3/22/26 Bulletin
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HANCOCK
We respect tradition — and we welcome inclusive language about people and expansive language about God. Please pray using words most meaningful to you.
Open and Affirming of ALL God’s Children
Epilogue by T. Denise Anderson – Inspired by John 8:2-11
March 22, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. – Fifth Sunday of Lent
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Meeting ID: 839 3635 9115
Passcode: 776780
The first pew in front of the pulpit has books and quiet activities for people of all ages.
Please find something that suits you, take it to your pew, and return it after the service.
Fifth Sunday of Lent - the good news is... rooted in justice, mercy, and faithfulness
Silent Prayer
God of justice, you care about the small choices I make each day. You care about how I speak, how I listen, how I treat the people right in front of me. Show me where I can choose what is right and just in the ordinary moments of my life. Help me act with honesty, kindness, and courage, trusting that these simple choices matter.
Let my daily living reflect the justice you desire. Amen
* Indicates when we stand in body or spirit.
Announcements
Prelude There Is A Green Hill Away Charles Gounod/ Lani Smith
Welcome
*Introit Come and Find the Quiet Center (tune: Beach Spring)
Come and find the qui-et cen-ter in the crowd-ed life we lead; / Find the room for hope to en-ter, / Find the frame where we are freed; / Clear the cha-os and the clut-ter, / Clear our eyes, that we can see / All the things that real-ly mat-ter, / Be at peace, and sim-ply be.
*Call to Worship
Welcome to the weary and the worn.
Welcome to the wiggly and the eager.
Welcome to the skeptical and the seeking.
Welcome to the early risers and those still trying to wake up.
Welcome to the rule followers and the rule breakers.
Welcome to those hungry for justice and those desperate for mercy.
Welcome to the sinners and the saints.
This is God’s house.
You can make yourself at home here.
Let us worship our just, merciful, and faithful God!
*Passing the Peace (ASL) and Lighting Peace & Justice Candle
*Hymn What a Covenant B. #471
What a covenant, what a joy divine, / leaning on the everlasting arms;what a blessedness, what a peace is mine, / leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain:Leaning, leaning, / safe and secure from all alarms;leaning, leaning, / leaning on the everlasting arms.
Oh, how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, / leaning on the everlasting arms;Oh, how bright the path grows from day to day, / leaning on the everlasting arms.
[Refrain]
What have I to dread, what have I to fear, / leaning on the everlasting arms?I have blessed peace with my Savior near, / leaning on the everlasting arms.
[Refrain]
*Invocation (in unison)
Holy One, when you speak, we don’t want to miss it. When you bend down and write in the dirt, when you move through the trees, when you wake with the dawn, when you tug on our heart, or whisper into our dreams, we don’t want to miss it. So today we pray, clear out the cobwebs in our ears. Quiet the steady stream of thoughts marching through our minds. Open up space in our hearts so that we can receive your word for us today. With hope we pray. Amen
Children’s Message
Call to Confession
Jesus once said to a crowd, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” Friends, none of us are without sin. None of us get it right all the time. None of us can get by without God’s grace. In the Prayer of Confession, we acknowledge this truth. We put down our stones and we turn to God for forgiveness. Join me in this act of transformation. Let us pray:
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, we love to live our lives by the rules. We love clear answers. We love right and wrong. We love swift justice. We love to pick up stones, but you show us another way. You welcome shades of gray and nuanced conversation. You prioritize mercy over legality. You prioritize people over tradition. You prioritize love over everything. Forgive us for losing sight of what truly matters. Forgive us for clinging tighter to laws than to each other or to you. Forgive us. Soften our hearts. Root us in mercy, justice, and love. With hope for a better tomorrow, we pray. Amen
Words of forgiveness
Church family, Jesus saw a crowd ready to throw stones and invited them to choose another way. Jesus offered them grace, mercy, and compassion, and the same can be said for us. So hear and believe the good news of the gospel: Our God is a God of mercy. Our God is a God of compassion. Our God is a God of grace. We are forgiven, loved, and invited to choose another way. Thanks be to God for yet another second chance. Amen
Scriptures John 8:2-11; Matthew 23:23
Special Music O Come and Mourn Early American Folk Tune/ Hal Hopson
Message Rev. TJ Mack
*Hymn Lead Us from Death to Life B. #581
Refrain:
Lead us from death to life, from falsehood to truth, / from despair to hope, from fear to trust. / Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace; / Let peace fill our hearts, let peace fill our world, let peace fill our universe.
Still all the angry cries, still all the angry guns, / Still now your people die, earth’s sons and daughters. / Let justice roll, let mercy pour down, / Come and teach us your way of compassion.
(Refrain)
So many lonely hearts, so many broken lives, / longing for love to break into their anguish. / Come, teach us love, come, teach us peace, / come and teach us your way of compassion.
(Refrain)
Let justice ever roll, let mercy fill the earth, / let us begin to grow into your people.
We can be love, we can bring peace, / we can still be your way of compassion.
(Refrain)
Prayers of the People – Sharing Joys & Concerns
Our Father (Creator, Mother) 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 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen
Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness, make thy way plain before my face.
For it is thou Lord, thou Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.
Invitation to Offering The New Century Hymnal #842
Having received new life through the generosity of God and the hope Christ brings, let us give thankfully and abundantly that we may be called God’s generous people.
Offertory The Garden Hymn Southern Harmony/ Douglas Wagner
*The 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 The New Century Hymnal #845
O God, most merciful and gracious, of whose bounty we have all received: accept, we pray, this offering of your people. Remember in your love those who have brought it and those for whom it is given; and so follow it with your blessing that it may promote peace and goodwill among all people and advance the realm of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
*Hymn Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound B. #547
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, / that saved a wretch like me!I once was lost, but now am found, / was blind but now I see.
T’was grace that taught my heart to fear, / and grace my fears relieved;How precious did that grace appear / the hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils, and snares, / I have already come;T'is grace has brought me safe thus far, / and grace will lead me home.
My God has promised good to me, / Whose word my hope secures;
God will my shield and portion be / As long as life endures.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years, / bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise / than when we’d first begun.
*Benediction
*Sung Benediction Go With Us, Lord R. #336
Go with us, Lord, and guide the way through this and every coming day,
That in your Spirit strong and true our lives may be our gift to you.
Postlude Guide My feet Nigel Williams
(Please remain seated for the Postlude)
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Support our Church Financially
Please visit Hancock (Maine) UCC on Facebook or our webpage www.hancockucc.com
or visit this link to our PayPal account: paypal.me/hancockucc
or mail offerings to:
Union Congregational Church, PO Box 443, Hancock, ME 04640 (Attention: Treasurer)
Contact Us
Vicky – hancockmaineucc@gmail.com – 207.422.3100
Jennifer – treasurer@hancockucc.com
TJ – revtjmack@gmail.com – 207.323.6743
Many thanks to those who make this service possible –
in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Music Minister – Debbie Riley
Deacons – Everett Espling & David Wildes
Liturgist – Alison Boden
Audio-Video Support – Mike Summerer
Office Administrator – Vicky Espling
Settled Minister – Rev. TJ Mack
The Body of Christ – You
Resources: A Sanctified Art
The New Century Hymnal (B.) Hymns of Truth and Light (R.)
Copyright © 1995 The Pilgrim Press Copyright © 1998 First Congregational
Church of Huston, Texas
"Permission to podcast / stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE, License #A-738532. All rights reserved.
Come and Find the Quiet Center (BEACH SPRING)
Words and Music - ©1992, 2021 Hope Publishing Company
Contributors: Shirley Erena Murray, Joe Galyon
World Peace Prayer
Words and Music - ©1985 GIA Publications, Inc.
Contributors: Marty Haugen
Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound
Text: CM; Verses 1-4, John Newton, 1725-1807; Verse 5, anon., fr. A Collection of Sacred Ballads, 1790. Music: Columbian Harmony, 1829.
Contributors: NEW BRITAIN, John Newton
Go with Us, Lord
Words - ©1990 Hope Publishing Company
Contributors: Mary Jackson Cathey
Cover Art: Epilogue by T. Denise Anderson
Inspired by John 8:2-11 14”x18” Acrylic on canvas
I often wonder about the backstory of the woman from John 8:2-11. What were her circumstances? How did they “catch” her in the act of adultery? In flagrante delicto?18 Was it less graphic than that? Was she allowed to explain herself? Did she protest? If she was about to be stoned, what happened to the person with whom she was accused? Was this a loving relationship? Was it even consensual? Whatever her story, the Pharisees bring her to Jesus expecting him to uphold the law’s punitive prescription. Jesus knows it’s a trap. If he concurs with the law, he initiates and must bear witness to an act of extreme brutality that would traumatize anyone who had to watch. If he counters the law, he’s a heretic and should probably be stoned himself. But he outsmarts them and turns their self-righteousness and rage back onto them. In what should have been the end of her life’s story, this woman now finds herself standing. Whole. Alive. Freed to a new future. And through it all, Jesus is just drawing on the ground—like you do! I wanted to show this woman standing in her wholeness, right after the crowds have dispersed and right before Jesus rises to meet her as an equal. She’s backlit in a way that suggests the sun has set, indicating the end of a saga. What will she do at the end of a nightmare with a new life ahead of her? What decisions do we face at the dawn of a second chance? —Rev. T. Denise Anderson
Look: Contemplate the woman in the image. What do you imagine is her backstory?
18 This is a Latin phrase often used in legal contexts that can be translated to: “in the very act of committing an offense.”
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