide for some of these costs, he is reaching out to friends and mission organizations to help him close that gap. We are reaching out to all RHCC members and friends to ask you to consider contributing toward the support of Zulu s endeavors. To supplement individual giving, two separate RHCC funds the Helping Hand Fund and the Special Mission Fund - have each committed to match up to $1000 of individuals gifts on a 1-to-1 basis. So, if we can raise $1000 through individual gifts, our church can provide a total of $3000 toward supporting Zulu. Gifts will be accepted through the end of July, and should be payable to Rocky Hill Congregational Church, noted as Zulu support. Our collective gift will then be presented to Zulu in August. Zulu is deeply grateful for any support we can provide toward his goal of getting his PhD in Peacemaking. Zulu says Please convey my greetings to all the members at RHCC. I miss you all and miss my beloved Choir too.
UCC Leaders: Keep Families Together The National Officers of the United Church of Christ The Council of Conference Ministers of the United Church of Christ Condemning the unconscionable assertion that migrant children should be separated from their parents because of orderly and lawful processes that protect the weak and lawful,' a Biblical statement used to justify U.S. immigration policies United Church of Christ National Leadership has issued this pastoral letter, urging the people of the denomination's almost 5,000 congregations to take action now! First, by contacting their Congressional representatives, and then by providing funds to keep families together. Money to be used to support the people sleeping in the streets at the borders of this country, or those parents and children separated upon entry! "Still, when God saw the trouble they were in and heard their cries for help, God remembered God's Covenant with them, and, immense with love, took them by the hand. God poured out God's mercy on them while their captors looked on, amazed." Psalm 106:44-47 (MSG) All of our sacred texts, no matter the faith, identify the disregard of the humanity of the vulnerable as sin. And God hears the cries of God's people. The plight of black and brown migrant families whose children are ripped from their care cannot be the policy of a civilized land. We must resist the evil of dehumanization enacted upon the vulnerable among us. The United Church of Christ strongly condemns the dismantling of families, the criminalization of the quest for freedom, and the caging of those whose only crime is to seek shelter from harm. Faithfully yours, The National Officers of the United Church of Christ The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer, General Minister and President The Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister, Justice and Witness Ministries The Rev. James Moos, Executive Minister, Wider Church Ministries The Council of Conference Ministers of the United Church of Christ For more information, visit: www.ucc.org US Senator Richard Blumenthal Hartford Office: (860) 258-6940 Washington DC Office: (202) 224-2823 US Senator Chris Murphy Hartford Office: (860) 549-8463 Washington, DC Office: (202) 224-4041 US Representative John Larson (First District) Washington, DC Office: Phone: (202) 225-2265
FAITH FORMATION SUMMER SCHEDULE Church School We will hold a one-room church school class every other Sunday. The dates are: July 8, July 22, August 5, August 19, and September 2. Youth Groups The High School Youth Group will meet during the summer, on Wednesdays: June 27, July 25, and August 22. From July 8-14, whoever is available will join with youth at UCC, Southbury to help repair homes in Southbury that were damaged by May s tornadoes. On August 17-19, we will do a mini-mission trip to Hartford. Funds that were originally raised for the now cancelled West Virginia trip will go to support these alternate trips, and to help with the cost of building materials in Southbury. Our small but mighty Middle School Youth Group once again cooked and served the community meal at Center Church, on June 10. Because the youth have asked to do it again, they will join in with the High School Youth Group to provide the meal on August 19. Flower committee In the coming months, we have many Sundays available for memorial flowers or to mark a special occasion such as graduation, an anniversary, or special birthday. They need not be a formal flower arrangement but could be flowers from your garden, or a flowering plant. Sign up in Chapin hall or call/email the church office: 860-529-4167, office@rhccucc.org WORSHIP RECORDINGS AVAILABLE Audio recordings and bulletins for many of our Sunday worship services are available on our church website, RockyHillUCC.org
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 We have most of the usual cards in inventory for immediate purchase this morning. Here is a partial list of cards typically available: Coffee: Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks Gas: Exxon/Mobil, Shell, Sunoco Pharmacy: CVS, Walgreens Fast food: Boston Market, Chipotle, McDonalds, Panera, Subway, Wendy s Restaurants: Bonefish Grill, Buffalo Wild Wings, On the Border, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster Shopping: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Kohl's, itunes, L.L. Bean, Lowes, Michaels, Payless Shoes, Target, Walmart Grocery: Big Y, Stop & Shop, Trader Joe's, WholeFoods, Westside Market The next order for cards not stocked in inventory will be placed on July 29. Did you know that you can donate to the Rocky Hill Food Pantry and "Covenant-to-Care for Children" through our scrip program? Your cash/check donations are used to buy gift cards to local groceries (food pantry) or other retail stores (CC). For these donations, we do not retain any profit, so a $1.00 donation effectively buys about $1.07 in groceries or clothing. You may donate at the scrip table in Chapin Hall. Stop by the scrip table in Chapin Hall this morning for a complete listing of available cards, or to have all of your questions answered. Think SCRIP!
THIS WEEK AT RHCC J u n e 2 4 S u n d a y 10:00am Worship Sanctuary 9:30am Childcare Room 4 10:00am Church School Rms 24,25,26, 27 11:00am Coffee Hour Chapin Hall J u n e 2 5 M o n d a y NEWSLETTER MAILING Chapin Hall 7:00pm Women s AA Fiorilli Rm 7:30pm Bell Choir Sanctuary J u n e 2 6 T u e s d a y 7:00pm Hearing Voices Room 6 7:00pm Cedar Hollow Board Fiorilli Rm 24 Douglas Toft 26 Nancy Robbins 26 Douglas Sudell 28 Matthew Flynn 28 Lynn Webster 29 Jaye Veley J u n e 2 7 W e d n e s d a y 7:30pm Choir Sanctuary J u n e 2 8 T h u r s d a y 7:30pm Men s AA Chapin Hall J u n e 2 9 F r i d a y Set up for worship Chapin Hall J u n e 3 0 S a t u r d a y We ll hold our Summer worship in air-conditioned Chapin Hall during July and August 10:00 a.m. Visit our new website! www.rockyhillucc.org Check it out! Over the coming months (and years), we expect to expand the new site to include more information, photos, and features. Thanks to our own Steve Smith for taking over this effort and developing the new site. Steve will be relying on church staff and others to keep the site current, relevant, engaging, and informational. If you notice any issues with the new site, or if you have ideas about possible enhancements, please contact Steve at admin@rhccucc.org
Rocky Hill Congregational Church, United Church of Christ 805 Old Main Street Rocky Hill, CT 06067 Church Office: office@rhccucc.org / 860 529-4167 Church Website: www.rockyhillucc.org Visit us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/rhccucc O f f i c e H o u r s Monday Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 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 Pastor: The Rev. Craig L. Cowing ccowing@rhccucc.org Minister for Children and Youth: Georgette L. Huie ghuie@rhccucc.org Minister of Music: Mary DeLibero mary@rhccucc.org Office Manager: Theresa E. Cleary office@rhccucc.org Webmaster: Steve Smith admin@rhccucc.org Child Care Provider: Liz Pulling lrpulling@icloud.com