A Gathering in Worship Offered by the People of the Church of Christ, Union
May 31, 2026 10:30 am Trinity Sunday
Meditation
Holy Mystery—Creator, Christ, and Spirit—how wondrous your presence is in all the earth. ~ Sam Houser
From There to Here: We Gather
Prelude
¨ Call to Worship Stephanie Ryan, Reader
One: O Holy One, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
All: We admire the work of your hands in awe and thanksgiving!
One: O Holy One, our Redeemer, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
All: Who are we that you come to us, empower us, and give us rest?
One: O Holy One, our Companion, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
All: Let us worship the Triune God with honor and glory! How majestic are your many names in all the earth!
¨ Hymn #28 For the Beauty of the Earth Dix
1. For the beauty of the earth, for the splendor of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies: God of all, to you we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
2. For the wonder of each hour of the day and of the night, Hill and vale and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light, God of all, to you we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
3. For the joy of human love, sister, brother, parent, child, friends on earth and friends above for all gentle thoughts and mild, God of all, to you we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
4. For the good that love inspires, for a world where none exclude, For a faith that never tires, and for every heart renewed,God of all, to you we raise this, our hymn of grateful praise.
¨ Invocation
One: Voice, Body, Spirit, we acknowledge your presence gathering us together as your church. Today, we join in worship. May we encounter you anew. We find a good place in you and with one another.
You have made us in your image and enabled us to be in community with you, O God, as people called to service, justice, and caretaking. Let your name be praised. Let us receive your word. Let us embrace and live your truth. Amen.
¨ Passing the Peace
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.
¨ Prayer of Approach & Confession Box Breath Prayer (3x)
As we pray, we slow our breathing and our lives in order to attend to God. The leader will guide this meditation three times, and you are invited to pattern your breath with each phrase as indicated below.
Inhale: You formed everything.
Hold: Your works are wonderful.
Exhale: You give life and breath.
Hold: Your works are wonderful.
¨ Words of Assurance
One: The world may feel suffocating, but the breath of the Almighty gives life. As long as we are breathing, we are not defeated.
All: Our soul breathes and our hearts sing for we have seen the Lord at work! Amen!
Word and Worship
Scripture Reading Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
~ 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 Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together they called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”
So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humans in their image, in the image of God they created them; all people God created. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw everything that they had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. On the sixth day God finished the work that they had done, and rested on the seventh day from all the work that they had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that God had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
~ New Revised Standard Version, updated
Sermon Creation: A Lectio Divina Rev. Christina Ryan Perkins
Video Reflection
Living Prayer
Call to Prayer
One: Generous God, just as you provided for all our needs in your creative acts, you have made us caretakers of your good creation. Let us accept the call to faithful discipleship, the opportunity to trust in your provision, and the generous nature you have embedded in us.
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. Next week, let us hold the people of Angola and Mozambique; and our siblings at Emmanuel Baptist 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 Reflection
Christ Breathes Peace-Do We?
So-called “Box Breathing” is an ancient prayer practice now credited with deep neurological benefits. Slowing your breathing settles nerve responses and increases oxygen uptake. More oxygen feeds and frees the brain. It lowers blood pressure. It resets the vagus nerve stem. With our thoughts clear, our heart settles, and the space opens to receive what God is offering in each moment. Here is prayer meditation to center and ground you for this week:
Breath Prayer for The Week:
Inhale (count of 3): You formed everything.
Hold (count of 3): Your works are wonderful.
Exhale (count of 3): You give life and breath.
Hold (count of 3): Your works are wonderful.
Repeat the pattern until you are deeply at peace. Ten times is a good start, but do more if you need or have time. Do this anytime you find your anxieties on the rise, or you need the spiritual support of Christ’s love.
Christ Lifts Our Hearts…
Easter is the sure sign that joy is part of God’s plan. Far from condemnation and guilt, Christ seeks to lift the hearts of everyone he touches. What would lift your heart? What makes it sing? Stopped because what you want or need feels preposterous? Well, is it more preposterous than a risen Christ appearing in a locked room… TWICE? Even if only in this prayer relax your judgement and offer up what would free your heartsong. Hold the vision and allow Christ to breathe peace over it. Pray for what you need to lift your heart.
Offertory
A Chance for Generosity: easytithe.com/union
A community of caring relies on support. Your recurring or one-time donation will make a ministry of healing, justice, and teaching available to all in need.
¨ Use your smart phone or computer and go to easytithe.com/union. No registration required, but registering once makes future generosity simply entering an amount and a click.
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¨ Give by Text. Text an amount to 859-448-3403 (Example: Text “$50.00 Offering”).
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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 Stephanie Ryan, Reader
One: Holy Mystery—Creator, Christ, and Spirit— how wondrous your presence is in all the earth. You echo through expanding galaxies, through oceans breathing against the shore, through every living thing still learning how to belong to one another.
You speak through children and prophets, through those the world calls small, revealing a wisdom stronger than empire.
When I look at the heavens— the scattered stars, the steady moon, the infinite dance of creation—
I cannot help but ask: what are we, that you continue to draw near to us? Dust and breath. Fragile and finite. And still, you call us beloved.
You made us to live in relationship— with the earth, with each other, with every creature that shares this sacred home.
The forests and rivers, the winged and the wild, the creatures beneath the sea— all of us carried together inside the rhythm of your love.
Creator, Christ, and Spirit— holy communion without end— how wondrous your presence is in all the earth.
We lift our voices in awe as we pray… Our Maker, Our Mother, and Our Father…
~ Living Psalm 8 for Trinity Sunday was written by Sam Houser.
Our Lord’s Prayer
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.
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
LGBTQ+ Pride Month, observed every June, honors the worldwide response to the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City – when police aggressively dragged patrons & employees out of the Stonewall Inn, a neighborhood bar in Greenwich Village. That incident is widely acknowledged as bringing the “gay rights movement” out of the fringes and into wider awareness.
It is a vibrant, month-long celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture. The movement promotes dignity and equal rights, while also remembering community members lost to HIV/AIDS and hate crimes.
Locally, we can attend and/or volunteer at Richmond Pride, June 13. See Laura Nagle or p. 12 of this service bulletin to sign up to show the Union Church love & unity.
¨ Hymn #17 To You, O God, All Creatures Sing LasstUns Erfruen
1. To you, O God, all creatures sing, and all creation, everything sings your praises, alleluia! Your burning sun with golden beam, your silver moon with softer gleam sing your praises, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
2. Your wind that blows the tempest by, your clouds that sail across the sky sing your praises, alleluia! Your morning rises with a song, and lights of evening sing along, sing your praises, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
3. Your flowing waters, crystal clear, make melodies for you to hear, sing your praises, alleluia! Your fire, bountiful and bright, remembering your warmth and light, sings your praises, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
4. To you, O God, day after day, your planet earth in every way, sing your praises, alleluia, as savory fruit and fragrant flower show forth your glory and your power, singing praises, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
5. Now we who are of tender heart, forgiving others, take our part, sing your praises, alleluia! To you we lift our pain and care, receive this burdens that we bear, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
6. In you, a kind and gentle death prepares to hush our final breath, singing praises, alleluia! Christ goes before us to renew the way that leads us home to you. Hear our praises, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
From Here to There
¨ Benediction
One: Find rest in the love of God.
Choose rest by the grace of God.
Embrace rest by the power of God.
Trust rest because of the provision of God.
And know that the God of rest goes with you to love and serve God’s creation.
¨ Benediction Response I’m Goin’a Sing When the Spirit Says Sing trad. Spiritual
1. I’m goin’a breathe…
2. I’m goin’a sing…
3. I’m goin’a work…
4. I’m goin’a rest…
Our Prayers for Others
¨ 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.
¨ Those in mortal danger in the war in Iran. For the leaders of nations to set aside assassination and warfare in favor of just, diplomatic solutions to conflict.
¨ 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.
¨ Rhonda Edwards’ daughter, Erin Bailey, awaiting biopsy results.
¨ Katie Baltisberger, at the death of her mother, Julie Duckart. Julie was on the faculty at Eastern and led a Girl Scout here at Union Church for many years (pre-Covid). Her life will be celebrated at a service here at Union on June 1, 1 pm.
¨ Hillary White, Paula White’s daughter-in-law, hospitalized with a severe infection.
¨ Whitney McKnight, home and resting.
¨ Ron Rosen, recovering from surgery.
¨ JoAnn Russell, Reda Hutton’s aunt, facing several medical challenges.
¨ Our church family members in nursing homes or who are homebound: Dorie Hubbard, Susan Kramer, Hattie Parks, Alva Peloquin, Laura Robie, Theresa Scherf.
¨ Celebrations with Prayers of Joy!
Birthdays: June 1 – Dottie Lovell, Reid Livingston; 2 – Adelaide Burton Graber; 4 – Rhonda Edwards, Laura Menefee-Greene; 5 – Ethan Connelly; 6 – Luke Woodie, Deborah Payne; 7 – Adria Sutherland
Anniversaries: June 1: Angela Anderson & Matt Saderholm
If we haven’t got your important dates, let us know. We’ll help you get connected in FellowshipOne Go!
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