5/18/25 Bulletin
- treasurer593
- 5 days ago
- 7 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
Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 18, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. – Mental Health Sunday
Join Zoom Meeting
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.
Silent Prayer
God of Becoming, sometimes we wonder how to praise you in a world that seems so fragile. Wars, climate catastrophes, and unjust laws can topple lives in an instant. Bodies made for connection, play, and rest are riddled with anxiety about how to survive systems of oppression. And yet, we long to celebrate what brings us joy and we long to worship what is good.
In the paradox of life, guide us with your Radical Love. Amen
* Indicates points in the service when we stand in body or spirit
Announcements
Prelude The Lord’s My Shepherd Brother James’ Air/ Mark Sedio
Welcome
*Introit Come, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us (vs. 3) R. #218
Come, O Spirit, dwell among us; give us words of fire and flame.Help our struggling voices praise you, glorify your holy name.Good Creator, Savior, Spirit, Three in One: what mystery!We would sing our loud hosannas now and through eternity.
*Call to Worship
One: Today we gather to worship with the Holy Spirit! As we celebrate God’s Expansive Love,
All: The Holy Spirit celebrates the ways we are learning compassion.
One: As we express gratitude for God’s Faithfulness,
All: The Holy Spirit honors the ways we show up in life’s struggles.
One: As we come to God with more questions than answers,
All: The Holy Spirit lives with us in the unknown.
One: Alleluia, Divinity is with us and within us!
All: Let us worship God.
*Passing of the Peace (ASL) and Lighting of Peace & Justice Candle
*Hymn Praise to the Living God R. #18
Praise to the living God, the God of love and light,whose word brought forth the myriad suns and set the worlds in flight;whose infinite design, which we but dimly see,Pervades all nature, making all a cosmic unity.
Praise to the living God, from whom all things derive,whose Spirit formed upon this sphere the first faint seeds of life;who caused them to evolve, unwitting, toward God’s goal,till humankind stood on the earth, as living, thinking souls.
Praise to the living God, who knows our joy and pain,who shares with us our common life, the sacred and profane.God toils where ‘er we toil, in home and mart and mill;and deep within the human heart God leads us forward still.
Praise to the living God, around, within, above,beyond the grasp of human mind, but whom we know as love.In these tumultuous days, so full of hope and strife,may we bear witness to the Way, O Source and Goal of life.
*Invocation (in unison)
O God of promise, your word made flesh in Jesus Christ is trustworthy and true. By the power of your Holy Spirit, may it rise up in us this day like a gift from the spring of the water of life to refresh our thirsty souls.
Children’s Message Psalm 148 – Praise the Lord
Scriptures Revelation 21:1-6 + Acts 11:1-18 + John 13:34-35
Special Music All Beautiful the March of Days B. #434
Contemporary Poetry by Kai Cheng Thom trauma is not sacred
Message Rev. TJ Mack
*Hymn O Be Joyful In Our God R. #5 O be joyful in our God! Celebrate o’er all the earth! / Offer praise with glad accord and with lives of noble worth. / Folk of every land, humbly now before God stand! / Raise your voice and rejoice in the bounty of God’s hand.
Now rejoice, your praises sing! See God’s wisdom, shining grace! / By whose might the heavens ring; in whose love our lives we trace. / By whom we are made, so we trust God unafraid. /Standing fast to the last, by God’s hand our souls are stayed.
Enter now the holy gate: let our burdened hearts be still; / in the sacred silence wait, as we seek to know God’s will. / Let our lives express our abundant thankfulness; / all our days, all our ways, shall our Maker's love confess.
For the God of all is kind, loving us so constantly; / in whose will our peace we find; in whose service, liberty. / Yes, God’s law is sure; in that light we walk secure; / evermore, as of yore, shall God’s changeless truth endure.
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 – “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Let us with gladness offer to God the gifts of our labor, life, and love.
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 (spoken in unison)
Loving God, accept these gifts for your mission to heal all creation. May they be a testament to your love for us as we share them in love for you; through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen
*Hymn O How Glorious, Full of Wonder R. #66
O, how glorious, full of wonder, is your name o’er all the earth, / God, who wrought creation’s splendor, bringing suns and stars to birth! / Rapt in reverence we adore you, marveling at your mystic ways. / Humbly now we bow before you, lifting up our hearts in praise.
When we see the lights above us, moon and stars your power displayed, / who are we, that you should love us, creatures that your hand has made? / Born of earth, yet full of yearning, mixture strange of good and ill, / From your ways so often turning, yet your love does seek us still.
As your stewards, you have set us o’er the wonders of your hand, / As your servants, you have made us guardians over sea and land. / Soaring spire and ruined city, these our hopes and failures show. / Teach us more of human pity, that we in your image grow.
O how wondrous, O how glorious is your name in every land! / God, whose purpose moves before us toward the goal that you have planned. / Yours the will our hearts are seeking, conscious of our human need. / Spirit in our spirit speaking, make us yours, O God, indeed!
*Benediction
*Sung Benediction Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing (vs. 1) R. #333
Lord, dismiss us with your blessing; fill our hearts with joy and peace;
let us each, your love possessing, triumph in redeeming grace:
oh, refresh us, oh, refresh us, traveling through this wilderness.
Postlude Trumpet Tune in C Robert Lau
(Please remain seated for the Postlude)
If you are visiting with us today, please sign our Guest Book in the back of the sanctuary.
The church’s Hook & Hastings Pipe Organ was built in 1929 (OP 2577) for the Northern Conservatory of Music in Bangor. It was moved to Bar Harbor and to Hancock Point and was given to the Church by Edward Steinbach (1887–1984). It was installed by Stoddard Smith (of Northeast Harbor) in 1988 and was restored in 2020 by Messrs. Czelusniak et Dugal, Inc., Northampton, MA.
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
207.422.3100 207.323.6743
Resources
Silent Prayer, Call to Worship – enfleshed: liturgy that matters
Invocation, Offering Prayers – Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion
Many thanks to those who make this service possible –
in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
Music Minister – Debbie Riley
Deacons – Alison Boden and Doug Kimmel
Liturgist –
Audio-Video Support – Patrice Alexander
Office Administrator – Vicky Espling
Settled Minister – Rev. TJ Mack
The Body of Christ – You
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, O Spirit, Dwell Among Us
Words - ©1979 Hope Publishing Company
Contributors: Janie Alford
Praise to the Living God!
Words © 1966 Ruth Ann Beach,
P.O.Box 1056, Blue Hill ME 04614.
Used by permission.
O Be Joyful in Our God!
Words © 1958 United Church Press, altered. Used by permission.
O How Glorious, Full of Wonder
Words © 1958, renewed 1980, 1991
The Estate of Curtis Beach, P.O.Box 1056, Blue Hill ME 04614. Used by permission. Harmonization © owner untraced.
Lord, Dismiss Us with Your Blessing
Words and Music - ©pd Public Domain
Contributors: Public Domain
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