A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
February 15, 2026 10:30 am Transfiguration Sunday
Meditation
Every once and so often, something so touching, so incandescent, so alive transfigures the human face that it’s almost beyond bearing. ~ Frederick Buechner
From There to Here: We Gather
Welcome
Welcome to this service of worship! Please sign in using the pew folder, passing it back down the row so all can greet one another by name, and place the sheet in an offering plate. We’re glad you’re here! During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “<>.”
¨ The Call Charles Hoffman, Reader
One: Climb the steps and the mountain
All: And let the light surround us!
One: Hear again the words that matter:
All: “Beloved. Listen!”
One: Stay awhile but not forever.
All: God’s blessing is restless… it needs to be ferried and carried.
One: In work and wonder, in praise and thanksgiving, in company and by ourselves, we come to the mountain.
All: Let us worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Amen!
¨ Hymn #182 We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding Hyfrydol
1. We have come at Christ’s own bidding
to this high and holy place,
where we wait with hope and longing
for some token of God’s grace.
Here we pray for new assurance
that our faith is not in vain,
searching like those first disciples
for a sign both clear and plain.
2. Light breaks through our clouds and shadows,
splendor bathes the flesh joined Word,
Moses and Elijah marvel
as the heavenly voice is heard.
Eyes and hearts behold with wonder
how the Law and Prophets meet:
Christ with garments drenched in brightness,
stands transfigured and complete.
3. Strengthened by this glimpse of glory,
fearful lest our faith decline,
we, like Peter, find it tempting
to remain and build a shrine.
But true worship gives us courage
to proclaim what we profess,
that our daily lives may prove us
people of the God we bless.
¨ Prayer of Approach and Confession
One: God of Transfiguration,
All: you meet us in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary moments of life.
One: We seek you in the valleys
All: and on the mountaintops.
One: Yet we admit that too often our eyes are blind to your presence,
All: too often our ears are deaf to your call. When you reach out to us through the cries of the hungry and homeless, the vulnerable and the rejected, too often our hearts shrink from your touch. Forgive us, we pray. From the mountain top help us see clearly. In the valleys, set our hearts right and set us free to love and serve.
One: In your Christ’s way we pray:
All: Amen.
~ adapted from United Church Publishing House, Celebrate God’s Presence (United Church Publishing House, 2000
¨ Words of Assurance
One: All who seek shall find. And all who yearn for transformation shall find forgiveness and strength for the work. Friends, believe the good news of the faith: In Christ we are made new and made whole.
All: Thanks be to God! Amen.
¨ Passing the Peace of Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on the journey of faith. Please turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace.
Word and Worship
Special Music Temporary Home Simmons, arr. Rouse
Union Church Choir
Sometimes I feel like I’m just walkin’ around with my head with up in the clouds. I’m steady movin’ but I’m not gainin’ ground, headin’ the wrong way in the crowd.
Then I remember I’m not part of this world; I’m movin’ higher each day. Upward mobility sounds mighty good to me. I just can’t wait to get away.
I’ve got to remember I’m not here to stay. I’m looking forward to a brighter day. I’ve got to remember I’m not here for long. I’m livin’ in my temporary home.
If you are bothered by the problems of life, don’t you let them get you down. Just look to Jesus; you will not be denied. He’ll move you up to higher ground.
Don’t you forget that you’re a child of the King, that you’re an heir to His throne. You may not know just when, but He’s coming back again to take us to our happy home.
In the sweet by and by, we shall meet at that beautiful shore!
Scripture Reading Exodus 24:12-18
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there; I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up onto the mountain of God.
To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come back to you. Look, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud.
Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the Israelites. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Children’s Moment as the children return to their seats we sing:
May God’s blessings guard, protect and guide you. God bless you, God bless you. Our savior’s loving arms be ever ’round you. God bless you, God bless you.
Scripture Reading Matthew 17:1-9
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Changed from Glory Into Glory Rev. Kent Gilbert
Video Reflection
Living Prayer
Call to Prayer
Each week, we join millions of Christians who pray for one another through the ecumenical prayer cycle and, locally, the Berea Ministerial Association’s prayer cycle. Let us hold the people of Next week we pray for Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland and our siblings at Wayside Christian Church in our hearts, and pray for them today and throughout the week.
Ringing the Peace Bell
The Union Church Peace Bell was created by Jeff Enge in honor of Union Church member Carl Eschbach (1904-1998). A twin bell hangs in Berea’s sister province in Japan and is also rung in the hope of peace for all nations.
Embodied Prayer
You are invited to reflect and pray at the candle table. You may also choose to source the essential ingredient of solitude and private prayer, remaining with your own thoughts in your pew.
For Prayer and Reflection
Hope and Help:
What is worthy of your beloved life? What help do you need, what affirmation do you seek? In prayer, open yourself to this assistance. Thanksgiving and awe are good starting places as you tend the flame of your spirit.
* What in you is ready to ignite?
- What purpose is too holy to ignore in you, even if it is hard, terrifying in its beauty?
As you breathe, try to breathe in the affirmation of God’s call. Exhale imagining the breath of God within you clearing the path. What is your next step down the mountain?
Who Are You? Where Are You Going?
Today’s readings are deeply tied to issues of identity and community. In the quiet, meditate on your identity in your communities. Try to hold in the palm of your heart dreams that expanded and became your life, and the dreams that have not been (and perhaps cannot be) realized. Through any satisfaction, and through any pain these thoughts may bring, listen also for God’s call to you, and the incandescent reminder that you are beloved.
Offertory
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Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
¨ Doxology Old Hundredth
To God all glorious heavenly Light, To Christ revealed in earthly night, To God the Spirit now we raise Our joyful songs of thankful praise. Amen.
Silent Prayer and Prayers of the Community Charles Hoffman, Reader
Maker of light, lighten our hearts. Mover of mountains, help us transcend ours. Sender of prophets, help us speak your truth. Helper of the fearful, remind us of your presence and protection. Builder of beloved communities, set us to work. Your vision and your care change us every day, Lord. As Christ was renewed for his purpose, so renew the light inside each one here. Build in our hearts the resolve to build the relationships that would make your beloved community a reality. When we cannot see the way, take us up the mountain. And when we have seen the way, send us down to walk the walk with your Christ.
This we pray in the name of the Beloved, your Christ, sent to be Jesus our brother, who taught us to reach to you as…
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Maker, Our Mother, and Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; Thy kin-dom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kin-dom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
¨ Hymn #43 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Beecher
1. Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven, on earth be found,
Fix in us a humble dwelling;
all your faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, you are all compassion;
Pure, unbounded love impart;
Visit us with your your salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.
2. Breathe, O breathe your loving Spirit
Into every troubled breast;
Let us all in you inherit;
Let us find your promised rest.
Take away our love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
3. Come, Almighty, to deliver;
Let us all your life receive;
Suddenly return, and never,
Nevermore your temples leave.
You we would be always blessing,
Love you as your angels love,
Pray, and praise for your unfailing,
Wounded arms outstretched above.
4. Finish, then, your new creation;
Pure and spotless may we prove;
Let us see your great salvation
Perfectly restored in you:
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Crowned as saints we ever shall be,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.
From Here to There
Community Connections
Announcements
We share opportunities for Beloved Community and ways to serve. Please see the listing of church & community events, prayers, and notices in the pages following the service.
Lighting the Justice Candle to Lead us Forth
Today we recognize and remember the Amistad Event and its leader, Sengbe Pieh (in Spanish, Cinque) and the men and women he led with courage and bravery in rebellion. It is a landmark case in the history of civil rights in America. In 1839, 53 Africans from Sierra Leone were bound for slavery in Cuba – but a revolt broke out in the Caribbean. The captain was killed and the crew ordered to return back to Africa. They sailed east by day, but north by night, and were intercepted off Long Island where Sengbe and the other captives (of the Mende ethnic group) were caught and imprisoned for piracy and murder. Their cries in court for freedom were heard by Congregationalist church members in Hartford, Connecticut, who brought them to New London, CT.
These church members became the founders of the American Missionary Association, which hired John G. Fee and helped found Berea College and Union Church. The Amistad case was argued in the Supreme Court by former President John Quincy Adams, which found them to be free men and women who were captured illegally. They returned to Africa following the trial. One point of great irony is the Schooner named La Amistad is the Spanish word for “friendship.”
The Joy of Welcoming New Members
Partnership & Purpose
Today presents an opportunity to covenant together! All who would like to are welcome to join the church family – you will be received in joy.
Questions of the Congregation and New Members
Covenant of Welcome
And we, the members and faithful friends of this church, renewing our own covenant to God and to each other, do now heartily welcome you to our fellowship, promising to watch over you in love, and praying that you, and we, may be true witnesses for Christ, a light in the world, and continue to increase in usefulness and joy in his service.
¨ Benediction
¨ Benediction Response #570 We Shall Overcome We Shall Overcome
1. We Shall Overcome, we shall overcome, we shall overcome someday; Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome someday.
2. We’ll go hand in hand, we’ll go hand in hand, we’ll go hand in hand someday; Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we’ll go hand in hand someday.
3. We are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are not afraid today. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, we are not afraid today.
4. Our God will see us through …
5. The truth will make us free …
6. We shall live in peace …
Our Prayers for Others
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ All the people of Ukraine for their safety and sovereignty. Prayers also that the government of Russia will turn to reason & respect for their own peoples’ lives as well as for Ukrainian families.
¨ That the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East may hold; and those suffering receive the aid they need.
¨ We pray for our country, and those who are directly affected by the actions and inaction of our government to address the needs of its people and the world.
¨ Our neighbors experiencing housing insecurity, homelessness and food insecurity.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Hattie Parks, Cheryl Payne, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Theresa Scherf.
¨ Britt Miracle, in University of Cincinnati Hospital with severe heart issues.
¨ Rick Fulton, at home, but facing a possible heart transplant.
¨ Prayers for Joy Gritton, at the death of Black Bear La Boueff. Let us hold her in God’s light. A remembrance will be held at a later date.
¨ Steve Rutledge, whose wedding anniversary would’ve been Feb. 14. His Elaine passed in June.
¨ We grieve the passing of Cheryl Caruso Payne on January 11, widow of the late Dr. John Payne. Cheryl was a Berea resident and Union Church member for several years later in her life.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Congratulations to Dr. EJ Stokes, who was granted tenure AND promoted at Berea College. Well-deserved!!!
Birthdays: February 17 – Grace McKenzie; 18 – Lorilyn Howie-Kipphut, Brenda Campbell; 19 – Margie Pride; 20 – Renee Thornsberry; 21 – Rhonda Cardwell; 22 – Cecelia McKinney, Ramona Culp, Joe Sheehan; 23 – Nancy Shinn, Alan Hester
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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