The Congregational Church of Westborough UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST West Main & Church Streets, Westborough, Massachusetts Children & Youth Sunday WHO AM I? JUNE 10, 2018 OUR FAITH FORMATION JOURNEY OPEN DOORS GROWING FAITH! Pastor Paul Sangree, Senior Pastor Rev. Elaine S. Gaetani, Pastor of Spiritual Development
Some Notes to Help You Feel at Ease this Morning Children... Three and Under: The nursery is available downstairs during the service if needed. Pre-K Grade 3: Will go to Summer Storytime in the nursery after the Children s Time except on Communion Sundays, they will go after the Lord s Prayer. 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! 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 OPEN DOORS GROWING FAITH! This is our vision statement. It speaks to our desire to open our doors to all of God s children, and to have all of the love and acceptance that is in this place flow out of our doors for the community and beyond. Our hope is also to grow faith in kids, youth and adults so that we can walk together in Jesus way, led by the Holy Spirit. Join us! 1
June 10, 2018 Children s Sunday 10:00 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! Linda Hartley & Nathan Tregger *CALL TO WORSHIP Leader: Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you People: If you can use anyone Lord, you can use me. Leader: Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you. People: If You can use anyone God, You can use me. Leader: Take my hands, ADONAI, and my feet; People: If You can use anyone Father, You can use me. Leader: Touch my heart, YAHWEH-SHALOM, and speak through me. ALL: If You can use anyone, "The Lord Our Peace", You can use me. Cameron Allen *PRAYER OF INVOCATION God of creation, we thank You for all the gifts You have given us, and given us to share, throughout this Faith Formation year. We praise You for giving us life, for giving us love, and for the ability to share Your love throughout the world. As we come to the end of this program year, we voice our gratitude for the good things You have done in us and through us. Led by Andrew Kafumbe We praise You for all who have shared in the missions and work of this year. We ask you to bless them in Your love and give them refreshment and peace this summer. Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit. Bring all of our plans to a joyful conclusion, And bless us, according to Your will. Amen. 2
*THE 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. *OPENING HYMN #70 God of the Sparrow God of the Whale ROEDER (Everyone may be seated.) SCRIPTURE Cameron Glennon, Elliott McClung, Ian Tregger Alison Regnier, CoCo Fitzgibbons, Julia Tregger John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 9:5 "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. John 13:13 "You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. WHO AM I? Wendy Reardon with Lucy Stillitano & Christina DiTerlizzi CONGREGATIONAL SONG How Great is Our God Tomlin, Reeves & Cash Led by Joyspring (music can be found ALPHABETICALLY in the BLACK BINDERS in the pews) The splendor of the King, clothed in majesty, Let all the earth rejoice, all the earth rejoice. He wraps Himself in light, and darkness tries to hide, And trembles at his voice, trembles at his voice. 3
Chorus How great is our God, sing with me, How great is our God, all will see, How great, How great is our God. Age to age He stands, and time is in His hands, Beginning and the end, beginning and the end. The Godhead, three in one: Father, Spirit, Son, The Lion and the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb. Name above all names, Worthy of all praise, My heart will sing, How great is our God. COMMISSIONING THE PARTICIPANTS OF WORKCAMP 2018 Pastor Paul Sangree Youth Participants: Cameron Allen, Cameron Brigham, Andrew Christmann, Adam Dapolite, Caroline Davis, Mckenna Gray, Julie Hutchinson, Andrew Kafumbe, Henry Kim, Audrey Lord, Bridget Lord, Claire Lord, Emma Murphy, Angela Nabakka, Monique Panteleakis, Sarah Park, Deven Ruberti, Jack VanHeest, Mallory Walker, Nicole Wright Adult Participants: Linda Borglund, Al Hutchinson, Ted Jaworski, Al Mosher, Wendy Reardon, Kathy Reynolds *HYMN #614 I m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me I M GONNA LIVE PRESENTATION OF FAITH FORMATION BIBLES Cora Elisa Fitzgibbons Alison Emily Regnier Cameron Peter Glennon Winnifred Ann Owens Rev. Elaine S. Gaetani ~Thank you to Donna Morgan for inscribing each Bible for our students!~ TIME OF CELEBRATION! CELEBRATING OUR MENTORS OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARDS CELEBRATION OF LINDA HARTLEY PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE Claire Lord Maggie Fox & Melina Louloudes Teaching Parish Committee & Deacons Linda Hartley 4
OFFERING OF OUR GIFTS Invitation: Let us bring our gifts before God! (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. If you can, please leave the sheet on the top of the book at the end of the pew. Thanks!) Offertory Anthem Holy Spirit by Bryan Torwalt and Katie Torwalt Joyspring *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 Gracious God, we give and serve in Your name, with great joy. We hate what is wrong and hold tightly to what is good. We love each other with real affection. We will do all that we can to live in peace with everyone. We pray thankfully for the world and all who are in it; We pray because of the hope that is within us, We pray because of our love for Creation, and because of our trust in God. We pray, above all, for peace throughout the world. Nicholas Louloudes Kyle Glennon *SENDING HYMN #442 We Are Walking SIYAHAMBA *BENEDICTION Mallory Walker God, our Heavenly Father & Mother, Creator, Comforter, Deliverer. May we love You in all things and above all things. Place in our hearts a desire to please You and fill our minds with thoughts of Your Love, so that we may grow in faith together. Let Your love shine through us in the love we have for one another, and in the love we bring to the world. *POSTLUDE Our Faith Formation youth greeted you this morning and served as liturgists. Deacons of the day are Tracy Owens and Joan Truesdell. 5
CHURCH, COMMUNITY AND GLOBAL OUTREACH PROJECTS: ~ 300TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE Children, Youth and adult mentors, along with our BOAT, marched in the town s parade! ~ PROJECT JUST BECAUSE of HOPKINTON We collected and donated Back-to-School supplies to area school children. ~ THE GREAT PIE CHALLENGE SALE $850.00 raised at sale for Hands Across the Sea. ~ CURTIS FAMILY THANKSGIVING We donated over 100 pies! ~ CURTIS FAMILY VOLUNTEERS! This year we delivered our pies AND we volunteered our time prepping bread for stuffing. ~ WOMEN S FELLOWSHIP DONATION We donated flour, sugar and butter to their Christmas baking projects. ~ WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH MISSIONS COMMITTEE We asked people to purchase shopping cards for The Great Pie Challenge donations to work together with our Missions Committee. ~ THE CHRISTMAS PAGEANT We had 50+ cast members and crew" in our pageant this year. We were able to incorporate everyone s talents and passions, whether acting, painting, using saws and drills, make-up, costumes, lighting, dancing and musicians we did it all! And we managed to include all ages, 2 different stories and do it all in an hour and on Christmas Eve this year!?! The pageant was very well attended and very well received! Our Pageant offering was collected to benefit Friends of the Children Boston and Hands Across the Sea. ~ SOUPER BOWL OF CARING We collected 6 large boxes of non-perishable foods and $250 in grocery cards to donate to the Westborough Food Pantry. This was our 5th year participating as an official group in the Tackle Hunger national campaign. We visited the food pantry and learned about their mission and how the food pantry operates. 6
~ 4TH ANNUAL COMMUNITY EASTER EGG HUNT The hunt was a HUGE hit! Fun was had by everyone; we had HUNDREDS of visitors enjoying the Easter Bunny, games and treats! This year we moved the hunt to a larger venue - Bay State Green @ The Commons! Our Growing & Inviting Team, along with a lot of help from our Youth Group, once again filled hundreds & hundreds of eggs, all hidden by the Easter Bunny of course! There were games, prizes, raffles and refreshments. This year we also created a very special area for our friends with Special Needs! Our Youth Group kids volunteered as Bunny Buddies assisting small children and visitors with special needs. ~ EASTER CHILDREN S SERMON, PLAY AND SONG This year our children and youth took the lead at the Family Worship Service! Some of our tween group led the Children s Sermon explaining the many traditions that have become a part of Easter. Our Teens performed a play about what happened at the tomb that morning so long ago. ALL of Faith Formation came together to sing, Oh Happy Day! ~ SEAGLASS LENTEN MURAL Week by week sea glass was added to the mural, on Easter Sunday the image of Jesus was revealed! ~ OUR 6TH ANNUAL MOTHER S DAY SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR This year our books will be delivered to St Vincent by Harriet and TL Linsky of Hands Across the Sea. Our books will be going to several SVG schools and a special box filled with gift books for Peace Corp volunteer Kiernan Dunlop, will be delivered to the students at Troumaca Government School for their summer reading program. ~ BACCALAUREATE SERVICE We had the opportunity to share in the celebration of the many accomplishments of our youth! It was a wonderful time to reflect upon the impact the church has had on our youth and the impact our youth has had on the church! ~ NEW BEDFORD FAMILY RETREAT We had a great turn out for our retreat. We had volunteers to help with breakfast service at Mercy Meals at 5:30am and work throughout the morning. We swept out areas and scraped outside surfaces! We also painted walls and trim. The people from Mercy Meals and Pilgrim United Church of Christ and their minister, Reverend Doug Cederberg, were so appreciative of everyone s efforts! They were amazed with the amount of work done and with the number (and age range!) of volunteers. Everyone seemed to enjoy exploring Historic Downtown New Bedford too. We also had an opportunity for a wonderful worship service w/great music! 7
I would like to thank everyone for a wonderful program year! Have a great summer and remember God is all around you. You just have to remember to look! ~In God s Grace, Love and Peace, Wendy~ Join us outside on the church lawn for our annual picnic. PRAYERS & CELEBRATIONS FOR JUNE 10, 2018 New Prayers: The Mexican families in the ICE detention camps, especially all the young children, some of whom have been taken away from their parents. Continued Prayers: David Luppi, husband of Donna Morgan s niece Lara; Ron and Nancy Clark s daughter, Melissa Dickinson; Jim Young (friend of Tom Erwin); Donald Gray (Betty Gray s brother had heart surgery); Carroll and Marcia Hoffman; Linda Polatka (Cathie Achorn s sister); Dick Birch; Carol Mumby Webster (Cathie Achorn s aunt); Lois Gray &family (sister-in-law of Betty Gray). Prayer requests: You can place prayer concerns on the church s email 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. ANNOUNCEMENTS SUMMER OFFICE HOURS For the weeks of June 18 th and 25 th the office will be open Tuesday Thursday, 9AM 1PM. The week of July 2 nd,tues & Fri 9AM 1PM. Then summer hours for July and August will be Wednesday and Thursday 9 AM 1 PM, beginning the week of July 9 th. 8
DO YOU NEED A RIDE TO CHURCH? Please contact Patty Wyner at 505-277-8687 or patriciawyner@yahoo.com and she will send you the list of church members who are willing to help you. FARMERS MARKET From now until September, the Dismas House Farmers Market will be on the church lawn on Thursdays, from 2-6 pm. The hours have been shortened this year, but there will be just as much food and fun. We are always looking for volunteers to help with the market. If you are a student in need of community service hours or someone with a mission heart we have an opportunity for you. Please email Suzanne Arpante at sbarpante@aol.com. See you at the market! HABITAT BUILD DATE JUNE 16 TH We will send team this Sat, June 16th to continue the work on the Northborough house. We can use all abilities and the weather should be much nicer. A sign-up sheet is on the Missions table. Co-leaders: Pam Faustine and Doug Wales. CALLING ALL SUMMER MUSICIANS! During summer worship we invite anyone in the congregation who would like to share their gift of music during a Sunday service in July or August. If you would like to take a Sunday, please speak to Clayton after church or email him at claytonlh1@gmail.com. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL This year s Vacation Bible School will take place Aug. 6 th 10 th this summer at the Methodist Church. More information and registration sheets are on the Mission table in the Vestry. Register early to get a spot! MEN S SOFTBALL The next game is away against Faith Baptist Church in Millville tomorrow night at 6pm! Here are a few more upcoming games: June 18 Medway Community Church (away) June 25 Angelican Church of the Redeemer (away Franklin) INTERFAITH HOSPITALITY NETWORK WEEK COMING JULY 15-22 ND! Once again, we will be inviting people in church to help serve meals and stay overnight at the family shelter of the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Worcester. We hope you can help. PASTOR PAUL AT PANERA Pastor Paul is available every Thursday morning for a conversation at Panera! Just email him and let him know what time is good for you! GROCERY CARDS 2018 Goal: $ 8,000 2018 YTD Sales: $ 2,651.50 Hungry? We re worried that you might be as we look at our year to date profit! We hope that you ll eat healthy, shop locally, and always have a grocery card in your pocket - even for those last minute items. Bring your checkbook to church on Sunday or stop by the Church office. We ll be ready for you. Thanks! Or contact Karen Hutchinson at 508.870.1782 or millarhutch@aol.com or Nancy Quimby at 774.249.4431 or nquimby11@gmail.com or Sally Petersen at sbpetersen4@gmail.com and 366.5169. 9
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. Donations of Stop and Shop cards are greatly appreciated to help with the shopping for the meals! Thank you. 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! COFFEE HOUR Would you like to serve by helping out with the coffee hour after church downstairs? Please look for the sign-up downstairs on the coffee hour table. Email Suzanne Arpante at sbarpante@aol.com. Thanks! Pastor Paul Sangree, Senior Pastor phsangree@gmail.com Rev. Elaine S. Gaetani, Pastor of Spiritual Development - revelaineg@aol.com Wendy Reardon, Directory 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 lindahartley59@gmail.com Office hours: Mon: closed, Tues, Wed, Thurs. 9-2, Fri 9-1, Church office phone 508/366-2000 General Church email westboroucc@verizon.net Church website www.uccwestboro.org www.facebook.com/thecongregationalchurchofwestborough Jun 10 Children s Sunday 10:00 AM Worship Service 11:30 AM Church Picnic on lawn 2:30 PM GSA/Vestry 5:30 PM GSA/Vestry Jun 11 Monday 7:30 PM AA/Cribbery 7:30-9PM BSA Troop Committee/Library Jun 12 Tuesday 7:00 PM Trustees/Kerygma Room 10 Jun 13 Wednesday 9:30 AM Called to Care/Kerygma Rm 3:00 PM Journey Home Singers 7:30 PM JoySpring Rehearsal Jun 14 Thursday 2PM-6PM Farmer s Market 2:30 PM PCC/Fannie Forbes Rm Jun 15 Friday (no events) Jun 16 Saturday (no events) Jun 17 Father s Day Sunday 10:00 AM Worship & Summer Story Time
2018 Our Favorite One-Liners ~ We have a lot to do today and not a lot of time. ~ Everything will work out?! ~ All of you adults and Clayton ~ Where s my phone??? ~ I didn t hear a thing I heard everything. ~ Womb ~ SHINY MAN!!! ~ John the Baptist ~ Epiphany ~ Sweet Baby Jesus ~ Hello Remember me? ~ Do you have any chips? ~ You re gonna love this game ~ Don t You trust me??? ~ Mid-life Crisis ~ Oh No!!! 11