# St. John's United Church of Christ — September 27, 2026 _Joseph in Prison_ Bulletin cover: "Story of Joseph" © Estate of John August Swanson, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library. ## Liturgical Context ### Christian Liturgical Calendar - **Season:** Season after Pentecost (Ordinary Time) - **Sunday:** Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21) - **RCL year:** Year A (Matthew) - **Color:** Green - **Season of Creation:** Final week of the ecumenical Season of Creation (September 1 – October 4, Feast of Francis of Assisi) - **Commemorations this week:** Vincent de Paul (September 27); Michael and All Angels (September 29); Jerome (September 30); Francis of Assisi (October 4) - **Next Sunday:** World Communion Sunday (October 4) ### Jewish Calendar - **Hebrew date:** 16 Tishrei 5787 - **Observance:** Second day of Sukkot (Yom Tov in the diaspora); Sukkot began at sundown Friday, September 25 - **This week:** Chol HaMoed Sukkot (September 28 – October 1); Hoshana Rabbah (October 2); Shemini Atzeret (October 3); Simchat Torah (October 4, diaspora) - **Resonance:** Sukkot remembers Israel's wilderness dependence on God in temporary shelters. Today's Joseph story also turns on God's presence in a place of confinement and instability. ### Ecumenical & Global Observances - Season of Creation (September 1 – October 4) - World Communion Sunday: October 4 - CROP Hunger Walk (Church World Service), Chambersburg: October 18 ### Narrative Lectionary (What St. John's Is Following) - **NL103 – Joseph in Prison** (Year 1 – Matthew, 2026–27) - **Preaching text:** Genesis 39:1-23 — Joseph is unjustly imprisoned, yet God is present with him there - **NL accompanying reading:** Matthew 5:11-12 ("Blessed are you when people revile you") - **St. John's adaptation:** Expanded the gospel to the full Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) and added Psalm 1 as the responsive reading - **Last week:** NL102 – Call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-9) - **Next week:** NL104 – Rescue at the Sea (Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29), with Matthew 2:13-15 ### Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary) Proper 21, Year A — not used in today's service; listed for comparison. - **Hebrew Bible (semicontinuous):** Exodus 17:1-7 — Water from the rock at Massah and Meribah - **Psalm (semicontinuous):** Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16 - **Hebrew Bible (complementary):** Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32 — Each person accountable; "turn, then, and live" - **Psalm (complementary):** Psalm 25:1-9 - **Epistle:** Philippians 2:1-13 — The Christ Hymn - **Gospel:** Matthew 21:23-32 — Authority questioned; parable of the two sons ### Connection to Today's Message - **"The LORD was with Joseph"** works as a refrain in Genesis 39 (vv. 2, 3, 21, 23). It brackets both the rise in Potiphar's house and the fall into prison. Presence does not prevent the injustice. - **Psalm 1 ↔ Genesis 39:** Psalm 1 promises the one rooted in God that "everything they do will prosper." Genesis 39 says the LORD made all Joseph did prosper (vv. 3, 23), even in prison. - **Beatitudes ↔ false accusation:** Matthew 5:11 blesses those falsely accused on Jesus' account. Joseph is falsely accused by Potiphar's wife. - **"Happy" as the thread:** The Call to Worship ("Happy are we…") and The Inclusive Bible's Psalm 1 ("Happiness comes to…") both render the _ashrei/makarios_ blessing formula as "happy/happiness." - **Hymn #332, v. 4:** "He sets the prisoner free" lands squarely on a prison text. - **Hymn #590:** "All other ground is sinking sand" echoes the house on rock vs. sand that closes the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:24-27). - **Congregational life:** The Franklin Together–Franklin County Reentry Coalition donation drive and Fall First Fruits both appear in this week's announcements. The prison theme has a local, lived counterpart. - **Translation watch (Psalm 1, The Inclusive Bible):** "Reject the path of violence," "criminals," and "those who do justice" (v. 6) are interpretive renderings. The Hebrew reads more like "the counsel of the wicked," "the way of sinners," and "the LORD knows the way of the righteous." Worth comparing with NRSVue during the week. ## Order of Worship _* Please stand in body or in spirit_ ### Gathering #### Gathering Song "This is the Day" _Lyrics omitted — copyrighted contemporary song._ #### Unison Welcome "No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here" #### Announcements #### Passing of the Peace **Leader:** The peace of Christ be with you. **People:** And also with you. #### Chiming of the Trinity #### Prelude #### \*Call to Worship _Written by Katherine Hawker, posted on Liturgies Outside_ **Leader:** Happy are we **People:** when our treasures cannot be quantified. **Leader:** Happy are we **People:** when our knowledge is tempered by mystery. **Leader:** Happy are we **People:** when our pain is held in the balm of love. **Leader:** Happy are we **People:** when our delight comes from beyond ourselves. #### \*Hymn #332 "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" - **Words:** Charles Wesley, 1739 (Ps. 100 as printed) - **Music:** Carl G. Gläser; arr. Lowell Mason, 1839 - **Tune:** AZMON (CM) - **Hymnal note:** Higher key, No. 209; lower key, No. 520 - **Status:** Public domain 1. O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace. 2. My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name. 3. Jesus, the name that calms my fears, that bids my sorrows cease; 'tis music in the sinner's ears; 'tis life and health and peace. 4. He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; His blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me. 5. He speaks, and listening to His voice, new life the dead receive; the mournful, broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe. 6. To God all glory, praise, and love be ever, ever given by saints below and saints above, the church in earth and heaven. #### Call to Confession Let us confess our sins before God and one another. #### Prayer of Confession **Gracious God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, you have promised to receive us when we come to you. We confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed. We have disobeyed your law. We have not loved you or our neighbors as we should. Forgive us, O God, and grant that we may live and serve you in newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.** #### Kyrie Hymnal Companion C-4 #### Assurance of Pardon _From the UCC Book of Worship_ God hears the confession of our hearts and lips. Through Jesus Christ we are forgiven all our sins, and by the Holy Spirit we are empowered for new life. **We believe the good news of Jesus Christ. Amen.** #### \*Glory Be to the Father #704 - **Status:** Traditional doxology text (Gloria Patri); public domain Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen. _Verify wording against #704 — some hymnals print an inclusive-language version._ ### Word #### Scripture Reading Matthew 5:1-12 — see [[#Scripture and Sermon]] #### Responsive Reading Psalm 1 (The Inclusive Bible) — see [[#Responsive Reading]] #### Anthem #### Children's Message Roxanne Davenport _Children's Corner will be offered following the Children's Message._ #### Scripture Reading Genesis 39:1-23 — see [[#Scripture Reading]] #### Sermon Rev. Caroline E. Saxton — see [[#Sermon]] ### Response #### Nicene Creed: An Affirmation of Faith Hymnal Companion C-10 #### Sharing of Joys and Concerns _For personal prayer use._ - #### Prayers of the People and the Lord's Prayer (Debts) Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy 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 thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. #### Invitation to Giving #### Offertory #### \*Offertory Response #706 "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow" - **Words:** Thomas Ken, 1674 - **Tune:** OLD HUNDREDTH (LM) - **Status:** Public domain Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. _Verify wording against #706 — some hymnals print an inclusive-language version._ #### \*Prayer of Dedication _From Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship_ **Holy One, whose heart abounds with gifts, receive this offering as sign of our intention to live surrounded by your mercy, inspired by your Spirit, open to the joy of your presence, hospitable to one another, and generous toward your world. Amen.** ### Sending #### \*Hymn #590 "The Solid Rock" - **Words:** Edward Mote, 1834 - **Music:** William B. Bradbury, 1863 - **Tune:** SOLID ROCK (LM with refrain); alternate tune MELITA - **Status:** Public domain 1. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. _Refrain:_ On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. 2. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. _Refrain_ 3. His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood; when all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. _Refrain_ 4. When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. _Refrain_ #### \*Commission & Benediction #### Postlude (seated) _Join us in the Fellowship Hall for our annual Chili Cook Off!_ ## Scripture and Sermon ### Scripture Reading Genesis 39:1-23 ![[Genesis 39#1]] ![[Genesis 39#2]] ![[Genesis 39#3]] ![[Genesis 39#4]] ![[Genesis 39#5]] ![[Genesis 39#6]] ![[Genesis 39#7]] ![[Genesis 39#8]] ![[Genesis 39#9]] ![[Genesis 39#10]] ![[Genesis 39#11]] ![[Genesis 39#12]] ![[Genesis 39#13]] ![[Genesis 39#14]] ![[Genesis 39#15]] ![[Genesis 39#16]] ![[Genesis 39#17]] ![[Genesis 39#18]] ![[Genesis 39#19]] ![[Genesis 39#20]] ![[Genesis 39#21]] ![[Genesis 39#22]] ![[Genesis 39#23]] ### Additional Scripture Matthew 5:1-12 ![[Matthew 5#1]] ![[Matthew 5#2]] ![[Matthew 5#3]] ![[Matthew 5#4]] ![[Matthew 5#5]] ![[Matthew 5#6]] ![[Matthew 5#7]] ![[Matthew 5#8]] ![[Matthew 5#9]] ![[Matthew 5#10]] ![[Matthew 5#11]] ![[Matthew 5#12]] ### Responsive Reading Psalm 1 (The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation) **Leader:** Happiness comes to those who reject the path of violence, who refuse to associate with criminals or even to sit with people who belittle others. **People:** Happiness comes to those who delight in the Law of YHWH and meditate on it day and night. **Leader:** They're like trees planted by flowing water – they bear fruit in every season, and their leaves never wither: everything they do will prosper. **People:** But not wrongdoers! They're like chaff that the wind blows away. **Leader:** They won't have a taproot to anchor them when judgment comes, nor will corrupt individuals be given a place at the Gathering of the Just. **People:** YHWH watches over the steps of those who do justice; but those on a path of violence and injustice will find themselves irretrievably lost. #### Psalm 1 (Bible Linker) ![[Psalm 1#1]] ![[Psalm 1#2]] ![[Psalm 1#3]] ![[Psalm 1#4]] ![[Psalm 1#5]] ![[Psalm 1#6]] ### Children's Message Roxanne Davenport #### 📝 Notes - ⏱️ **Length:** About 5.5 minutes (00:00:16–00:05:51) - 🎤 **Speaker:** Speaker 1. The bulletin lists Roxanne Davenport; confirm on video. - 🧩 **Object lesson:** A sign reading `GODISNOWHERE`. A child first reads "God is nowhere." The leader then reveals "God is now here." - 📖 **Story recap:** Favorite son and the many-colored coat → pit → sold → Potiphar → false accusation → prison - Callback to last spring's bell choir telling of the Joseph story - 🔁 **Refrain:** "God is now here." - ⛪ **Sanctuary tour:** Altar and communion elements, the Bible, the baptismal font, the lectern, and "every one of these people" - 🚪 **Sending:** "When you leave these doors, God goes with you." - 🙏 **Closing prayer:** God is near even when we don't feel it; asks for pure hearts and strong faith > [!warning] Tape verification needed > - **00:01:17** "God is made." Almost certainly "God is now here." Confirm. > - **00:01:26** "Pastor Carolyn" = Rev. Caroline E. Saxton (transcription spelling) > - **00:03:13** "In the light of Christ" — likely the Christ candle on the altar. Confirm. > - **00:03:20** "God is not that there is a Bible." Garbled. Probably "God is in the Bible" or similar. > - **00:05:09–00:05:14** "Twenty-five / Twenty-four / Thirty." Unintelligible. Possibly children's side talk. > - **00:05:32** "Faith" attributed to Speaker 2. Could be a child finishing the prayer line, or a speaker-label error. > - **00:05:50** "Your sons may be." Likely a garbled closing, such as "In your Son's name we pray." > - **Speaker labels:** Confirm Speaker 1 is Roxanne and Speaker 2 is a child (or children). #### 🔍 Companion Analysis (non-scored) ##### 🎯 Summary - **Central message:** God stays present in hard times, as with Joseph. Faith means trusting that presence. - **Focus:** Mostly personal and individual. The communal note comes only in "God is in every one of these people." - **Tie to text:** Strong tie to the Genesis 39 refrain ("the LORD was with Joseph") - **Gaps:** No link to Matthew 5:11-12 or Psalm 1, the day's other readings ##### 🗣️ Preaching Style - **Blend:** Object lesson → narrative recap → topical application → sanctuary tour - **Movement:** Opens inductively, as the kids discover the wordplay. Then it turns deductive, stating the lesson. - **Fit:** Well suited to elementary-age readers ##### 📚 Storytelling and Illustration - ✅ **Accurate recap:** The high-level sequence matches Genesis 37 and 39. - ⚠️ **"A traveling man":** Genesis 37:25-28, 36 describes a caravan of Ishmaelite/Midianite traders. It's a minor simplification. - ✅ **Age-appropriate omission:** Potiphar's wife goes unnamed, and the "something he didn't do" framing works for children. - ⚠️ **Softened framing:** "Sold" is softened. Joseph is an enslaved, trafficked foreigner, and the text treats that seriously. - ✅ **Continuity:** The bell choir callback builds a shared memory of the story. ##### 🎙️ Intonation and Delivery - **Limits:** A transcript can't show tone. Check the video. - **Patience:** The 16-second gap (00:00:33–00:00:49) suggests she waited for the kids to work it out rather than rushing to the answer. - **Gestures:** "Here, here, here, here" implies pointing or movement. - **Retention:** The repeated refrain aids memory. ##### 🧱 Content Structure - **Arc:** Hook → story → application → tour → sending → prayer. The structure is clear. - **Weak spot:** The glass-half-full detour (00:04:50) muddies the landing right before the close. ##### 🤝 Engagement and Application - ✅ **Strongest moment:** A child physically works the sign ("If I do this, what does it say?"). Discovery belongs to the kids. - ⚠️ **Shift to monologue:** After 00:01:26, it becomes a monologue with no further child input. - ✅ **Movement:** The sanctuary tour adds a kinesthetic, spatial element. - ✅ **Honesty:** "We are all going to have bad things happen to us" treats children as people who already know hardship. - ⚠️ **Literacy gate:** The object lesson depends on reading. Pre-readers (the Godly Play age group, 3–K) can't access the sign. ##### 📖 Scripture Handling - **Referenced:** - Genesis 37 (implied) - Genesis 39 - Baptism allusions ("sins washed away," "rebirth"), echoing John 3:5, Titus 3:5, and Acts 22:16 (implied, not cited) - 🚩 **Interpolation (00:02:20):** "The Bible tells us that he knew that God was with him." - Genesis 39 never narrates Joseph's awareness. - The _narrator_ says the LORD was with Joseph ([[Genesis 39#2]], [[Genesis 39#3]], [[Genesis 39#21]], [[Genesis 39#23]]). - Potiphar _saw_ it ([[Genesis 39#3]]). - Joseph names God once, in refusing sin ([[Genesis 39#9]]). - **Why it matters:** The text centers God's action. The message shifts the weight to Joseph's inner faith, and that shift sets up the later "it depends on you" and "if we just have faith." - ✅ **"Those around him saw good things":** Accurate ([[Genesis 39#3]], [[Genesis 39#21]], [[Genesis 39#22]], [[Genesis 39#23]]) - ⚠️ **Imported retrospect:** The prayer's "there is a reason" borrows Joseph's hindsight from [[Genesis 45#5]] and [[Genesis 50#20]]. - In chapters 39–40, Joseph knows no reason. - The cupbearer forgets him ([[Genesis 40#23]]), and he waits two more years ([[Genesis 41#1]]). - ⚠️ **Missed text:** The false accusation connects directly to [[Matthew 5#11]] ("utter all kinds of evil against you falsely"). It went unused. ##### 🧠 Logical Reasoning 1. **False dilemma, paired with "It depends on you"** (00:04:39–00:04:50) - _Quote:_ "You can say God is nowhere. You can say God is now here… It depends on you." - _Issue:_ The wordplay works fine as a device. Adding "it depends on you" makes God's presence sound like a matter of perception. - _Fix:_ "God is here whether we see it or not. Faith helps us notice." 2. **False analogy** (00:04:50) - _Quote:_ "It's like the glass is half full or half empty." - _Issue:_ Optimism is an attitude about outcomes. She had just said, "the outcome may not be what you expect." So the analogy undercuts her own best line. 3. **Internal inconsistency** (00:04:06 vs. 00:05:15) - _Contrast:_ "God is with us all the time" vs. "you will get us through whatever comes our way _if we just_ [have] faith and let you do your work" - _Issue:_ Unconditional presence turns into conditional deliverance. 4. **Unfalsifiable appeal to mystery** (00:05:33) - _Quote:_ "There is a reason, and only you know that reason." - _Issue:_ This closes the question instead of holding it. A child in a hard situation may hear that their suffering was intended. 5. **Unwarranted assumption / eisegesis** (00:02:20) - _Issue:_ Joseph's inner knowing is attributed to "the Bible" (see Scripture Handling). - ✅ **Strong reasoning:** Honest premise ("bad things happen… part of life") plus a caveat ("outcome may not be what you expect"). Together they guard against a prosperity reading of [[Genesis 39#23]] and [[Psalm 1#3]]. ##### 📚 References - No scholars or sources cited - `GODISNOWHERE` is a widely circulated folk sermon illustration. Its origin is unverified. ##### 💬 Quotes and Illustrative Stories - "God is now here. God was here. God is here. God will always be with us." - "And the outcome may not be what you expect." ← strongest line theologically - "When you leave these doors, God goes with you." - "God is out there in every one of these people." ##### 📣 Calls to Action - **Invitation:** "Open our eyes to see." It's personal and perceptual only. - **No communal or systemic step.** - **Missed bridges:** - Joseph was falsely imprisoned. - The Franklin Together–Franklin County Reentry Coalition donation box sits in the lobby, and the youth are walking in the CROP Hunger Walk. - "Bring one item for someone coming home from prison" would have linked the story to a concrete act. - Fairness is a native moral category for kids, but the injustice angle went unused. ##### ⚖️ Style Effectiveness - **Served:** Visual readers, auditory learners (the refrain), and kinesthetic learners (the tour) - **Underserved:** Pre-readers and interpersonal learners after the opening - **Alternatives:** - **Godly Play–style wondering:** "I wonder where Joseph felt God in the prison?" - **Justice framing:** "Was it fair what happened to Joseph? Where was God?" - **Beatitude bridge:** "Jesus said people treated unfairly are blessed — why?" ##### 🧬 Hermeneutical Genealogy - ⛪ **Sanctuary tour as Word-and-Sacrament presence:** - Altar, font, and lectern appear as places of presence, and the font is where "sins are washed away, and new life, rebirth is given." - That reads close to Mercersburg Theology (John Williamson Nevin and Philip Schaff). That high-sacramental German Reformed stream arose in Mercersburg, Franklin County, and flows into the E&R side of the UCC. - _Inference:_ Whether the leader drew on it intentionally is unknown. - 🧭 **"There is a reason":** - Popular providentialism. Its confessional root in this congregation's own stream is the Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 27–28, which says things come "not by chance" but from God's fatherly hand. - Heidelberg ties providence to trust and God's love, not to a hidden rationale behind each hardship. The pop form flattens it. - 🌤️ **"Glass half full / it depends on you":** - Echoes the American positive-thinking lineage (New Thought → Norman Vincent Peale). - _Inference:_ This is a possible cultural echo, not a claimed source. - 🪧 **`GODISNOWHERE`:** - Folk evangelical illustration. Its provenance is unverified and flagged for research. ##### 🔄 Lateral Transfer Risk Audit - **Overall risk:** Low. There are no authority claims, fear appeals, or in-group/out-group lines. - **Watch items:** - **"If we just [have] faith":** Treats faith as the mechanism that unlocks deliverance. - **"It depends on you":** Puts responsibility on the child's perception. - **Why they matter:** In high-control settings, these same moves become shame levers ("you didn't feel God because your faith is weak"). Here they're mild and unintended, but worth naming in the formation pipeline. ##### 🔗 Formation Pipeline Check - [x] Does the sermon treat God's presence as unconditional, or also as contingent on faith? → **Unconditional**; it corrects the children's message (see Sermon → Formation Pipeline) - [x] Does the sermon take up the injustice and false-accusation angle the children's message left aside? → **Yes, centrally** - [x] Does anyone connect Joseph to the Reentry Coalition drive? → **No** - [ ] Compare with Godly Play (3–K) and SPARK! (1–5) treatment if curricula are available ### Sermon Rev. Caroline E. Saxton #### 📝 Sermon Notes > [!warning] Tape verification needed > - **Speaker labels are unreliable.** Speaker 2 lines ("The text tells us when Joseph…", "Came to me.", "But it comes pretty close.", "An immigrant.") are probably Speaker 1. Confirm who read the lesson. The bulletin lists Henry Hopper as lector. > - **00:01:54** "How could I do? This terrible thing." Transcription break. CEB reads "How could I do this terrible thing and sin against God?" > - **00:05:48** "seventeen twenty-seven chapters later" means Genesis 12 → 39, 27 chapters. > - **00:07:21** "Tremont Playhouse" is likely **Totem Pole Playhouse** (Fayetteville, PA). > - **00:08:10** "Scholar Elly Kesselman" is almost certainly **Elna K. Solvang** (Concordia College), the author of the 2022 Working Preacher NL commentary on Genesis 39. Confirm whether the transcript garbled the name or the preacher did. > - **00:09:38** "God is nowhere, and God sustains us in hope" is almost certainly **"God is now here."** If confirmed, the sermon deliberately picks up the children's message refrain. > - **00:10:05** "All Joseph has power over everything in the household except." Garbled. Likely "Joseph has power over everything in the household except her." > - **00:15:30–00:15:59** A 29-second gap follows "listen and lead with love." Check whether content is missing. ##### 📖 Reading - **Text:** Genesis 39:1-23, read in the **Common English Bible** (CEB). Markers include "Sleep with me," "the jail's commander," and "remained loyal to him" for _ḥesed_. - **Content warning:** Given before the reading for descriptions of sexual harassment. The Children's Corner had already left, per the bulletin. - **Prayer for illumination:** "Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us" (Daniel Iverson, 1926) + Psalm 19:14, adapted to the plural ("all our hearts") ##### 🚪 Introduction - **Hook:** The "Man or Bear" TikTok (April 2024), where seven of eight women chose the bear - **Claimed reason:** "We interrogate victims… and let the perpetrators… off." By contrast, we believe people attacked by animals. - **Framing:** Scripture contains abuse stories, and "victims are not only female." - **Genre label:** "This might not be a text of terror… but it comes pretty close." - **Thesis:** "God sustains us in hope." ##### 🧭 Main Points ###### Point 1: How we got here (Genesis 12 → 37) - Abraham and Sarah → Isaac → Jacob and Esau → Laban → twelve sons → the favorite - The brothers plan to kill Joseph, then sell him; he is "trafficked into Egypt by the Ishmaelites." - Pop-culture bridge: _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_, the Donny Osmond film, and a local production. The song "Potiphar" covers Genesis 39. ###### Point 2: This is power, not seduction - "The Lord was with Joseph," and the Egyptian's household was blessed because of him (vv. 3, 5). - Potiphar's wife is "not a seductress… This is about power. This is sexual harassment." She "creates a hostile work environment." - Joseph's vulnerability: foreigner, trafficked, "an immigrant," "technically a slave," a possession - Her two accounts: - To the household, she stresses "Hebrew" and danger "to us." - To her husband, she frames Joseph as transgressing the servant-master order. - "She benefits from a social system in which truth and all persons are not weighted equally." - "Joseph doesn't get a chance to tell his side… He is the actual victim and is silenced." ###### Point 3: God present in, not preventing, suffering - "God does not keep the suffering from happening. God is present in the suffering… and God does not leave Joseph there." - "Joseph does not fall into despair. He knows who he is and trusts in God's presence." - "I don't believe that all suffering is redemptive… not meant to stay in situations of harm." - God's steadfast love endures in all circumstances. ###### Point 4: The rest of the story - Joseph spends "two years" in prison and "loses his freedom yet keeps his integrity." - He rises in Pharaoh's household, feeds people in the famine, and reconciles with his brothers and father. ###### Point 5: Back to the bear - "Not every situation… ends so neatly." - Victims are "blamed, shamed, silenced, dismissed, and not believed"; perpetrators go unaccountable. #churchtoo - False accusations are "relatively rare" but have been deadly: Emmett Till, the Central Park Five, and wrongful incarceration. - "We have work to do." "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Partners in co-creating a just world; "beloved community"; the reign of mercy, peace, and justice - "God is present in the places of separation, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, and despair." - **Sending:** "May we listen and lead with love, understanding, and care." ##### 🎭 Illustrations/Stories - Man or Bear TikTok debate (2024) - _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_: the 1999 Donny Osmond film, a local staging, and the song "Potiphar" - #churchtoo movement - Emmett Till (1955) - Central Park Five (1989; exonerated 2002) - U.S. wrongful incarceration: false evidence, coerced confessions, procedural malfeasance ##### 🔗 Scripture Connections - Genesis 12 (call of Abram), 25–27 (Jacob and Esau), 29 (Leah and Rachel), 37 (sale of Joseph), 39 (text), 40–41 (prison and elevation, implied), 42–46 (reconciliation, implied) - [[Genesis 39#3]], [[Genesis 39#5]] — named explicitly - [[Romans 12#21]] — quoted, unattributed - [[Psalm 19#14]] — prayer for illumination - **Not used:** [[Matthew 5#10]], [[Matthew 5#11]], and [[Psalm 1#3]], the day's other readings ##### 💬 Key Quotes - "God does not keep the suffering from happening. God is present in the suffering." - "I don't believe that all suffering is redemptive." - "He is the actual victim and is silenced." - "She benefits from a social system in which truth and all persons are not weighted equally." - "He loses his freedom yet keeps his integrity." - "God is present in the places of separation, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, and despair." - "God sustains us in hope." (refrain, ~5×) #### 📊 Sermon Analysis > [!info] Rubric count > The church-notes skill says "13 sections × 5 = 65" but lists only **12** scored sections. I scored the 12 and totaled out of **60**. If there's a 13th category, tell me and I'll add it. ##### 🎯 Sermon Summary - **Central message:** God does not prevent suffering but is present in it and sustains us in hope. The church must believe victims and reckon with false accusation. - **Personal/communal:** Both. Personal hope, plus communal work toward justice. - **Thematic focus:** Tightly on Genesis 39. The NL partner reading (Matthew 5:11-12) and Psalm 1 go unused. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 🗣️ Preaching Style Assessment - **Primary:** Narrative + Prophetic - **Secondary:** Topical (the Man or Bear frame) and Biographical (Joseph) - **Movement:** Deductive. The thesis is stated at 00:05:41, then developed. - **Fit:** Appropriate for the text and for a UCC congregation with an active justice agenda. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 📚 Storytelling and Illustration - ✅ **Bookend:** Opening and closing with Man or Bear gives the sermon shape. - ✅ **Male victims:** Names them explicitly ("victims are not only female"). - ✅ **Racialized false accusation:** Till and the Central Park Five echo Potiphar's wife's use of "Hebrew." - ✅ **Local anchor:** The playhouse production - ⚠️ **No survivor voice:** The sermon talks about victims without hearing from one. - ⚠️ **Long recap:** The Genesis 12–37 recap (~1.5 min) plus the musical detour delay the exegesis. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 🎙️ Intonation and Delivery - A transcript can't show tone. This is a **provisional score**; check the livestream. - ✅ **Pastoral care:** The content warning is trauma-informed. - ✅ **Pacing:** Short, declarative sentences in the theological core (00:11:36–00:12:42) - **Score: 3/5 (provisional)** ##### 🧱 Content Structure - **Arc:** Hook → thesis → backstory → exegesis → theology of suffering → resolution → hook revisited → application → sending - ✅ **Retention:** Refrain repeated (~5×); clear return to the opening frame - ⚠️ **Proportion:** Backstory and the musical take ~2.5 minutes of ~15.5. - ⚠️ **Application:** Arrives late and stays abstract. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 🤝 Engagement and Application - ❌ **No participation:** No interactive or reflective element; no silence or question for the congregation - ✅ **Marginalized groups:** Named explicitly (immigrants, trafficked people, falsely accused Black men, male victims) - ⚠️ **Generic application:** "Listen and lead with love" gives no concrete practice. - **Score: 2/5** ##### 📖 Scripture Handling - **Referenced:** See Scripture Connections above. - ✅ **Genesis 39 exegesis:** Strong: power analysis, the two versions of the accusation, foreignness as a weapon, the silenced victim. Nearly all of it comes from one source (see References). - ❌ **Recap errors:** - **Birthright vs. blessing:** "Jacob will trick his brother and fool him into giving up his birthright." Esau _sold_ the birthright for stew ([[Genesis 25#33]]). Jacob tricked **Isaac** for the **blessing** ([[Genesis 27#19]]), and that trick is why Jacob fled ([[Genesis 27#41]]–[[Genesis 27#43]]). This conflates two events. - **Leah and Rachel:** "Works seven years to marry Leah and then another seven to marry Rachel." Jacob worked seven years **for Rachel**, Laban substituted Leah, and Jacob married Rachel a week later in exchange for seven more years ([[Genesis 29#18]], [[Genesis 29#25]], [[Genesis 29#27]]). The version given erases Laban's deception, which mirrors Jacob's own trickery. - **Prison term:** "Joseph ends up in prison for two years." The text says two years passed **after the cupbearer's release** ([[Genesis 41#1]]). Total prison time is unstated. Joseph is 17 at his sale ([[Genesis 37#2]]) and 30 before Pharaoh ([[Genesis 41#46]]), so up to 13 years pass in slavery and prison combined. - ⚠️ **Interpolation:** "Joseph does not fall into despair. He knows who he is and trusts in God's presence." Genesis 39 gives no interior view. In [[Genesis 40#14]]–[[Genesis 40#15]], Joseph actively pleads, "remember me… I have done nothing." He shows agency and advocacy, not quiet trust. **This is the same interpolation the children's message made.** - ⚠️ **Overstatement:** "He's given no space to speak." True within chapter 39, but Joseph does tell his side in [[Genesis 40#15]]. Solvang's source commentary contrasts **Surah 12:25-28**, where Joseph gets a hearing and is cleared. The sermon omitted that comparison, which would have sharpened the point. - ⚠️ **No original language:** _Ḥesed_ in [[Genesis 39#21]] ("remained loyal," CEB) was the ideal hook for "God sustains us," and it went unused. Solvang's commentary develops it. - ⚠️ **Missed echo:** The garment motif echoes the bloodied robe used as false testimony ([[Genesis 37#31]]–[[Genesis 37#32]]). Solvang notes this too; the sermon skipped it. - ❌ **Lectionary partners:** [[Matthew 5#11]] ("utter all kinds of evil against you falsely") is the NL's designated pairing and was ignored. - **Score: 3/5** ##### 🧠 Logical Reasoning **Fallacies and weak spots** 1. **Hasty generalization** (00:04:37) - _Quote:_ "Famously, seven of the eight women featured in the video chose a bear." - _Issue:_ An eight-person street video is treated as evidence of what women think. - _Fix:_ Present it as a cultural flashpoint, not data. 2. **Causal oversimplification / single cause** (00:04:45) - _Quote:_ "Why? Because too often we interrogate victims…" - _Issue:_ The women in the viral content gave varied reasons (predictability, bears aren't malicious, fear of assault). The sermon states one popular explanation as _the_ reason. - _Fix:_ "One reason many women gave…" 3. **False dilemma** (00:08:10, via Solvang) - _Quote:_ "This is not about the expression of desire. This is about power." - _Issue:_ [[Genesis 39#7]] says she "cast her eyes" on him and was "attracted." Desire and power operate together, and the text shows both. - _Fix:_ "Whatever she felt, what she did was an abuse of power." 4. **Speculative motive attribution** (00:10:05) - _Quote:_ "Not really sexually motivated." - _Issue:_ The text never supplies her motive. This extends the false dilemma into mind-reading. 5. **Anachronism / presentism** (00:08:10) - _Quote:_ "She creates a _hostile_ work environment." - _Issue:_ "Hostile work environment" is a U.S. Title VII legal category (_Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson_, 1986). Solvang wrote only "work environment"; the preacher added "hostile." - _Why it matters:_ The frame **understates** Joseph's position. An enslaved man can't quit, report, or sue. At [[Genesis 39#12]] she physically seizes him, which is attempted coercion, not only harassment. 6. **Equivocation / category shift** (00:14:01) - _Issue:_ The list slides from _false accusation_ (Emmett Till, closest to Genesis 39) to _wrongful conviction via coerced confession_ (Central Park Five; the victim never accused them) to _systemic legal failure_ (incarceration statistics). - _Why it matters:_ All three are injustices, but only the first parallels the text. - _Fix:_ Name the shift: "False accusation is one door into a larger system of wrongful punishment." 7. **Unwarranted assumption / interpolation** (00:11:36) - _Issue:_ Joseph's inner trust is asserted without textual support (see Scripture Handling). 8. **Factual errors** (not fallacies, but they erode credibility) - Birthright/blessing conflation - Leah/Rachel sequence - "Two years" in prison - "1972 musical": the show's origins date to 1968, and it was expanded through the early 1970s. Verify which date she meant. **✅ Strong reasoning** - Holds two truths without collapsing either: believe victims, **and** false accusations have killed people. "Relatively rare" is consistent with research estimates of false reports, roughly 2–10% in Lisak et al., 2010. Verify before citing. - Explicitly rejects redemptive-suffering theology and staying in harm. - Clean cause-effect in the exegesis: social identity → credibility → outcome. **🧭 Biases flagged** - **Single-source dependence:** Most of the exegesis tracks one commentary, so its framing (including the false dilemma) passes through unexamined. - **Recency bias:** A TikTok hook will date quickly. - **U.S.-centric examples:** All modern examples are American. The trafficking and immigration framing could have gone global. - **Confirmation risk:** The #MeToo frame fits the text well, but it also shapes which details get noticed. Potiphar's wife's own dependence on men's belief goes unexamined. - **Score: 3/5** ##### 📚 References - **Elna K. Solvang**, "Commentary on Genesis 39:1-23," _Working Preacher_, Narrative Lectionary, September 25, 2022 — named once (garbled in transcript) — https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/joseph-in-prison/commentary-on-genesis-391-23-3 - **Extent of use:** The sermon follows Solvang closely from 00:08:10 to ~00:11:17 and again at 00:13:31. - Power, not seduction - The two versions of the accusation - Foreignness erasing loyalty - The servant-master transgression - "Deceptive and benefits from a social system…" - "Blamed and shamed, silenced, dismissed, and not believed" - "No space… to speak or seek justice" - **Unattributed climax:** The closing line ("God is present in the places of separation, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, and despair") is Solvang's final bullet point nearly verbatim, with no attribution at that point. - **Note:** Heavy use of a commentary is normal pulpit practice, and she did name the source once. The observation is about **dependence and proportion**, not misconduct. - **Phyllis Trible**, _Texts of Terror_ (1984) — alluded to ("text of terror"), not named - **Martin Luther King Jr. / Josiah Royce** — "beloved community," unattributed - **Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice** — named - **#churchtoo** — named; started by Emily Joy Allison and Hannah Paasch in 2017. "Trending" in present tense is dated. - ⚠️ **Marginalized voices:** No womanist or Black theological voice is named, despite the Till and Central Park Five examples and the anti-redemptive-suffering claim, where womanist theology is the obvious source (see Hermeneutical Genealogy). - 🔎 **Not checked:** Working Preacher also published a **2026 commentary by Dennis Olson** for this exact Sunday. Worth checking whether it shaped anything. - **Score: 3/5** ##### 💬 Quotes and Illustrative Stories - **Strongest:** "God does not keep the suffering from happening. God is present in the suffering, and God does not leave Joseph there." - **Most pastorally important:** "I don't believe that all suffering is redemptive. I don't believe that we are meant to stay in situations of harm." - **Most memorable illustration:** Man or Bear, though it will date. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 📣 Calls to Action - **Given:** - "We have work to do." - "Overcome evil with good." - "Partners in co-creating a just world." - "Listen and lead with love." - ⚠️ **None concrete.** Every item is dispositional; none is a practice. - ❌ **Missed bridges in this week's bulletin:** - Franklin Together–Franklin County Reentry Coalition donation box (people coming home from prison, a direct Joseph parallel) - Fall First Fruits for the same coalition - CROP Hunger Walk (Joseph feeds people in famine) - Congregational practice: how St. John's receives disclosures of abuse (#churchtoo raised without a local next step) - **Score: 2/5** ##### ⚖️ Style Effectiveness Analysis - ✅ **Fit:** The narrative-prophetic blend suits a text whose power lies in its social dynamics. - **Fully expository version:** Would have caught the recap errors, _ḥesed_, the garment echo, and 40:15. - **Inductive-contemplative version:** Could have opened with silence or a question ("Who in this story gets believed?"). - **First-person narrative version:** Telling it as Joseph in the prison, or the cupbearer, would give the victim the voice the sermon says he lacked. - **Learning styles:** - Served: auditory (refrain) and intrapersonal (theology of suffering) - Underserved: kinesthetic, visual, and interpersonal - **Best blend for St. John's:** Keep narrative-prophetic, add a concrete local practice and one voiced survivor or returning-citizen perspective. - **Score: 4/5** ##### 🧮 Scoring Summary |Category|Score| |---|---| |Sermon Summary|4| |Preaching Style|4| |Storytelling and Illustration|4| |Intonation and Delivery|3 (provisional)| |Content Structure|4| |Engagement and Application|2| |Scripture Handling|3| |Logical Reasoning|3| |References|3| |Quotes and Illustrative Stories|4| |Calls to Action|2| |Style Effectiveness|4| |**Total**|**40/60**| ##### 🔀 Side-by-Side: Narrative-Prophetic vs. Fully Exegetical |Aspect|This Sermon|Fully Exegetical Version| |---|---|---| |Primary style|Narrative + prophetic, deductive|Expository through 39:1-23, then 40:14-15| |Stories|Man or Bear, musical, Till, Central Park Five|Fewer; the garment motif from 37:31-32 to 39:12-18 as the main "story"| |Scripture depth|Strong on power dynamics (via Solvang); recap errors|_Ḥesed_ (39:21), the "in his hand" wordplay (39:4, 6, 8, 12), and the Surah 12 contrast| |Theology of presence|Asserted and refrained|Grounded in the text's four "the LORD was with" notices and _ḥesed_| |Joseph's interiority|Assumed ("trusts," "no despair")|Left silent in ch. 39; agency shown in 40:14-15| |Application|Dispositional ("listen and lead with love")|Systemic: who gets heard and believed at St. John's; a Reentry Coalition tie-in| ##### 🧬 Hermeneutical Genealogy (non-scored) - 🔄 **The "seductress" tradition the sermon rejects:** - Early roots: the _Testament of Joseph_ (Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs) makes Joseph a model of chastity and her a temptress. - Medieval embellishment: _Sefer haYashar_ adds lurid detail. - Islamic and Persian development: the Yusuf-and-Zulaikha tradition grows it into romance (e.g., Jami, 15th c.). - Christian moral use: Joseph becomes a chastity exemplar for young men. - **Referent inversion (historical):** The tradition turned a power-holder's abuse into a _temptation_ narrative and aimed the moral at the vulnerable party's self-control. **The sermon explicitly reverses that inversion.** ✅ - ⚡ **"Not desire but power":** - Second-wave feminist analysis of sexual violence (Susan Brownmiller, _Against Our Will_, 1975), mainstreamed in the #MeToo era, reaching the pulpit here via Solvang (2022). - The either/or form is a slogan-level simplification that later feminist scholarship has complicated. - ⚖️ **"Hostile work environment":** U.S. employment law (_Meritor_, 1986) retrojected onto ancient slavery (see Logical Reasoning). - 🕯️ **"Not all suffering is redemptive":** - Counters a strand of Christian atonement piety, including King's "unearned suffering is redemptive." - Aligns with feminist and womanist critique: Joanne Carlson Brown and Rebecca Parker, "For God So Loved the World?" (1989); Delores Williams, _Sisters in the Wilderness_ (1993). - _Inference:_ The preacher's sources for this claim are unstated. - 🌍 **"Co-creating a just world," "reign of mercy," "beloved community":** - Progressive Protestant and process-inflected idiom ("co-creator") - Royce → King ("beloved community") - Inclusive "reign" for _basileia_ - 🎭 **"Text of terror":** Phyllis Trible (1984), feminist literary criticism of the Hebrew Bible - 🙏 **Prayer for illumination:** A Pentecostal-adjacent chorus (Iverson, 1926) fused with Psalm 19:14 — ecumenical, mainline-standard. ##### 🔄 Lateral Transfer Risk Audit (non-scored) - **Overall:** Low. The sermon names abuse in church (#churchtoo), centers the silenced, rejects suffering-as-virtue, and avoids authority or fear appeals. - **The one epistemic move to watch:** Stating a contested cultural claim as settled fact ("Why? Because…" about Man or Bear), and adopting a source's either/or ("not desire, power") without testing it against the text. - That's the same _form_ high-control preaching uses: a confident single explanation, no counter-evidence, the source's frame taken whole. - The content here is progressive and largely defensible, but the form is worth noticing regardless of which direction it leans. - **Flattening the accuser:** Potiphar's wife is cast as a full power-holder. Her power is actually **derivative**: it works only because household men and her husband believe her. An intersectional read would show two subordinated people, and the one with more social credibility wins. The sermon's thesis about "a social system in which truth and all persons are not weighted equally" needed that nuance to be complete. ##### 🔗 Formation Pipeline: Children's Message ↔ Sermon |Theme|Children's Message|Sermon| |---|---|---| |God's presence|"God is now here" (refrain)|"God is present in the suffering" + likely "God is **now here**" (00:09:38, verify)| |Conditionality|"…if we just [have] faith"; "it depends on you"|Unconditional: "God does not abandon us"| |Theodicy|"There is a reason, and only you know that reason"|"I don't believe that all suffering is redemptive"| |Joseph's inner life|"He knew that God was with him" (interpolated)|"He knows who he is and trusts" (interpolated)| |Injustice|Named in passing ("didn't do")|Central: false accusation, silencing, trafficking| |Scope|Personal coping|Personal + systemic| |Matthew 5 / Psalm 1|Unused|Unused| |Reentry Coalition tie-in|None|None| - 🚩 **Key finding:** The sermon **corrects** the children's message theodicy ("there is a reason" → "not all suffering is redemptive"; conditional → unconditional presence). But the children left for Children's Corner **before** the sermon. **The children received only the uncorrected version.** - 🔁 **Shared flaw:** Both leaders assigned Joseph an inner trust the text doesn't narrate. That points to a shared reading, a shared prep source, or a congregational default. It's worth tracing. - ✅ **Shared strength:** If 00:09:38 is confirmed as "now here," the two messages were deliberately coordinated. - 💡 **Pipeline suggestion:** A Children's Corner follow-up question such as "Was it fair what happened to Joseph? Where was God?" would carry the sermon's correction to the kids. #### Personal Reflections ##### What spoke to me: ##### Questions raised: ##### Challenges/Convictions: ##### Liturgical Context Reflections: #### Applications ##### This week I will: ##### People to pray for: ##### Follow-up study: #### Connections - Sermon source: [Elna K. Solvang, Commentary on Genesis 39:1-23 (Working Preacher, 2022)](https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/narrative-lectionary/joseph-in-prison/commentary-on-genesis-391-23-3) - Comparison text: Qur'an, Surah 12:23-29 (Joseph gets a hearing and is cleared) - Sunday Night Bible Study tonight: Ecclesiastes 10 - Next week's Narrative Lectionary text: Exodus 14 (Rescue at the Sea) ## Worship Leadership |Role|Name| |---|---| |Pastor|Rev. Caroline E. Saxton| |Organist|Barbara Motichka| |Choir Director|Gary Crum| |Deacon in Charge|Mike Blumberg| |Lector|Henry Hopper| |Children's Message|Roxanne Davenport| |Children's Corner|MaryLee Yaukey| |Media Coordinators|Calvin Frantz and Neath Ham| |Bulletin cover|"Story of Joseph" © Estate of John August Swanson, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt University Divinity Library| ### Flowers The Flowers at the Foot of the Cross are given in memory of Leonard and Esther Zeger and Robert and Elva Dilling by Marvin and Linda Zeger. ### Birthdays This Week - 09/29 — Jack Mull and Dr. James Strite Jr. - 10/01 — Lynne McGough - 10/02 — Dariawn Barbour and Susan Collier ### Worship Resources - Call to Worship written by Katherine Hawker and posted on Liturgies Outside - UCC Book of Worship - The Inclusive Bible: The First Egalitarian Translation - Touch Holiness: Resources for Worship, edited by Ruth C. Duck and Maren C. Tirabassi ## Church News & Announcements ### Staff & Contacts - 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 ### Sunday Night Bible Study Join Pastor Caroline on Sunday, September 27 at 8 pm via Zoom for a Bible study on the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10. - **Zoom Meeting ID:** 836 0593 5961 - **Passcode:** 277938 - A hyperlink is included in the weekly e-blast. ### Monday Afternoon Book Study Chapter 7 of Barbara Brown Taylor's _Learning to Walk in the Dark_ — Monday, September 28, 1:30 PM, Conference Room 111. ### Kinusaiga Craft Night Monday, October 5, 5:30 pm, Room 116. All supplies included; bring an exacto knife or seam ripper if you have one. Cost is $15. Sign up at the Welcome Center in the Lobby by Sunday, October 4. Questions: Chani Wolfe, [email protected]. ### An Evening of Fellowship Saturday, October 10, 5:30 pm, Fellowship Hall — music, food, and community with our other congregations. Bring a dish to share; sign up at the Welcome Center in the Lobby. "Dinner church!" ### Franklin County Pride Festival Sunday, October 11, at Wilson College. Contact Pastor Caroline if you can represent St. John's at this community event. ### Immunization Clinic Sunday, October 18, after worship in the Parlor. Chambers Apothecary will host a flu shot clinic. Sign up in the Lobby Welcome Center by October 16. Questions: Harold Collier, [email protected]. ### CROP Hunger Walk Sunday, October 18, starting at Falling Spring Presbyterian Church (221 N. Main Street). Registration opens at 1:30 pm; the walk begins at 2. Monetary donations and non-perishable food items welcome. #### Bulletin Insert: 2026 Chambersburg CROP Hunger Walk - **Team:** St. John's UCC Youth - **Theme:** "Ending Hunger One Step at a Time" / "Building Global Resilience" - **Pitch:** CROP Hunger Walks invite people to put their bodies in motion, connect with community, and do something for vulnerable neighbors near and far. Walking becomes an act of solidarity with neighbors who must walk for water, food, medical care, or safety. - **What gifts provide:** - $21 — Five chickens for a family in Tanzania - $25 — A month of groceries for a refugee in Egypt - $40 — A year of school supplies for a Roma child in Eastern Europe - $43 — A biosand water filter for a family in Myanmar - **Closing line:** Cites the Jewish teaching that saving one life saves the entire world. - **Contact:** 888-CWS-CROP · crophungerwalk.org ### No Tricks, Just Treats Saturday, October 31, 6–8 pm. Candy donations can be dropped off at the church office. ### September/October Upper Room Devotionals available at the Welcome Center. Suggested donation: $1 small print / $2 large print. Contact the church office to have a copy mailed. ### Franklin Together–Franklin County Reentry Coalition Many people the coalition serves are securing safe housing, reconnecting with loved ones, and taking steps toward stability. St. John's is collecting essential household, cleaning, and hygiene items. A donation box sits at the Welcome Center; see the full list there or in the e-blast. ### Fall Quarter First Fruits First Fruits in August, September, and October support Franklin Together–Franklin County Reentry Coalition, Homeless Matters of Franklin County, and the Fayetteville Fire Department. More information appears in _the Spirit_. ### Bible and a Beer A chance to talk about faith in public — 3rd Monday of the month, 6:30 pm, Trojan Diner. Next gathering: October 19. ### Want to Stay in Touch? Contact the church office to join the email list. Sign up for weekly emails, Diana's Devotionals, and/or the Prayer Chain. ## Vision & Mission ### 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 ## Calendar & Upcoming Events ### Sunday, September 27 (Today) - 11:30 am — Chili Cook-off after worship — Fellowship Hall - 8:00 pm — Bible Study: Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10 — Zoom (link in Friday e-blast) ### Monday, September 28 - 1:30 pm — Book Study (_Learning to Walk in the Dark_, Chapter 7) — Conference Room 111 - 3:00 pm — Pinochle (Come Play and Learn) — Library Room 106 - 6:30 pm — Community Engagement Meeting — Conference Room 111 ### Tuesday, September 29 - 5:30 pm — Yoga — Room 202 - 6:00 pm — Ladies Bible Study — Zoom ### Wednesday, September 30 - 11:30 am — Camp Board Meeting — Conference Room 111 - 6:30 pm — Council Meeting — Conference Room 111 ### Thursday, October 1 - 7:00 am — Men's Breakfast — Texas Lunch - 6:00 pm — Dance Class — Fellowship Hall - 7:15 pm — Choir Practice — Room 103 ### Saturday, October 3 - 1:30 pm — Pumpkin Patch Fall Tea — Fellowship Hall ### Sunday, October 4 - 8:45 am — Godly Play Church School Class (Ages 3–K) — Room 119 - 8:45 am — SPARK! Church School Class (Grades 1–5) — Room 115 - 8:45 am — Scripture/Contemporary Issues (Grades 6–12) — Library Room 106 - 8:45 am — Wired Word Adult Church School Class — Room 116 - 8:45 am — Upper Room Adult Church School Class — Conference Room 111 - 10:00 am — Sunday Worship — Sanctuary - 8:00 pm — Bible Study: Ecclesiastes, Chapter 11 — Zoom (link in Friday e-blast) ### Later in October - Monday, October 5, 5:30 pm — Kinusaiga Craft Night — Room 116 (sign up by October 4) - Saturday, October 10, 5:30 pm — An Evening of Fellowship ("dinner church") — Fellowship Hall - Sunday, October 11 — Franklin County Pride Festival — Wilson College - Sunday, October 18, after worship — Flu Shot Clinic — Parlor (sign up by October 16) - Sunday, October 18, 1:30 pm registration / 2:00 pm walk — CROP Hunger Walk — Falling Spring Presbyterian Church - Monday, October 19, 6:30 pm — Bible and a Beer — Trojan Diner - Saturday, October 31, 6–8 pm — No Tricks, Just Treats