To access the bulletin for this service, please click below.
Category: Worship
Worship Services for July 5th
To access the bulletin for our 8 am “Church in-person” worship service, please click below.
To access our “Church at Home” worship video, please click below.
To access our “Church at Home” worship bulletin, please click below.
Worshipping together
We are an incarnational people. Our faith tradition believes that God came within the human person of Jesus, to reconcile humankind and all of creation to God. That’s what the incarnation means — “in carnate” or in the body.
Our faith also believes that it is within and with our body that we worship God. This is why the beauty of the church, the “smells and bells” (incense of sanctus bells), the flowers, the bread and wine — all these elements of worship are important to us because it is through these that we are drawn into the sacred.
It is also through community, the gathering of bodies in worship, that we experience the divine. Therefore, it was marvelous to be together in worship last week, as we resumed in-person worship, with many safety precautions in place. To see each one of you walk forward to receive the blessed body of Christ is a moment I will always remember. There was such mutual and deep joy — and I could tell hearts and souls were formed, strengthened, received, and blessed, for this is the holy work of God as we engage with the sacraments.
Each person needs to make the decision about when to return to worshipping in person based upon their own circumstance– and that is right and good. We will continue to offer a recorded service for those who find worshipping at home to be the right choice for them in this time. I am also willing to come to your home, or to meet at church at a time other than during a church service, or outdoors in the Memorial Garden, to share communion with you. Please just email me or call me (717-333-5590) if you would like to arrange for communion.
Worship service for June 21st
To access a bulletin so you can sing along to the hymns and know the verbal responses, please click below.
To listen to the homily only, please click below.
To learn about the spiritual practice of creating peace prayer flags, please click below.
Worship Service for June 7th: Trinity Sunday
Worship Service for May 3rd: 4th Sunday of Easter
An Evening Eucharist
We gathered in our own homes, in our comfy and sacred spaces and entered into the presence of the Holy with intention and care. Through music, calming voices, beautiful artistry, and the soothing words of the Eucharistic Prayer, which always draws us into the presence of the Risen Christ, we found a place of peace and holiness. Although we cannot physically receive the sacrament at this time, we can engage in the prayer of spiritual communion, which is available to us at all time. I have it listed below here, for your use at any moment you are in the need of that deep union with Christ.
My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. I desire to offer you praise and thanksgiving as I proclaim your resurrection. I love you above all things, and long for you in my soul. Since I cannot receive you in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, come spiritually into my heart. Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let me never be separated from you. May I live in you, and you in me, in this life and in the life to come. Amen.
Easter Sunday Celebration
“Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed. Alleluia”
Oh, what joy it is to say these words aloud. And to know in our hearts and souls, we actually believe them, even in the midst of our strange world at the moment. Easter celebration looked differently this year — there were no filled churches overflowing with love and joy and the scent of Easter lilies, but Jesus has still be raised from the dead — and our lives are forever changed.
Let us go forth rejoicing in the power of God to move through death into life, so that all of us may live a full and spiritually rich life in Christ.
You can access Mother Barbara’s Easter Message in the sermon section of our website.
The Great Vigil
Through beautiful imagery, spoken word, and music we entered from the darkness of our world and moved into the light of Christ. The Great Vigil is a service that tells the story of our salvation and invites us to find our place within it. This year, since we couldn’t gather together, we gathered many voices through recordings and put them together with love and grace to offer something beautiful for you to engage with. Our hearts felt the joy of the resurrection as we shouted “Alleluia” for the first time since Ash Wednesday.
Good friday Stations of the Cross
Our hearts and souls were turned more closely to Christ as we walked the journey with Jesus to the cross. While engaging in the pre-recorded service of the Stations of the Cross, we were touched by the compelling woodcut prints by Margaret Adams Parker which drew us into the reality of Jesus’ journey to Calvary. There were times emotions overwhelmed us as we entered deeply into prayer. We also used the opportunity to name before God our sins, that which has kept us from fully loving our Lord, by writing them on slips of paper, later to be burned. As always, the music, images, and sacred texts draw our hearts to where they need to be — at the foot of the cross with Jesus.
Maundy Thursday
We celebrated Maundy Thursday in a different way this year. At times it felt odd not to be together, not to share a Bible Foods Dinner, not to wash each other’s feet, not to celebrate the Eucharist together. And yet, God showed up and brought the holiness of this special night into our hearts.
We created our agape meals in our own homes, prayed, sang, and found a new way to lean into the servant heart Jesus showed us at that last supper with his disciples.
Many of us gathered in our hearts through a guided meditation on the hymn, Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love. We were blessed with the music offered to us by Kevin Gorman as we walked into the holy space, always available to us through our loving God.
Tomorrow we walk toward the cross with Jesus. Please join us.