Worship at Home for
March 7, 2021
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 an online service 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, 3/22, 3/29, 4/5, 4/12, 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17, 5/24, 5/31, 6/7, 6/14, 6/21, 6/28, 7/5, 7/12, 7/19, 7/26, 8/2, 8/9. 8/16, 8/23, 8/31, 9/6, 9/13, 9/20, 9/27, 10/4, 10/11, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29, 12/6, 12/13, 12/20, 12/27, 1/3, 1/10, 1/17, 1/24, 1/31, 2/7, 2/14, 2/21, and 2/28.
Prayers of the People on Zoom at 10:30am!
To join in the Zoom event by online computer,
THE EASIEST WAY
1. Go to www.zoom.com
2. Click on "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter meeting ID#: 629 486 4957 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
or
NOT AS EASY, UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE and A ZOOM ACCOUNT
1. Click on https://princeton.zoom.us/j/6294864957
2. Follow prompts, these can be a bit tricky if you've never used Zoom before.
or
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#: 629 486 4957 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
or
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#: 629 486 4957
NOTE: You do not need to create a Zoom account to sign into a meeting.
Opening Songs
Centering Song
Call to Worship
One: Our lips sing praise and our whole selves rejoice
in the God who makes us free.
All: Out loud but muted
We gather, recognizing that not all human beings
have known this freedom.
One: The divine will was made known in Eden and in Egypt;
in Gettysburg and in Cape Town.
All: Out loud but muted
Born in freedom, redeemed from slavery,
our destiny in Christ is liberty.
Hymns of Adoration
We Celebrate All Women
Tune: The Church’s One Foundation
Seeking the Shalom of the City
ANTIRACIST ADJUSTMENT FOR THE WEEK of 3/7/2021
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” Micah 6:8
Racial reconciliation requires healing all the wounds inflicted by white supremacy: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and financial. One’s power to act is deeply affected by one’s resources. Inequities, centuries in the making, will not be undone without reparations and massive systemic overhaul. Slavery was designed to use unpaid and cheap labor to create economic wealth for the land-owning few. Financial reparations seek to mitigate the multigenerational impact of displacement, stolen labor and land, inadequate education, and discrimination in employment, housing, environmental policy, healthcare and the criminal justice system.
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates offered the following reparations opening statement before a House Committee Hearing:
The church and its institutions are also starting to take some responsibility for their participation in slavery. For example after its slavery audit, Princeton Theological Seminary trustees voted in 2019 to approve reparations in response to its historical involvement in the institution of American slavery. To finance the reparations, the Seminary set aside $27.6 million of its $1 billion endowment for this effort. The following video was also created to highlight the findings of the audit:
ANIMATION: Princeton Seminary and Slavery - GATHER (ptsem.edu)
Reparations have been initiated by local municipalities, states and congregations. White households can also designate a reparations line item in their annual budget for support of local initiatives. The consideration of reparations requires us to swim against the stream of the idea of individual achievement. Reparations force us to face the false gods in our lives. What creative redistribution of shared power could we uncover through these efforts?
As you settle your body after this week’s offering, remember to pay attention to the sensations that arise in your body and to where they are located. Do you feel agitation, constriction, release, pressure, energy, numbness, relaxation, warmth, coolness, softness, tightness? Accept any discomfort and notice when it changes. Stay present with your experiences of ambiguity and uncertainty. No judgment or analysis, just observe and then move your body to release any remaining energy if needed. (“My Grandmother’s Hands “ page 168)
Please feel free to forward any thoughts to me at the email listed below or by requesting to join the private Facebook group Antiracist Adjustments with the following link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1819196591561542/?ref=share .
Blessings as you continue your antiracism spiritual practice. (submitted by Pat Deeney, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton NJ, pjdeeney@hotmail.com)
Call to Confession and Reconciliation
In this season of Lent we reflect on those things
that lead us away from the life we desire.
We focus on whatever we do that oppresses and enslaves others
who, like us, are created in the image of the divine.
And now we seek the grace that frees us to live in faithfulness to holy love. Amen
Assurance of Pardon
The God who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,
is the power that frees us from our sin.
Live in the grace of God’s love
as you walk in the way of Jesus
and surely you shall find mercy at the end of that road. Amen.
Written by: UCC Worship Ways
Prayer for Illumination
Sermon by Rev. Erin Raffety: “Tearing Down and Raising Up”
Hymn of Response
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever
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
Jesus, we hear your voice calling us
To love
To serve
To give
These gifts are our response to your call
Keep our hearts and ears open to continue to listen
Today and every day
Amen
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