Younger Children’s Bulletin

Older Children’s
Bulletin

The Church Board has approved a plan to resume in person worship services beginning June 7.  We plan to initially meet in the pavilion.  Thank you for your prayers as we make preparations to be able to gather once again!

Please be in prayer for the health of our church and our neighbors, and especially those who are working to keep the rest of us healthy in so many ways.

We ask for prayer today for:

  • Members and family of our congregation recovering from illness and surgery.
  • Healing for those in our community and around us currently fighting the COVID-19 virus.
  • Protection and strength for the medical and nursing staff in our community.
  • Those who have lost jobs during the pandemic.

Prayers around the denomination and Shenandoah District

  • Please be in prayer for the Church of the Brethren in Brazil as infection rates are rising rapidly in that country.
  • Please pray for the Church of the Brethren in Michigan as they respond to a broken dam and flooding.
  • Please pray for the churches around our denomination, discerning and planning for resuming in-person worship services

We have a list of volunteers that are ready to help you by running errands (picking up groceries, medication, etc.).  Please call the church office, your deacon, or our Administrative Assistant, Anne Bowman, at home to make arrangements.

The Church Board is inviting those who are able to make donations to our Community Needs Fund.  If you are receiving a Government Stimulus Check that you do not really need, this is one way to get the funds to those who do need them.  We have received a couple of inquiries for help at the church so far.  We expect this to accelerate in the coming weeks.

The Stewards are working hard looking for ways to reduce expenses during this difficult financial season. If you are able, you can submit offerings through the church website, or by by mailing a check to the church. Please note that offerings submitted through the website do incur a small processing fee. (That fee is smaller for donations from a checking account (ACH) than it is for credit card processing.) When you give your online offering, you can elect to either donate the amount required to cover the fee, or have it deducted from your offering amount. Either way, the total amount is included in your tax-deductible giving. Thank you for your continued giving to the ministries of the church.

 

Spirit of God, Desend Upon My Heart

by Jeremiah Padilla | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

A Springtime Prayer

Ever renewing and energizing Creator,
come stir in my dormant spiritual limbs.

Wake up my tired prayer.
Revive my weary efforts of care.
Sing hope into my discouragement.

Wash my dusty, drab attitude
with the cleansing rains of your vision.

Go deep to my roots and penetrate my faith
with the vibrancy of your grace.

Shake loose the old leftover oak leaves
of my tenacious ego – centeredness.

Coax joy to sprout from my difficulties.

Warm the buds of my relationships
so they bloom with healthy love.

Clear out my wintered debris
with the wild breeze of your liberating presence.

Nudge me, woo me, entice me, draw me to you.

I give you my trust and my gratitude
as you grace my slowly thawing spirit.

Light-filled Being, my Joy and my Hope,
let the greening in me begin!

Taken from Out of the Ordinary (c) 2000, 2010 by Joyce Rupp. Used by permission of Ave Maria Press.
All rights reserved.

Beautiful

I see Your face in ev’ry sunrise
The colors of the morning
are inside Your eyes
The world awakens
in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion
and galaxies are bright
We are amazed
in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful

I see You there hanging on a tree
You bled and then You died
And then You rose again for me
Now You are sitting
on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory
and tears are no more
We’ll enter in
as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together
and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful

I see Your face
You’re beautiful
You’re beautiful

Beautiful

by PVCOB Praise Team | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

Healer of Our Every Ill

by David Tate, Jeremiah Padilla | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

Healer of our every Ill

Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear,
and hope beyond our sorrow.

You who know our fears and sadness,
grace us with your peace and gladness;
Spirit of all comfort, fill our hearts.

Healer of our every ill,
light of each tomorrow,
give us peace beyond our fear,
and hope beyond our sorrow.

Give us strength to love each other,
every sister, every brother;
Spirit of all kindness, be our guide.

Prayer for Others during Pandemic

In this time of COVID-19, we pray:

When we aren’t sure, God,
help us be calm;

when information comes.
from all sides, correct and not,
help us to discern;

when fear makes it hard to breathe,
and anxiety seems to be the order of the day,
slow us down, God;

help us to reach out with our hearts,
when we can’t touch with our hands;

help us to be socially connected,
when we have to be socially distant;

help us to love as perfectly as we can,
knowing that “perfect love casts out all fear.”

For the doctors, we pray,
for the nurses, we pray,
for the technicians and the janitors and the
aides and the caregivers, we pray,
for the researchers and theorists,
the epidemiologists and investigators,
for those who are sick,
and those who are grieving, we pray,

for all who are affected,
all around the world…

we pray
for safety,
for health,
for wholeness.

May we feed the hungry,
give drink to the thirsty,
clothe the naked and house those without homes;
may we walk with those who feel they are alone,
and may we do all that we can to heal
the sick—

in spite of the epidemic,
in spite of the fear.

Help us, O God,
that we might help each other.

In the love of the Creator,
in the name of the Healer,
in the life of the Holy Spirit that is in all and with all,
we pray.

May it be so.

Written by the Right Rev. Richard Bott. Posted on the United Church of Canada website. https://www.united-church.ca/prayers/prayer-during-times-covid-19

Adapted from Isaiah 43

But now thus says the Lord,

The one who created you and formed you,

The one who shapes you and loves you,

The God of our ancestors and all generations,

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.

When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you,

For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.

I have chosen to make you my child.
I have given up pride and power for your sake.

Because you are precious in my sight,
I honor you and I love you.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

I will gather my children from the ends of the earth—

every one called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.”

I have used the image to the left for the Offertory section of most of our online worship services.  I have done this because the elements of the image speak powerfully to me during this time. 

First, of course, is the beauty of the offering.  I believe that every gift given in love and compassion, in commitment to sharing God’s grace, in gratitude for what God has done, is beautiful to God. 

Secondly, the bars represent so much of what life feels like right now.  We are separated.  We cannot freely go where we want, or even see the people that we want to see.  Our captivity is temporary, and much less than many others have experienced.  It remains real, though.

Third, and most importantly though, is the fact that these flowers are being shared through the bars.  Love can find a way.  Grace finds a way.  God’s mercy finds a way.  It may be different.  It may have to adapt.  But Christ’s disciples were first known as followers of the way, and Christ’s leading is sufficient to guide us through all things.

Thank you for being the church.  Thank you for supporting the ministries of the church.  Thank you for the ways in which you are reaching out to and caring for those around you.  Thank you for continuing to follow Christ’s way, regardless of what restrains us.

For the past couple of years, the Church of the Brethren has been in the midst of a denominational visioning process.  This process has been the primary business item of the past couple of Annual Conferences, as well as many gatherings around the denomination (including one meeting that was held in our building in January of 2019).  These years of prayer have produced a vision focus that is simple on the surface, but it also full of theological nuance and depth.  I invite you to look at the full document that was produced by the compelling vision team here.

For the next few weeks, we will be drawing from this document as we explore what it means for us to live as members of the body of Christ today; living with Jesus, present in our own neighborhoods.

Proposed Church of the Brethren
Vision Statement

Together, as the Church of the Brethren, we will passionately live and share the radical transformation and holistic peace of Jesus Christ through relationship-based neighborhood engagement. To move us forward, we will develop a culture of calling and equipping disciples who are innovative, adaptable, and fearless.

Isaiah 43:8-14

Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.
I declared and saved and proclaimed,
when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses, says the Lord.
I am God, and also henceforth I am He;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work and who can hinder it?

Thus says the Lord,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
For your sake I will send to Babylon
and break down all the bars,
and the shouting of the Chaldeans will be turned to lamentation.

Responsive Litany
(inspired by Psalm 66)

O God, who made the world and everything in it,
we pray with one voice, proclaiming your presence to all the earth.

For skeptics and believers, for clergy high and low;
For those who seek God at home, at work, in the streets, and in the pews,
For all who search for life, come and listen:

And we will tell you what our God has done for us.

We are alive in the spirit.
We are saved through water.
Because Christ lives, we also live.

For we too are God’s offspring.

For presidents and prime ministers, for bosses and wardens;
For those who set the course at home, at work, in the streets, and in the pews,
For all who wield power, come and listen:

And we will tell you what our God has done for us.

We do not fear what others fear.
We proclaim the hope that is in us.
Because Christ lives, we also live.

For we too are God’s offspring.

For friends and lovers, for neighbors and strangers,
For those who eat bread at home, at work, in the streets,
and in the pews,
For all who live in the world, come and listen:

And we will tell you what our God has done for us.

In God, we live and move and have our being.
From God, we have life and breath and all things.
Because Christ lives, we also live.

For we too are God’s offspring.

For the sick and troubled, for the fearful and alone,
For those in pain at home, at work, in the streets, and in the pews,
For all who suffer, come and listen:

And we will tell you what our God has done for us.

Our prayers are not rejected.
Our souls are held in life.
In truth, our God has heard us,
and love is not withheld.
Because Christ lives, we also live.

For we too are God’s offspring.

For those kept in memory, for those long forgotten,
For all who ever took the breath of life at home, at work, in the streets, and in the pews,
For the dead and those who mourn them, come and listen:

And we will tell you what our God has done for us.

We are blessed by your presence.
We are filled with the Spirit.
Because Christ lives, we also live.

For we too are God’s offspring.

God of heaven and earth, Companion in life, Spirit of truth,
to you alone we turn our eyes and lift our hearts.

Amen.

Written by Margaret D. McGee, and posted on In the Courtyard. www.inthecourtyard.com

O Healing River

O healing river,
send down your waters,
send down your waters
upon this land.
O healing river,
send down your waters,
and wash the blood
from off the sand.

This land is parching,
this land is burning,
no seed is growing
in the barren ground.
O healing river,
send down your waters.
O healing river,
send your waters down.

Let the seed of freedom
awake and flourish,
let the deep roots nourish,
let the tall stalks rise.
O healing river,
send down your waters,
o healing river,
from out of the skies.

O Healing River

by David Tate and Jeremiah Padilla | Streamed with permission. CSPL121366

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 NRSV