The Congregational Church

   of

   North Stonington, U.C.C.

   89 Main Street

   North Stonington, CT 06359

   860-535-0379

   NoStoUCC@comcast.net

   www.northstoningtonucc.com

August 7, 2022

Communion Sunday

TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST                                                 10 a.m.

“As an Open and Affirming church:

       We respect the worth and dignity of all persons who come into our church family regardless of race, age, marital standing, gender, economic status, mental or physical challenges, nationality or sexual orientation.  We promise to support one another in our personal struggles, to understand and accept differences in one another, and pray to strengthen our love and acceptance.”

       *indicates those who are able are invited to stand

WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

       (An usher will bring you a microphone so all may har)

PRELUDE                                                    “Ideale”  - Tosti     Lauren Rockwell, soprano                 

SILENT MEDITATION  IN PREPARATION FOR WORSHIP

*CALL TO WORSHIP                                                       (Psalm 33:1-4,20,22)

       Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;

It is fitting for the upright to praise God.

       Sing to the Lord a new song; and shout for joy.

For the word of the Lord is right and true;

       The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of God’s unfailing love.

       We wait in hope for the Lord who is our help and shield.

May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

    even as we put our hope in you.

 *HYMN 28                                For The Beauty of the Earth                                         Dix

UNISON PRAYER OF CONFESSION

O God you know us inside and out.  You witness our failures and how we are tempted away from what is truly good.  Give us, we pray, a sense of vision to see beyond the now to what can be, will be.  Open us to the signs of your grace and make us aware of how your Spirit empowers us.  This we pray . . .

PERSONAL CONFESSION

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

       By God’s grace we are forgiven.  In Christ, we are drawn              together and entrusted with gifts for the good of all.

We are knit into one body for mutual support, encouragement and growth.  We give thanks to God for this! 

*GLORIA PATRI  (#759)

Glory to the Creator, the Christ, the Holy Spirit

Three in One; As it was in the beginning,

Is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 *PASSING OF THE PEACE

May the peace of Christ be with you.

       And also with you.

(We greet one another with a sign of Christ’s peace)

 (Children are invited to attend their church school classes.)

SCRIPTURE LESSON                                                                                                      Isaiah 1:10-20

                                                                                                                                                                         Luke 12:32-40                

SERMON                                      When the Cat’s Away . . .  

MOMENTS OF SILENCE

*HYMN #337        Draw Us in the Spirit’s Tether                                  Union Seminary

OFFERING OF OUR TITHES AND GIFTS

(The elements of Bread and Cup are a part of what we offer.

The ushers will now receive the offering and blue Prayer Requests.)

OFFERTORY                     “Qui Sedes ad Dexteram” from Gloria - Vivaldi

                                                                                                                                Lauren Rockwell, soprano                        

*DOXOLOGY (#780)             

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;      

Praise God all creatures here below;     

Praise God above, you heavenly host;    

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Amen.

*PRAYER OF DEDICATION

SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION

The Invitation

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life.  You who come to me shall not hunger; you that believe in me shall never thirst.  Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died.  This is the bread that comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die."

Lift up your hearts.

        We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God most high.

        It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, God Almighty,

       It I right to praise you, for you the One from whom we          came and the One to whom we will return. 

You watch over us waking or sleeping, you keep every tear that we shed, ou hear every prayer we make, you know both our best and our worst and you will not let us go. 

       So with rain, wind and sunshine, with all that moves in             time with its Maker, we praise you.

With angels and archangels, with saints from long ago, with our loved ones who are gathered round your heavenly table, we praise you: 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.

Filled with hope for your future, we proclaim the mystery of faith:

       Christ has died.  Christ has risen.  Christ will come again!

The Words of Institution

The Prayer of Consecration and Lord's Prayer ("debts")

The Distribution of the Elements  (come forward if able…)

              The Bread – we eat of the bread together.  

              The Cup – we partake individually. 

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Almighty and eternal God, we thank you for feeding us with spiritual food in the sacrament of Christ's body and blood, and for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of his body, and heirs of your eternal kingdom.  Send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.  To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.  Amen

*HYMN #589      Let There Be Light, O God of Hosts                     Pentecost

Welcome to worship.   Thank you for worshiping with us today!

The service is available at www.northstoningtonucc.com.

We light one white candle each Sunday to remember and pray for military and civilians serving our country and in harm’s way.  

We welcome our own Lauren Rockwell who is offering Special Music today. Lauren is a third-year Music Education and Vocal Performance major at the Hartt School of Music, Theater, and Dance. She has performed in the Hartt Choir, Hartt Treble Ensemble, and University Singers where she is also a choir manager and co-founder of the Hartt Choirs Student’s Association. She has been serving as a church musician for 11 years. This spring was her opera debut as Cecily in La Divina by Thomas Pasatieri. Lauren is a student of Dr. Thomas Cannon. 

Today marks 35 years that Michael Noonan has served as our organist. His first service as our organist was Sunday, August 9, 1987.

The flowers are given to the glory God by ­ the Noonan family in honor of Kevin’s birthday.

The steeple is lit this week by Kathi Thaxton in loving memory of David Thaxton. To honor or remember someone by lighting the steeple you may sign up on the sheet on the wall leading into the sanctuary.

Serving in Worship:  Pat Danley, deacon; Pat Turner, usher,  Dave Larson, lay reader; Matthew Sander, communion.

We Pray For:  the healing of:  Stephanie Murray; Larry; Grace (Teddy) Graber; Janet Allen; George Danley; Mark Ball (Pat Danley’s son);  Mobby Larson’s brother, Steve Brown; Mike Laing; Karen Clarke; Elaine Falk Smith; Susan; Julie Evans; Debbie Janda; Jeff Sullivan; Janet Lewis; Dave McCord; and Mary Wassung.  We lift up all our local health care workers continually exposed daily to Covid. 

CALENDAR

Today:   Deacons meeting today after worship.

               Farmer’s Market in Mystic.

Monday and Friday:  Making Pies. 

Saturday:  Baking Pies. 

You Can Help us Repair the Ceiling on GoFund Me.  the link https://gofund.me/e7596345. We are also on Givelify.

PNC Hunger Awareness  For this summer, we are asking you to

remember to support the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center which serves all of Stonington and North Stonington.

You can bring in canned goods or boxes of food to Hewitt Hall OR donate fresh foods from your garden to the center on Chase Street in Pawcatuck.  You can make monthly donations through our church, CCNS, and we will send in all of the contributions.  Also, don’t forget that area grocers have a bag of food ready to go that you can purchase, it will be donated to the center.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Rosemary will be on vacation starting August 1st and returning to the office on August 15th.  

Summer Reminders for Generous Souls: 

Have a safe and exciting summer, but ...  We need to pay our bills throughout the year, even when everyone else takes a break.   Your regular pledge payments and offerings are greatly appreciated.

All Hymns from the (NCH) New Century Hymnal; © 1995 The Pilgrim

Press, have been granted permission for this one-time use.       Permission to reprint, podcast, and / or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #735340-A. All rights reserved.  Permissions granted under CCLI License # 11212116

We Pray For:  the healing of:  Stephanie Murray; Larry; Grace (Teddy) Graber; Janet Allen; George Danley; Mark Ball (Pat Danley’s son);  Mobby Larson’s brother, Steve Brown; Mike Laing; Karen Clarke; Elaine Falk Smith; Susan; Julie Evans; Debbie Janda; Jeff Sullivan; Janet Lewis; Dave McCord; and Mary Wassung.  We lift up all our local health care workers continually exposed daily to Covid. 

CALENDAR

Today:   Deacons meeting today after worship.

               Farmer’s Market in Mystic.

Monday and Friday:  Making Pies. 

Saturday:  Baking Pies. 

You Can Help us Repair the Ceiling on GoFund Me.  the link https://gofund.me/e7596345. We are also on Givelify.

PNC Hunger Awareness  For this summer, we are asking you to

remember to support the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center which serves all of Stonington and North Stonington.

You can bring in canned goods or boxes of food to Hewitt Hall OR donate fresh foods from your garden to the center on Chase Street in Pawcatuck.  You can make monthly donations through our church, CCNS, and we will send in all of the contributions.  Also, don’t forget that area grocers have a bag of food ready to go that you can purchase, it will be donated to the center.

                                                                                                                                                                                                    Rosemary will be on vacation starting August 1st and returning to the office on August 15th.  

Summer Reminders for Generous Souls: 

Have a safe and exciting summer, but ...  We need to pay our bills throughout the year, even when everyone else takes a break.   Your regular pledge payments and offerings are greatly appreciated.

All Hymns from the (NCH) New Century Hymnal; © 1995 The Pilgrim

Press, have been granted permission for this one-time use.       Permission to reprint, podcast, and / or stream the music in this service obtained from ONE LICENSE with license #735340-A. All rights reserved.  Permissions granted under CCLI License # 11212116

“Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”                                                                                                                                         - 1 Samuel 16:4 (NRSV) 

              Have you ever noticed how people say the same things over and over?
“Why aren’t there more young people in church?” “Why do 20% of the people do all the work, letting the other 80% be idle “Why can’t we get a pastor in here who will grow the church?” “You have to be born here or people won’t ever accept you.”
              That was the elder’s question to Samuel. “Do you come in peace, stranger?” “Yes,” said Samuel, “I come in peace.” That is the open exchange, the winning exchange, the escape from the authoritarian internalization of speech.
              These are clichés and put an end to conversation.  They maintain the status quo, unintentionally, which the status quo really enjoys.
What is the opposite of closed speech? It is opening speech and learning how to open the speech of others. Good tools include, “I come in peace.” Or “Tell me more.” “What good might happen with young people who are no longer churched?” “How could the 20% rest?” “What role has the congregation in church growth?” “Tell me about a millennial you admire.”
Pry us open, O God, using tools if necessary. We come in peace. Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           -Donna Schaper

Global Ministries Mission Prayer for Jamaica:  You are invited today to pray and celebrate 100 years with Pringle Home for Children, a ministry of the United Church in Jamaica and Cayman Islands. In fact, throughout this month, Pringle Home will host various public community and church events to rejoice in God’s faithfulness and the successes of the girls (now women) who have passed through our home over the last 100 years! Praise be to the power of Love and to the Loving One who makes all this possible. May Love strengthen us and also you too.

Ministers:  the Congregation                                                                             Susan G. Latourette, Pastor – 860-759-4231, pastorsuel@yahoo.com
Michael G.  Noonan, Director of Music
Kay Lautzenheiser, Christian Education Coordinator
Rosemary Kuemper, Church Secretary
Charlotte Melia, Sexton      
Office hours:  Monday –Thursday, 9am – 1pm