# OPEN AND AFFIRMING SUNDAY *Please stand in body or in spirit* --- ### GATHERING SONG *Find a Home Here* ### UNISON WELCOME “No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here” ### ANNOUNCEMENTS ### PASSING OF THE PEACE *Peace be with you* **and with all the people of the world** ### CHIMING OF THE TRINITY & PRELUDE --- ### *CALL TO WORSHIP* _from enfleshed_ Listen! Listen for the voice of God, naming us all: Holy. Beloved. Cherished. Valued. **We believe you delight in us!** Make us people who recognize & proclaim your beauty & goodness in unexpected places. **Surprise us. Challenge us. Transform us.** We trust in you, Holy One, to reveal to us the sacredness of every life, of every way of being, of every physical manifestation of your Spirit. **May it be so!** --- ### *HYMN* *Sing a New World into Being* Mary Louise Bringle | Tune: NETTLETON, Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second 1813 1. Sing a new world into being. Sound a bold and hopeful theme. Find a tune for silent yearnings. Lend your voice and dare to dream: dream a church where all who worship find their lives and loves belong. 2. Sing a new world into being where each gender class and race brings its rainbow gifts and colors to God’s limitless embrace; where the lines that once divided form instead the ties that bind. 3. Sing a new world into being where the homeless find a home, where no children ever hunger but are filled with God’s shalom; where all people work for justice, where all hate and vengeance cease. 4. Sing a new world into being. Join the ancient prophets’ cry for a time of health and plenty when all tears have been wiped dry; when compassion flows like waters, pouring balm for all who grieve. Sing a new world into being. Sing as Christ inspires your song! Sing a new world into being: risk transforming heart and mind! Sing a new world into being: raise the harmonies of peace. Sing a new world into being: live the promise you believe! --- ### *PRAYER OF THE DAY* _from enfleshed_ **May the weary find a soft place to rest. May the privileged and protected escalate acts of solidarity. May the courageous grow in multitudes. May the creatives invite us into the truths we need to feel. May the fruit of righteous labors satisfy. May the lonely find comfort in the night. May the migrating be welcomed with hospitality. May the complicit repent. May the fearful keep showing up, keep wrestling, keep taking steps. May the seeking be found by the Sacred they long for. May the unjust powerful step-down or be taken down. May the mourning not be rushed to heal. May the caretakers have their cups refilled. May the Holy One within each of us rise, rise, rise. Amen.** --- ### SCRIPTURE READING **1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NRSVUE)** For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. --- ### RESPONSIVE READING *"Beatitudes Remix" by Rev. Anna Blaedel* blessed are you who are raging. **blessed are you who are mourning.** blessed are you who feel numb. **blessed are you feel sick. and tired. and sick and tired.** blessed are you who refuse to turn away. **blessed are you who keep breathing deep.** blessed are you who are tending to your own needs. **blessed are you who are tending to the needs of others.** blessed are you who have been calling. **blessed are you who have been organizing.** blessed are you who have been testifying. **blessed are you who have been hearing.** blessed are you who have been resisting. **blessed are you who feel broken open beyond repair.** blessed are you who are raw beyond words. **blessed are you who are working hotlines and crisis care centers and bearing witness to the forces of violence and trauma unleashed and unloosed.** blessed are you who are marching. **blessed are you who are weeping.** blessed are you who know that divinity resides in despised, abused, violated flesh. **blessed are you who know deep in your bones that you are good. and beautiful. and sacred. and worthy. and believed. and held. and capable of healing beyond your wildest imagination.** blessed are you who remind others that they are good. and beautiful. and sacred. and worthy. and believed. and held. and capable of healing beyond their wildest imagination. **blessed are we when we dare to dream of a world without sexual violence, without white supremacy, without misogyny, without police brutality, without anti-trans and anti-queer violence.** blessed are we when we stay tender. **blessed are we when we stay fierce.** blessed are we when we dare to imagine repair, and transformation. **blessed are we when we labor together to make it so.** --- ### CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Roxanne Davenport *Children’s Corner will be offered following the Children’s Message* ### SCRIPTURE READING **Ruth 1:1-18 (NRSVUE)** In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion also died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband. Then she started to return with her daughters-in-law from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the Lord had considered his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back each of you to your mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find security, each of you in the house of her husband!" Then she kissed them, and they wept aloud. They said to her, "No, we will return with you to your people." But Naomi said, "Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me, even if I should have a husband tonight and bear sons, would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, it has been far more bitter for me than for you, because the hand of the Lord has turned against me!" Then they wept aloud again. Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her. So she said, "See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law." But Ruth said, "Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!" When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. --- ### SERMON Rev. Caroline E. Saxton ### *HYMN* *Love Astounding* Jeannette M. Lindholm | Tune: HOLY MANNA, William Moore, Columbian Harmony 1825 1. Love astounding, Love confounding, limits fearful minds impose. Love renewing, Love pursuing every heart until it knows Love’s transforming, healing goodness, Love’s abiding gentle grace, Love’s endurance, Love’s assurance, Love’s consoling strong embrace. 2. Love receiving, Love believing, we rejoice with thanks and song, faith regaining, hope proclaiming; Love has taught us, we belong safe within Love’s tender keeping, safe from fear’s persistent call. Love defending, Love unending, Love of God enfolding all. --- ### REAFFIRMATION OF ST. JOHN’S UCC COVENANT OF WELCOME AND AFFIRMATION ### SHARING OF JOYS AND CONCERNS ### PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE LORD’S PRAYER (DEBTS) --- ### INVITATION TO GIVING ### OFFERTORY ### *OFFERTORY RESPONSE* (words are on the screen) ### *PRAYER OF DEDICATION* _from enfleshed_ **God, in so many ways we are taught that we must be self-reliant, independent, in need of no one. But you, our Creator, fashioned us as one creation with many parts, connected intimately. Bless these gifts that they might be put to work for justice until we heal everything that breaches our connection with one another—until isolation is no longer and our sacred interconnected is restored. Amen.** --- ### *HYMN* *O God, In Your Love* ST. DENIO 11.11.11.11 ("Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise") O God, in your love, you have made us unique: In gifts and traditions, in service we seek, In race and in culture and family design Diverse are the branches in Jesus the Vine. Lord Jesus, you came to bring God's love on earth; You welcomed the outcasts and showed us our worth. You reached out to people whom others despised You said all are precious in God's loving eyes. O Christ, with your welcome your church feels unease: We stand at closed doors tightly holding the keys. Yet this is your body, the church that you love O Lord, do you weep for your church from above? So may your church welcome in loving accord All people who want to serve Jesus our Lord. O Spirit, unite us in Jesus the Son In mission and ministry, God, make us one. Biblical References: John 15:5; Luke 15; Matthew 7:7-11; 1 Corinthians 12:12-26; John 17:21-22 Tune: Traditional Welsh hymn, in John Robert’s *Caniadau y Cyssegr* (Songs of the Sanctuary), 1839 Text: Copyright © 1998 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) New Hymns: [www.carolynshymns.com](http://www.carolynshymns.com/) --- ### *COMMISSION & BENEDICTION* ### POSTLUDE (seated) *Join us a time of fellowship after worship!* --- **Birthdays this week:** 6/26 Kay Hughes; 6/29 Eleanor Collier and Susan Weller --- | **Worship Participants:** | | |-------------------------------|-------------------------| | Pastor | Rev. Caroline E. Saxton | | Organist | Barbara Motichka | | Deacon in Charge | Tena Keeney | | Lector | Aaron Hartman | | Children’s Corner | Melinda and Scot Orndorff| | Media Coordinators | Calvin Frantz | | Bulletin cover | Edd Scheer | --- **The Flowers at the Foot of the Cross** are given in loving memory of Pat Saxton by her children David and Caroline. --- ### St. John’s Vision We are called to love, to learn, to worship and to witness in Christ as a congregation that welcomes everyone, and seeks service that will advance God’s realm on earth. ### St. John’s Mission To grow in love of God and neighbor --- **Worship Resources:** _enfleshed: spiritual nourishment for collective liberation_ --- ## NEWS IN THE PEWS June 22, 2025 The Rev. Caroline E. Saxton, [email protected] (641) 260-1868 (cell) Tonya Schwartz, Office Administrator, [email protected] (717) 263-8593 (office) Gary Crum, Music Director | Barbara Motichka, Organist Roxanne Davenport, Director of Children & Youth The Rev. Stephen W. Hoffman, Pastor Emeritus ### THIS WEEK AT ST. JOHN’S **TODAY:** Bible Study on the Book of Acts, 8 pm, Zoom (link in Friday e-blast) **Monday, June 23** 10:00 am Meditation Group – Parlor Room 104 1:30 pm How We Learn to be Brave Book Study – Conference Room 111 7:00 pm Boy Scouts – Fellowship Hall **Tuesday, June 24** 10:00 am Summer Singers Rehearsal – Fellowship Hall 5:30 pm Yoga – Room 202 **Wednesday, June 25** 6:30 pm Council Meeting – Conference Room 111 **Sunday, June 29** 8:45 am Wired Word Church School Class – Room 116 10:00 am Sunday Service – Sanctuary 11:00 am VBS Workday– Fellowship Hall **Bible and a Beer** is an opportunity to talk about our faith in public. Join us on the 3rd Monday of the month at the Trojan Diner at 6:30 pm. We will NOT meet in July. Our next gathering will be Monday, August 18. **Beginners Pickleball** Please contact the church office if you are interested in taking some beginner lessons. We have an indoor court set up in Fellowship Hall. **Sunday Night Bible Study** Join Pastor Caroline on Sunday evenings at **8 pm via Zoom** for a Bible study on the book of Acts. Our session on **June 22** will focus on Acts Chapter 2. Zoom Meeting ID: 836 0593 5961 and Passcode 277938. A hyperlink for this opportunity is included in the weekly e-blast. Participants are encouraged to read from a variety of translations. Note: this study will continue with lay leadership while Pastor Caroline is on sabbatical. **Summer Special Music** A sign up is posted on the choir room door for those who would like to help provide special music in worship this summer. Contact Gary Crum to learn more. --- ### Pastor Caroline’s Sabbatical Pastor Caroline will be taking six weeks of sabbatical beginning Monday, June 30. Rev. Peter Emig, retired UCC pastor, will be providing pastoral care coverage for emergencies and providing pulpit supply. Jerry Thomason and Ernie Welch will lead worship on July 20. More information about her plans for study, rest, and renewal can be found in the July/August edition of the Spirit. She will resume her pastoral duties on Monday, August 11. ### Support for Greg and Cindy St. Clair Many of you have asked how we can support Greg and Cindy as they navigate this challenging time after an electrical fire severely damaged their home. Gift cards to restaurants (they like Olive Garden and Texas Roadhouse; other fast casual options are good too); gift cards to Walmart for food or incidentals; and cards of encouragement would be appreciated. Cards and gift cards can be dropped off in the church office for Greg or Cindy to pick up at their convenience. A basket is on the counter in the office. Thank you for being a community of faith that works to encourage and build each other up. ### June First Fruits will go to support the Fayetteville Food Pantry. The pantry serves food insecure individuals and families in the Brownsville, Fayetteville, North Mont Alto, and South Mountain communities. The food is available to anyone who has a need; there are no eligibility requirements. Thank you for helping to be the hands and feet of Jesus, who feeds empty bellies and meets both physical and spiritual needs. ### Monday Afternoon Book Study Our current selection is “How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith” by Mariann Edgar Budde. We will be reading chapter six “The Inevitable Letdown” and chapter seven “The Hidden Virtue of Perseverance” (plus the epilogue) on Monday, **June 23** at 1:30 pm. The Monday afternoon study will **pause** while Pastor Caroline is on sabbatical. Our next book will be chosen after she returns in August. ### Vacation Bible School will be held July 20-24, 6-8:15 pm. We are still in need of preschool crew leaders (all materials provided), as well as donations of shoeboxes and uncut pans of rice krispy treats, (50) 3-ring ½ inch binders with the font clear sleeve – any colors. VBS work dates are June 29 and July 13 after worship; please RSVP to Roxanne for the lunch count. Many hands make light work! Let’s get ready for a Road Trip! ### Join us for Life Talk What's on your mind? Something that concerns or worries you? Do you need to vent? Just want to talk with other adults for a bit? Don't want to share in front of the entire congregation? Or you don't think it really needs to be a prayer request? Grab your snack and coffee, and meet in the parlor after services on Sunday mornings. Everyone is welcome. ### Birthday Balloons All are invited to share in a special coffee hour the last Sunday of the month to honor all who celebrated a birthday that month. June birthdays will be honored on Sunday, **June 29**. We hope you’ll join us! ### May/June Upper Room devotionals are currently available at the Welcome Center. The July/August edition has not yet arrived. We suggest a donation of $1 for small print/$2 for large print copies. If you would like to have a copy mailed to you, please contact the church office.