VANCE MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 905 National Road, Wheeling, West Virginia 26003 Church Telephone: (304) 232-0980 Fax: (304) 232-0982 vancechurch.org New Members and Confirmation Sunday November 25, 2018 10:00 a.m. Selections of Scripture for this Sunday: Isaiah 6 The MISSION of Vance Memorial Presbyterian Church (USA) is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ with everyone through Worship, Prayer, Education, Fellowship, and Mission Outreach. 1
Gathering around God s Word PROCESSIONAL HYMN When Morning Gilds the Skies, GtG 667 on screen CHIMES PREPARATION for WORSHIP Surely the Presence, CH 219 GREETINGS and ANNOUNCEMENTS Please sign and pass the fellowship pad to the inside aisle. RESPONSIVE CALL to WORSHIP Leader: O Come, let us sing to the Lord and shout with joy to the rock of our salvation! All: Let us come into God s presence with thanksgiving, singing joyful songs of praise. UNISON OPENING PRAYER All: Open the heavens, O God, and pour out your Spirit upon us, that all who have been raised to new life with Christ in baptism may, by word and deed, show forth the risen life of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. OPENING HYMN of PRAISE Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty, GtG 1 CONFESSION and time of self-examination Leader: This is the covenant I will make with you, says the Lord: I will put my law within you, and I will write it upon your hearts; and I will be your God, and you will be my people. I will forgive your evil deeds, and I will remember your sin no more. In penitence and faith, let us confess our sins to almighty God. All: Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole hearts. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, and we have rebelled against your love. We have not loved our neighbors, and we have refused to hear the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray, and free us to joyful obedience; through Christ our Lord. SILENT PRAYER of CONFESSION 2
SUNG RESPONSE Bless the Lord, O My Soul, GtG 535 on screen RESPONSIVE DECLARATION OF PARDON Leader: Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old life has gone; a new life has begun. I declare to you in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. All: Thanks be to God! Amen. GLORIA PATRI Glory to God, GtG 585 on screen PASSING the PEACE of CHRIST May the Peace of Christ be with you! And also with you! Encountering God s Word SONG for ILLUMINATION I Will Call upon the Lord, GtG 621 on screen CHILDREN S MESSAGE Miss Jane The ANTHEM Here I Am, Lord Arranged by Lloyd Larson Words and Music by Daniel L. Schutte The SCRIPTURE HEBREW TESTAMENT READING: Isaiah 6 The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God! MORNING MESSAGE Reverend Erica L. Harley Responding to God s Word RECEPTION OF NEW MEMBERS AND CONFIRMANDS In the book Ezekiel the Lord says: I will sprinkle clear water upon you, and you shall be clean. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 3
N. [and N.] desire to become members of this congregation by reaffirmation of faith. In baptism you were claimed by God, marked as Christ s own forever, and joined to his body by the Holy Spirit. You come to us then, not as strangers, but as friends in Christ and members of the household of God. We rejoice that you now desire to join with this congregation in the worship and mission of the church. N. [and N.] are presented by the session for the reaffirmation of the baptismal covenant. They now desire to profess their faith publicly and to accept greater responsibility in the life of the church and God s mission in the world. We rejoice that you now desire to declare your faith and to share with us in our common ministry. In Baptism you were joined to Christ and made members of his body. In the community of the people of God you have learned of God s purpose for you and for all creation. You have been nurtured at the table of our Lord and called to witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. You are now being asked to publicly profess your faith by answering the following questions: Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? I do. Do you affirm that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? I do. Will you be Christ s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love? I will, with God s help. Will you devote yourself to the church s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers? I will, with God s help. As members of the body of Christ, let us reaffirm the faith into which we were baptized: AFFIRMATION OF FAITH: The Apostle s Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, 4
suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and life everlasting. Amen. N. [and N.], we have professed our faith as one body. Will you be a faithful member of this congregation, share in its worship and mission through your prayers and gifts, your study and service, and so fulfill your calling to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? I will, with God s help. Holy God, thank you for calling us to be your people and joining us to Christ s body, the church. We praise you for leading N. [and N.] to this congregation. Empower us by your Spirit, that we might love one another as Christ loved us, honoring him in all that we say and do, giving our lives in service to others, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. N. remember your baptism and be thankful and know that the Holy Spirit is at work within you. Thanks be to God. N. [and N.], by professing your faith publicly, you have expressed your intention to grow in the covenant God made with you in your baptism. May the Spirit continue to strengthen and sustain you in the worship and mission of the church. Alleluia! Amen. The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. SONG of AFFIRMATION Christ Be Beside Me, GtG 702 on screen INVITATION to the OFFERING Leader: Let us present ourselves to God as those who have been delivered from death to life. THE OFFERTORY Jesus is the Light! Words and Music by J. Paul Williams and Patti Drennan Incorporating the SPIRITUAL All Night, All Day 5
DOXOLOGY Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow, PH 592, GtG 606 UNISON PRAYER of DEDICATION All: Blessed are you, O God, maker of all things. Through your goodness you have blessed us with these gifts: ourselves, our time, and our possessions. Use us, and what we have gathered in delivering life to a dying world through the one who gave himself for us, Jesus our Lord, we pray. Amen. MORNING PRAYER & OUR LORD S PRAYER 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! Taking God s Word out, into our Worlds CLOSING HYMN Be Thou My Vision, GtG 450 on screen BENEDICTION BENEDICTION RESPONSE Our God is an Awesome God, GtG 616 on screen POSTLUDE Please stand if able. PH=Presbyterian Hymnal (Blue); CH=Celebration Hymnal (Red) GtG=Glory to God (screen or insert) Songs used with CCLI License # 1223079 Today s liturgy is reprinted by permission of Westminster John Knox Press from Feasting on the Word Worship Companion, 2014. 10:00 a.m. Service of Worship regularly broadcast over WKWK-FM 97.3 6
The PASTOR and CHURCH STAFF Rev. Erica L. Harley ~ Senior Pastor Jane Schockey ~ Church Administrator/C.E. Director Deborah Podolski Breiding ~ Director of Music Russ Brown ~ Head Custodian Jay Carenbauer ~ Custodian Keith Wilson ~ Sound, Video, and Media Coordinator Christina Kestner ~ Seminary Intern ~ MINISTERS of the CHURCH: ALL MEMBERS ~ SESSION 2018 2019 2020 Jay Frey Beth Ann Dague John Hargleroad Howard Monroe Ted Owens Phil Polack Carol Obermann Geri Sloane Jill Flanagan Michelle John Scott Winters Bettie Steele DEACONS 2018 2019 2020 Kathy Hannan Ann Bopp Diane Crowl Michael Hires Marjorie Easton Russ Green Louise Limbert Carol Myers Janet Hart Joanne Winters Karen Seabright Joelle Oliver 2018 CHURCH DIRECTORY Clerk of Session...Julie Squibb President of the Board of Deacons...Russ Green Church Treasurer...Paul Limbert Chairperson of Building and Property Commission...Ted Owens Chairperson of Christian Education Commission...Jill Flanagan Chairperson of Worship & Music Commission...Howard Monroe Chairperson of Missions Commission...Carol Obermann Chairperson of Personnel Committee...Beth Ann Dague Chairpersons of Hospitality...Sue Abraham, Rowena Baker, Carol Myers Chairperson of Finance/Memorials Committee... Michelle John Chairperson of Nominating Committee...Scott Winters Chairperson of Stewardship Committee...Jay Frey Chairperson of Evangelism and Membership...John Hargleroad Moderator of Presbyterian Women...Virginia Dulany Congregational Nominating Committee for 2018 Members at large from our congregation: Ginny Dulany, Sam Driehorst and Lynne Exley Deacon: Michael Hires Elders: Geri Sloane & Scott Winters MISSION PERSONNEL of OUR DIRECT CONCERN Caleb & Claire (Seabright) Bermudez 7