Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 21, 2017           10:30 am 

 
Meditation  
“Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same.”    —John Denver

From there to Here

Welcome & Announcements
Welcome to this service of worship!  During the service, you are invited to rise in body or in spirit, standing or sitting, at points in the service marked “ ” .”
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!
Prelude Canticle A. Sherman
Spirited Ringers
¨  Call to Worship
One: Friends, we worship with all our heart and soul, our actions and our voice.
All: We gather to celebrate the gifts of God in the people of God!
One: Today we lift up our choirs and those who help us praise the one in whom we live and move  and have our being.
All: Let us worship God!   
¨  Opening Hymn #43 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling Beecher
¨  Prayer of Approach
¨ Hymn of Assurance #505 Sweet Hour of Prayer Sweet Hour
 Verse 1: All, Verse 2: Choir, Verse 3: All, a capella
¨  Passing the Peace of Christ
All who come to this sanctuary are welcome companions on this day! You are invited to turn to those nearest you and greet them with words of peace and joy. 

The Living Word among us

Anthem No Time S. Brumfield
Union Church Choir
Rise, oh fathers rise, let’s go meet ‘em in the skies. We will hear the angels singing in that morning. Oh, I really do believe that, just before the end of time, we will hear the angels singing in that morning.
Rise, oh mothers rise…
No time to tarry here, no time to wait for you. No time to tarry here, for I’m on my journey home.
Brothers, oh fare ye well, for I’m on my journey home. Sisters, oh fare ye well…
Lesson from Acts of the Apostles Acts 17:22-31
Children’s Moment as the children return to their seats we sing:
May God’s presence 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.
Following Children’s Moment, children are welcome to visit the Children’s Worship Center, where there are toys, books, and drawing materials for children (or parents) who would like help staying present in the service. For children preschool & under, care is available in the Nursery, downstairs off the Community Room.
Musical Meditation Incline My Heart   G. Downey & E. Downey
Pearl Marshall, Handbells
Gospel Lesson John 14:15-21 
Sermon Making the Rules Rev. Kent Gilbert
Commissioning of Stephen Leaders
The Union Church Stephen Ministry is named after one of the people appointed by the original apostles to help care for members of the community (Acts 7).  At Union Church we will soon be training Stephen Ministers who will provide skilled, compassionate, confidential, Christian care. Led by the Stephen Leaders we will commission today, and working closely with Rev. Kent and Rev. Rachel, we hope to provide much better and comprehensive spiritual care in the months and years ahead.
Introduction of the Stephen Leader Team:              Jeff From, Betty Hibler, Mary Lou Wiese, and Rev. Kent Gilbert
Questions for the Team
Questions for the Congregation
One:      Members of Union Church, will you open your hearts to the ministry of these Stephen Leaders and pray for them as servants of Christ? If so, answer: “Yes, with the help of God.”
All: Yes, with the help of God.
Questions for the Pastors
Blessing the Stephen Leaders
One: May the Lord of the church fill you with the Holy Spirit and guide, bless, and keep you, so that you may be faithful in the ministry to which you have been called, gifted, trained, and sent.
All: Amen.
Anthem Order My Steps G. Burleigh
Union Church Choir
Order my steps in your word dear Lord, lead me, guide me every day. Send your anointing, father, I pray. Order my steps in your word. Please, order my steps in your word.
Humbly I ask thee teach me your will, while you are working help me be still. Though Satan is busy God is real! Order my steps in your word. Please, order my steps in your word.
I want to walk worthy, my calling to fulfill. Please order my steps Lord, and I’ll do your blessed will. The world is ever changing but you are still the same. If you order my steps I’ll praise your name.
Order my steps in your word, order my tongue in your word; guide my feet in your word, wash my heart in your word. Show me how to walk in your word. Show me how to talk in your word. When I need a brand new song to sing. how me how to let your praises ring.

GIfts Given for Love to Flow

Our gifts help sustain this particular community of caring by sustaining the building, pastors and staff, and all the materials that make our ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need. In addition, a good portion of our contributions flows out to aid to those in need via many external agencies.
This can now be done online or by text to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering” to contribute to the ongoing ministries, or add “youth,” or “missions” or designation of your choice to benefit one in particular.
Your contribution is love made visible. Thank you!
Offertory                    Gaudio Exultans V. Stephenson
Union Church Handbell Ensemble
¨  Doxology               Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Lasst Uns Erfreuen
Praise God all creatures here below! Alleluia, alleluia! Praise God above, ye heavenly host! Creator, Christ and Holy Ghost.  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Praying it Forward

Ringing of 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.
Silent Prayers and Prayers for the Community
Our Lord’s Prayer
One: Our Maker, our Mother, and …
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 sins as we forgive those who sin against us;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:                                 
  For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.  Amen.

From Here to There

¨   Closing Hymn #561 When in Our Music God Is Glorified Engelberg
¨  Blessing the Way of the Matt, Carrie, Matthew and Simon Jadud 
With deep feeling, we commend you to your life and work in other places, taking with you our strong support and sincere prayers.    
All: Go forth into the world!
Piano Side: In peace!
Bell Side: In love!
Piano: To teach!
Bell: To learn!
All: Go forth into the world!
Piano: To preach!
Bell:                  To pray!
Piano:             To heal!
Bell:                  To comfort!
All:       Go forth into the world!
Piano:             To build!
Bell:                  To plant!
Piano:             To grow!
Bell: To thrive!
All: Go forth into the world to love and serve the Lord.
Benediction The Lord Bless You and Keep You J. Rutter
Union Church Choir
The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace.
Postlude Rondo in G Major J. Bull
Especially in our prayers
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 the Indian Ocean Islands: Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles and our brothers and sisters at Pilot Knob Missionary Baptist Church in our hearts, and pray for them.
Please hold these concerns in your prayers, today and throughout the week. Prayer requests to be printed may be sent to the office anytime before 10:00 am Fridays.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes, or who are homebound:  Ruth Butwell, Edith Hansen, Mary Miller, Alva Peloquin, Gloria VanWinkle.
¨ Prayers of love and support surrounding the Carlberg and Park families in the loss of Steve Park, Shirley’s brother and Hattie’s son, who passed away Wednesday, May 17th. A service will be here at Union Church next Sunday, 2 pm. 
¨ Matt, Carrie, Matthew and Simon Jadud, as they move to Lewiston, Maine.
¨ The family of Joseph Ivens, the son of Karen and Bill Ivens,  young adult grandson of Carol and Joseph Neeld (close friends of Dodie Murphy), who overdosed and died Monday night in Pennsylvania.
¨ BJ Godby, whose mother is in hospice care in Vidalia, Georgia.
¨ Mim Pride, recovering well at home from hip surgery.
¨ Loretta Mountjoy, back in Central Baptist Hospital.
¨ For those suffering from mental illnesses and for their families who love and care for them.
¨ For refugees around the world: may they find a home in safety and may God’s people help.
¨ Families in difficulty
Violin Recital today, 3:00 pm.  Chloe Groth’s violin students’ recital, Cowan Chapel, all welcome. 
Thanks to all who participated in today’s Choirs of the Church Sunday!  Started three years ago, this music-focused service celebrates the musical offerings of the Chancel Choir and Union Church Handbell Ensemble.  The theme of this service is “Unified through Music,” and it intertwines different styles and genres of music that help bring an uplifting message.
Union Church recently became involved in Stephen Ministry.  
Stephen Ministry Mission Statement “Union Church Stephen Ministry exists to help people grow: Lay caregivers grow as they nurture and use their gifts in meaningful ministry; care receivers grow as they experience God’s redemptive and healing love during a time of great need.”
One of the key components of our Stephen Ministry mission statement is expressing the growth of the caregiver. Most of us have been broken, harmed, or left reeling from some sort of a loss in our lives. We all have pain and/or scars, and I believe all of us are on paths of healing.
Stephen Ministers are not unaffected people with all the answers to solve someone else’s problems. Stephen Ministers listen, accept, offer compassionate confidential care, and sit with those who are suffering. Stephen Ministers understand that walking with another who is suffering is also a time of reflection, growth, and insight into their own healing path. The gift of having suffered and survived, coming out the other side wiser, is invaluable.              Jeff From
Monday, May 22 – 7:00 pm at Church-ill’s: Basic English Country Dances for Mature Beginners, no experience necessary. Caller Mary Harrell will teach and walk us through.  Music by Knackered & Numb, an informal group of local musicians who meet every week for the pure pleasure of making music together. Free and open to everyone. Light refreshments served.
Not able to dance?   Come for the music and fellowship! Sponsored by Berea Home Village.
Berea Leadership Experience – A Camp for Building Bridges of Peace and Resolving Conflict.  Registration for The Berea Leadership Experience is now open!  It’s a weeklong camp for kids ages 6-13 that is designed to help kids develop skills of transforming conflict into community.
We’re using a curriculum that helps kids learn to build peace through Mindfulness, Connecting with Nature, Media Literacy, and Conflict Resolution.
   Here are the details: Berea Leadership Experience will be July 24th-28th, 9am-3pm at the Berea Friends Meeting House. Kids ages 6-13 are invited to be campers, and teenagers older than 13 are invited to be Junior Counselors. The cost is very low: $75 per student, and up to half of the campers can receive scholarships of $50 to make it even more affordable. Register them here: www.union-church.org/ble
    Want to help?  

• Could you sponsor a kid through a donation? $10 pays for a t-shirt; $50 will pay for a scholarship; $100 pays for a Counselor; $200 pays for a teacher; $500 pays for the curriculum! (Go to www.union-church.org/donate, click on “Give Online” and choose “Berea Leadership Experience” in the drop-down box.)

Questions? Please contact the camp director, Kim Kobersmith kim.kobersmith@gmail.com.
    Thanks for helping this dream come true!
    Your BLE Steering Committee: Jeff From, Kam Myers, Jenny Hobson, Rachel Small Stokes, and Kim Kobersmith
June 4—Stay for Lunch! Right after worship, a fundraiser lunch for El Salvador.
Peacecraft Needs Volunteers. Do you love pretty things and helping empower people throughout the world? If so, Peacecraft needs you!  They are looking for volunteers to help in the store for several shifts throughout the week.  Peacecraft is a nonprofit Fair Trade gift store on College Square that works to promote peace through economic justice. Their staff is almost all volunteer. Find out more at 859-986-7441, peacecraftinberea@windstream.net, or by stopping in the store at 128 Main St.
Introduction to the Violin for Adults with Chloe Helene Groth, Violin Teacher . A four week class for adults interested in learning to play classical violin. No musical background required. Taught at Union Church 9-10 am, 6/3, 6/10, 6/17 and 6/24 – Deadline for signing up is 5/30. $48. Students will play the Prelude at the 10:30 am service at Union Church on 6/25.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – Yeats
Students will exit the class with basic knowledge of how to hold and play the violin, read music, and perform several simple songs .
Materials Required: Violin Rental (Can be rented from Old Town Violins, Currier Music World, etc) and a three ring binder Chloe Helene Groth, violinist, is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she earned a Master of Music in Teaching and a Bachelor of Music in Performance. Chloe has maintained a private violin studio for the last ten years, has performed with orchestras all over the country, and frequently performs for weddings and special events. Chloe’s mission as an instructor is to invest her time, abilities, and heart into nurturing the talent and humanity within each student. She believes violin lessons are also a vehicle for some of the most important skills as human beings: how to connect with another person, to be mindful in the present moment, to listen well, to express oneself, to find joy in challenges, and to deepen our sensitivity to art and to other human beings. Chloe Groth, chloehelene @gmail.com, 864-238-0151
House Concert Saturday June 10, with award-winning singer-songwriter Tret Fure at the home of Barbara Prairie, 314 Jackson Street. Doors open at 7:30 pm, showtime 8:00, suggested donation $15. 
Godspell coming, Hosts needed! 11 Hosts for ONE NIGHT Lodging needed June 16! Godspell will be performed at Union Church on June 16 at 7 pm by Elation, a youth choir from St. Stephen United Methodist Church in Mesquite, Texas.  Church Member Amy Williams was part Elation and is bringing this blessing to us!  We will be providing dinner for the choir at 5 pm the day of the performance and housing for choir members and chaperones that night.  Hosts are asked to provide breakfast the following day and get the guests back to Union Church.  Beds are a plus but not required; choir members and chaperones will have sleeping bags. If you can help with hosting, please contact Amy Williams at 859-358-1836 or amy_williams75204 @hotmail.com .  If you can help with food, please contact Sue Peterson Blyth at 859-328-3805 or sweetsue49@gmail.com .
FYI Elizabeth Barrett is helping with Directory updates. She may give you a call to confirm your info. Thank you, Elizabeth! We’d like to print June 1.
Help Wanted.  We have an ongoing need for volunteers to help with Sunday services.  Can you be a worship reader, greeter, coffee angel, etc.?   For details go to the church website, union-church.org and click on “Volunteer” near the upper right corner (or talk to Doug Hindman).