Trinity Episcopal Church PROGRESSIVE Inclusive
CREATIVE DOWNTOWN
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Morning Devotion
August 22, 2021 10:00am
Welcome to Trinity Episcopal Church Good morning and “welcome home” to Trinity! Whether you are new to our community or have found yourself coming back again and again, we want you to know you are both welcome and wanted here among us. For some, church is as comfortable and familiar as a good pair of jeans, or like coming back to your childhood home (if it is one filled with good memories). For others, church might be like visiting a foreign country where you experience unfamiliar language or customs. And then, sadly, for some, church has become equated with feelings of hurt, shame or rejection. We get all of that and believe church can be different. We are a diverse community of seekers, believers, and doubters held together by the hope that together we are better, kinder, and more courageous when we stand side by side and face into the challenges of our lives and in the world together. We challenge the practices of our tradition that have at times kept others out and instead embrace Jesus’ mandate to welcome all, no exceptions, as a core value. And, we get that if people are brave enough to either walk through the doors of a big gothic-looking church in downtown Toledo, or tune in to Trinity@Home on line, we better be serious about being explicitly progressive, inclusive and creative in all we say and do. We love our Episcopal tradition, AND we love people from all walks of life even more! It is our hope and prayer that together we will navigate our way through each gathering, worship service, opportunity to serve, class, meal and social time together with humility, grace and laughter all infused with radical hospitality. So thank you for being here today; for trusting the yearning that brought you through those ancient doors. May we all find our way into the heart of God’s love as we make room for each other in this community and this world- we believe we are better and love more when diversity is celebrated and the bounds of God’s love are stretched wide. This bulletin is a guide to accompany you through the “liturgy”- meaning the “work of the people”- which is how our tradition approaches worship. It does indeed take a village bringing all of its gifts together to create our expression of gratitude and devotion week after week. Here is a quick little guide to help you follow along as we worship together: • • •
Italicized Print = singing Bold Print = everyone is invited to join in reciting a prayer/reading Bold & Italicized Print = everyone is invited to join in singing.
Welcome Home! May you never forget you are loved, Lisa The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray, Rector www.trinitytoledo.org
The Liturgy of the Word Prelude
The Rose
Amanda McBroom
(Kim Buehler, Lisa Tucker-Gray)
Welcome
The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray
Opening Hymn
Leaning on Everlasting Arms
Elisha A. Hoffman (Trinity’s Shameless Christian Men’s Gospel Singers)
What a fellowship, what a joy divine, Leaning on the everlasting arms; What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, Leaning on the everlasting arms. REFRAIN:
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; Leaning, leaning, Leaning on the everlasting arms. O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way, Leaning on the everlasting arms; O how bright the path grows from day to day, Leaning on the everlasting arms. REFRAIN
Opening Statement & Collect of the Day Deacon: People: Deacon:
Prayers for an Inclusive Church
The Lord be with you. And also with you. Let us pray.
Offensive God; refusing our religion of sacrifice and power: find us in our wandering, speak to us the word of life, liberate our violent hearts and let us stay with you; through Jesus Christ, the holy one of God. Amen.
FIRST READING Reader:
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 A reading from Joshua.
Read by Lucy Russell
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
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Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
Reader: People:
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
THE PSALM
Psalm 34: 15-22
Psalms for Praying
The plain text will be offered by the cantor; the congregation is invited to respond by singing the text in bold.
For the Beloved sees the deeds of our hearts, and hears our inmost thoughts. The face of the Beloved turns from the evil ways of men and women; For Love is kind and merciful and remembers not our sins. Rather, the Beloved is patient, ever-waiting for us to cry out for forgiveness, to embrace Love’s way. How often the Beloved weeps with compassion over those who are crushed in spirit. Though we are beset with many fears that cause illness and troubles, The Beloved is ever ready to comfort us in our sorrows, to strengthen us on our soul’s journey to wholeness. The Beloved renews the life of all who surrender to Love.
SECOND READING
Ephesians 6:10-20
Reader: A reading from Ephesians.
Read by Vickie Kuhr
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 4
Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.
Reader: People:
Gradual
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Seek Ye First (Trinity Singers & Brian Buckner- piano)
Karen Laffertry The 1982 Hymnal #711
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you; Allelu, Alleluia! Ask, and it shall be given unto you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and the door shall be opened unto you; Allelu, Alleluia! Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you; Allelu, Alleluia!
THE GOSPEL Deacon: People:
John 6:56-69 The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to John. Glory to you, Lord Christ.
Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 5
But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Deacon: People:
The Gospel of Christ. Praise to you, Lord Christ.
Sermon
Karen Keune, Trinity guest preacher Trinity Member
Affirmation of FAITH
Written by Bruce D. Prewer Led by Roberta Durham
We believe in the God of Jesus of Nazareth, who blesses the meek, the poor and the persecuted, exalts the least and saves the lost. We believe in the Holy One whose beloved Child, Jesus the Christ, pleased God far more than tongue or pen can ever tell. We believe in the baptized Christ, and the community of love and hope which grew around his word and witness. We believe that he is the first citizen of a new race, where the entry fee is Divine grace, and the ground rules are shaped by love. We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, by whom old things find new birth, and new things grow on to maturity, and the dead receive regeneration. We believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and in the limitless life which flows for the healing of the nations. Amen.
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The Prayers of the People
from the Iona Community Offered by Gary Franklin
Please join the leader in sharing the responses in bold. Intercessor:
People: Intercessor: People: Intercessor:
People: Intercessor:
People:
Let us pray. Gracious God, early in the morning, when the world was young, you made life in all its beauty and terror, you gave birth to all that we know. Hallowed be your name. Early in the morning, when the world least expected it, a newborn child crying in a cradle announced that you had come among us, that you were one of us. Hallowed be your name. Early in the morning, surrounded by respectable liars, religious leaders, anxious and silent friends, you accepted the penalty for doing good, for being God: you shouldered and suffered the cross. Hallowed be your name. Early in the morning, a voice in a guarded graveyard and footsteps in the dew proved that you had risen, that you had come back to those and for those who had forgotten, denied and destroyed you. Hallowed be your name.
Intercessor:
Early in the morning, in the multicolored company of your Church on earth and in heaven we celebrate your creation, your life, your death and resurrection, your interest in us: So to you we pray…
People:
God, bring new life where we are worn and tired, new love where we have turned hard-hearted, forgiveness where we feel hurt and where we have been wounded, and the joy and freedom in your Holy Spirit where we are the prisoners of ourselves. (pause for silence)
Intercessor:
People:
To all and to each where regret is real, God pronounces pardon and grants us the right to begin again. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
THE PEACE Deacon: People:
Kim Henkel, Karen & Henry Keune The peace of the Lord be always with you. And also with you.
Announcements 7
Offertory Go to our Giving page. www.trinitytoledo.org/online-giving/, choose GIVE and Sunday, August 22. You can also text the word “Give” to 419-OMG-LOVE (419-664-5683) to make your weekly offering.
Offertory
That Lucky Old Sun (David Breen & Logan Maccariella-piano)
Lord’s Prayer
Beasley Smith & Haven Gillespie
Version by James Burklo Led by Leah Reed
The congregation is invited to join.
Dear One, closer to us than our own hearts, farther from us than the most distant star, you are beyond naming. May your powerful presence become obvious not only in the undeniable glory of the sky, but also in the seemingly base and common processes of the earth. Give us what we need, day by day, to keep body and soul together, because clever as you have made us, we still owe our existence to you. We recognize that to be reconciled with you, we must live peaceably and justly with other human beings, putting hate and bitterness behind us. We are torn between our faith in your goodness and our awareness of the evil in your creation, so deliver us from the temptation to despair. Yours alone is the universe and all its majesty and beauty. So it is, Amen.
Blessing
May the rain fall off your shoulders when you’re caught in a storm. When the frost comes a callin’ may it find you safe and warm. May your place be set, and may your promises be kept. And may you never forget that you are loved.
Sending Hymn
Child of the Light
See page 9.
(Trinity Singers)
Dismissal Deacon: People:
Kim Henkel, Karen & Henry Keune Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
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Sending Hymn
Child of the Light
The 1982 Hymnal #490
(Trinity Singers)
I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus. God set the stars to give light to the world. The star of my life is Jesus. REFRAIN:
In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus. I want to see the brightness of God. I want to look at Jesus. Clear sun of righteousness, shine on my path, and show me the way to the Father. REFRAIN I’m looking for the coming of Christ. I want to be with Jesus. When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus. REFRAIN
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Trinity’s Daily Bread- As a community of faith, we are called to love and be loved; to serve and be served, to give and to receive. In short, we don’t want anyone to “fall behind or drop out.” In this season of connecting in new ways, we are introducing Trinity’s Daily Bread. Please let us know if you need prayer, assistance or connection by filling out our Daily Bread form on our website, www.trinitytoledo.org!
Trinity Episcopal Church Vestry Leadership Donna Steppe, Sr. Warden, Roberta Durham, Jr. Warden Leah Reed, Clerk, Jeffrey Albright, Dennis Degnan, Becky Koskinen, Fritz Hany, Bob Meeker & Jamie Paul Gary Franklin, Treasurer
Parish Staff The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray, Rector The Rev. Megan Allen, Transitional Deacon, Curate Heather Meyer, Director of Operations and Community Development Chelsie Cree, Interim Choir Director Lynzi Miller, Next To New Manager & Communications Coordinator Nick Zurawski, Sexton ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & COPYRIGHT INFO: Collect of the Day Prayers for an Inclusive Church, Steven Shakespeare. Church Publishing, New York. © 2009 by Steven Shakespeare. Permission granted by Church Publishing for congregational use. Readings and Gospel from: Revised Common Lectionary: lectionarypage.net, 2020 Psalm: From Psalms for Praying © 2007 Nan C. Merrill. Reprinted with permission of the publisher Continuum International Publishing Group www.PsalmsForPraying.com. Affirmation of Faith: written by Bruce D. Prewer, Epiphany 1, 2005. Prayers of the People: from the Iona Community - The Iona Abbey Book of Worship. Lord’s Prayer: Root and Sap, a version of the Lord’s Prayer —written by Stephen Best, UK. Bulletin Image: Bread of life. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangfoto/2337441318/. Artist: wolfgangfoto. License: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). All printed music from The Hymnal 1982, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, My Heart Sings Out, Wonder, Love, and Praise was used by permission through purchase of riteseries.org. All other printed music permission through purchase of CCLI Copyright license #20577215 Size B Streaming License #20577284 Size B Secular music permission through purchase of CCS WORSHIPcast Copyright license #13190 All printed music from Gather permission through purchase of onelicense.net License # A-700000
TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH PROGRESSIVE INCLUSIVE CREATIVE
DOWNTOWN
316 Adams Street, Toledo, OH 43604 (419) 243-1231 www.trinitytoledo.org Facebook.com/TrinityEpiscopalToledo
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Trinity Episcopal Church Progressive Inclusive Creative Downtown 316 Adams Street, Toledo, OH www.trinitytoledo.org
Trinity Pages TODAY 8/22, 11:00am, Coffee Hour– You are invited to join us for a 30-minute virtual coffee and conversation following our 10:00 online worship service every Sunday. The Zoom MEETING ID is on our website and the PASSWORD will be shared by Lisa during service announcements each Sunday morning! Wednesday, 8/25, 12:00noon, Noonday Prayer- Join us at 12noon on Wednesdays as we gather in the sanctuary for a short Wednesday Noonday prayer service (no Eucharist) led by our new curate, Megan Allen. Bring a lunch and join Megan afterward for a short time of conversation. Whether you have attended these mid-week services in the past or not, all are welcome and wanted. Sunday, 8/29, 1:00-3:00pm, All Parish Picnic- Join us at Levis Square, one block south from Trinity, for our third and final All Parish Picnic. Bring your own picnics and blankets and we’ll share in live music and fellowship for a couple hours in the afternoon. If there is inclement weather, a decision will be announced 2 hours in advance and we will move to Trinity’s Sanctuary. Sunday, 8/29, 6:30pm, Trinity Book Club- Join us for our next Book Club gathering on August 29th, 6:30-8:00pm. We are reading and discussing The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. This month we will continue our hybrid model, gathering in-person, for those who choose to do so, and through Zoom. All are welcome and wanted!
Please remember those who have asked for our prayers: John L., Gladys & Karen Johnson-Webb Carol Gray Tishie Bozeman Godwin Nosa Ronald B Mitchell Katie Greg Bulach Justin Myers Nancy Owens & daughter Lou Woellner Stan Johnson Zach Wabeke Ray Levey
Judy Moon Sheilah Wilson Elisheva Rose-Boxer Chico Martinez Jo Stanovcak Douglas Romstadt
To add your name or the name of someone you love on the Prayer List, please email lynzi@trinitytoledo.org.
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Birthdays
8/2 Sande Corfman-Johnson 8/5 Kelly Termin 8/15 Meagan Price 8/28 Lindsey Melden
8/2 Ron McKinney 8/11 Lou Woellner 8/21 Greg Shumaker
8/2 Lisa Tucker-Gray 8/14 Cindy Shumaker 8/25 Dave Bingham
To have your birthday or anniversary listed, please email the office: admin@trinitytoledo.org
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