Worship at Home for March 29, 2020
Due to the spread of Covid-19, we are taking a sabbatical from our normal Sunday morning gathering, but unity and community are more important than ever before in this season of uncertainty. To help facilitate this, we are providing a liturgy, complete with embedded songs and a sermon by Rev. Elizabeth Alexander, so that, one in heart, we can worship together even as we maintain distance out of love for our neighbors. This is designed to be used on your own or together as a family or community. We hope this resource is a blessing to you. Remember to check in on friends and neighbors with calls or text, especially the elderly among us and others who are particularly vulnerable. You can also check out the services from 3/15 and 3/22.
Also, this Sunday, we are connecting as a church body using Zoom video chat. Here’s the schedule and instructions for joining in!
10:00-10:30 - Connect and informal checking in
10:30-11:00 - Prayers of the People & The Lord’s Prayer: Joys and Concerns
[**If you’re newer to Zoom or know that technology can be challenging, try signing on closer to 10am so that we can have plenty of time to help you figure it out before Prayers of the People starts. Paula, who helped organize this, will help you!]
To join in the Zoom event on your computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 262 734 351 and Click "Join"
4. Follow prompts, including entering your name.
5. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/L5zzE-HGQko
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE
1. Click on https://princeton.zoom.us/j/262734351
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
To join in the Zoom event using your Smartphone/Iphone:
1. Download the Zoom Cloud Meeting app
2. Open the app.
2. Enter meeting ID#: 262 734 351 and Click "Join"
3. Follow prompts, including entering your name
4. Here is a video tutorial that will take you through the steps, if you want to view this first: https://youtu.be/lO206_NezaY
To dial in by phone:
+1 (646) 558 8656 (New York--please note this may be a long-distance call if you are using a landline)
Then at the prompt, enter meeting ID#: 262 734 351
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
Opening Songs
Opening Prayer
Loving God,
In these times of isolation, we long to connect with you.
In these times of uncertainty, we long to trust you.
In these time of loss, we mourn with you.
In these times of hording, we long to live generously.
In these times of boredom, we long for a deeper center.
In these times of great trouble, we see the helpers all around who are doing your work.
And we thank you, God.
Give us today the grace of your forgiveness, the hope of your kingdom, and the joy of your presence.
Amen.
Centering Song
Call to Worship
Sisters and brothers, we come to praise and worship the presence of the Divine among us.
Let us open our hearts and minds as we witness to the Good News of Christ’s love for all people.
Let us together, women and men, young and old, give thanks for the call of Christ to follow him into a broken world to lead the church into making all things new.
Let us sing praises to our God that we can claim the amazing gifts of service and leadership— gifts of peacemaking, compassion, perseverance, unity and love—
and use them for the sake of all God’s children.
Let us worship God with great joy and expectation.
Hymns of Adoration
Seeking the Shalom of the City
First, we want to share pictures of some members of our congregation who are serving this city by making sure kids have food each day.
Also during this time, we encourage you to pray for friends and family, neighbors, our city, our country, and the world. Particularly keep in mind those who are most vulnerable during this time: the elderly and immuno-compromised who are particularly vulnerable to infection, the poor who are particularly vulnerable economically as daycares and businesses close, and those without healthcare coverage.
Pray also for all our healthcare workers who face a daunting task ahead and who place themselves in harm’s way in love and service to their community.
Pray for Westminster member Rachel Woodall Thomas, starting tomorrow she will be caring for COVID 19 patients at the Robertwood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick. While caring for these patients she will live at a motel to keep her own family safe. Prayers needed for Mary Woodall as she helps take on the responsibility of caring for her grandchildren.
May God continue to bless the efforts of the Westminster/Capital Area YMCA partnership as we distribute breakfast and lunch Monday-Friday to over 100 youth 18 years and younger,
Finally, take a moment to listen for the voice of God. How is God inviting you to seek the shalom of the city in light of the spreading corona virus? Perhaps there is someone who God is calling you to check in on, perhaps a text or call with encouragement for someone who is suffering, perhaps a donation to an organization on the front lines. Listen for God’s invitation and make plans to respond in love and obedience.
The following is a liturgy for hand washing shared by a Facebook friend. It takes about 25 seconds to pray. I encourage you to print it out and put it by your sinks and to pray through it each time you wash your hands. May it be a centering practice for us all during this time:
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
Loving and merciful God, you created each of us in your own image to live in your earth community. Yet, we have not always worked together as the partners you wish us to be.
We have allowed discrimination, violence, and injustice against women throughout our world. We often do not speak up for suffering women who cannot speak up for themselves.
At times we are complicit in keeping women from finding their own voices and using their gifts. O God, forgive us for not being the beloved community you call us to be. Help us to empower women who are invisible, silenced, or forgotten. Transform us to restore and reconcile our relationships with you, ourselves, and with each other so that they reflect your abundant love for us. Fill us with your Spirit and strengthen us to continue our journey and complete the task so shaping the Christian community as one people of God.
In the name of Christ, Amen.
Take a few moments to confess your sins to God and to entrust to God those things that are causing you anxiety.
Assurance of Pardon
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture, Sermon,
Celebrating the Gifts of Women Litany
by
Rev. Elizabeth Alexander
Celebrating the Gifts of Women Litany
Leader: We remember today all the women who have shared their faith in our Holy Scriptures: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth, Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Priscilla, Lydia and others who are named in the Old and New Testament.
All: Thank you God for the gift of women.
Leader: We also remember the many women in our Holy Scriptures who have gone unnamed: the Samaritan woman, the woman who touched the cloak of Jesus, the Syrophoenician woman, and many more.
All: Thank you for women who have remained unnamed and invisible.
Leader: We lift up women around the world and in our nation who through their love and faith help to create your beloved community. Bless all the women in our personal lives who have shared their gifts with us, including our grandmothers, mothers, daughters, teachers, pastors, and friends.
All: Thank you God for their faithfulness and love.
Leader: We pray for women in places where women are so oppressed that they do not even recognize women as worthy of an education. We also pray for women who are denied equal pay for equal work and are discriminated against.
All: O God, open all eyes and hearts to see the value and gifts of women everywhere.
Leader: We pray for women who are doctors, nurses and emergency responders working to protect us from diseases, and women everywhere who spend their lives protecting us from injustice, violence, and ignorance.
All: Thank you God for courageous women, and men who, through service to you, help to create a better world for us all. Give us each the power and courage to share your love abundantly.
Hymn of Response
Prayers of the People
In the form below, you can share your joys and concerns. We’ll compile them and share the list by email so that we can all be praying with each other as a church family. If you have pastoral or practical needs that you’d like to share privately, you can email Pastor Karen at karisuhg@aol.com.
This prayer by Cameron Bellm (shared on Facebook) helps us enter into the posture we ought to have as Jesus followers:
Esta oración de Cameron Bellm (compartida en Facebook) nos ayuda a entrar en la postura que debemos tener como seguidores de Jesús:
May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.
Que nosotrxs, que estamos simplemente incomodados
Recuerdan a aquellos cuyas vidas están en peligro.
May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.
Que nosotrxs que no tenemos factores de riesgo
Recuerdan a los más vulnerables.
May we who have the luxury of working from home
Remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
Que los que tenien el lujo de trabajar desde casa
Recuerdan aquellos que necesitan decidir entre preservar su salud o pagar su renta.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close
Remember those who have no options.
Que nosotrxs que tenemos la flexibilidad de cuidar a
nuestros hij@s cuando cierren sus escuelas.
Recuerdan aquellos que no tienen opciones.
May we who have to cancel our trips
Remember those that have no safe place to go.
Que los que tenenos que cancelar nuestros viajes
Recuerdan aquellos que no tienen un lugar seguro para ir.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market
Remember those who have no margin at all.
Que nosotrxs que estamos perdiendo nuestrx margen de dinero
en el tumulto del mercado económico
Recuerdan aquellos que no tienen margen
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
Remember those who have no home.
Que nosotrxs que nos comodamos con una cuarentena en casa
Recuerdan a los que no tienen hogar.
As fear grips our country,
Let us choose love.
Mientras el miedo se apodera de nuestro país,
Elijamos el amor.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Durante este tiempo cuando no podemos abrazarnos físicamente,
Encontremos formas de ser el abrazo amoroso de Dios a nuestros vecinos.
Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be your 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 debts, as we forgive our debtors
And Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
Amen
Offering
Even as we are unable to gather for our Sunday morning worship services, many of the church’s expenses remain the same, and now more than ever we want to have the resources to bless the community around us. Your gracious donation will ensure that Westminster continues to Seek the Shalom of the Capital City of Trenton and beyond.
Westminster can receive donations via a simple text:
Text to 609-438-8828 the word “Give”
Westminster’s online giving number will respond asking how much you’d like to give, and steps to follow
Westminster can receive donations online:
Westminster can receive donations by check:
Westminster Presbyterian Church
PO Box 3719
Trenton, NJ 08629
Prayer of Dedication
God who poured out and pours out your love for us,
May we too pour our love on you in all we do.
With our money
With our time
With out attitude
With our relationships
With our service
Lord, today we honor Mary’s example of lavish, generous love.
Give us such a love, through Christ our Lord.
Closing Song
Benediction
The Lord be with you
And also with you
La paz de Dios sea con-ti-go
Y tam-bien con-ti-go
Sa-wa-bona
Si-ko-na
Pyeong-hwa
Pyeong-hwa