A Service of Worship for Pentecost, May 31, 2020 — Old First Church, Philadelphia, PA
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Rev. Michael Caine, pastor; Holly Phares, music director; William Lowden, organist
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Reminder: The Zoom 5 minute grace period that we have been observing is over!
Michael will begin worship with the Welcome at 11 o’clock on the dot.
Welcome
Prelude Every Time I Feel the Spirit
John Carter
Altar Building — please choose a sign or symbol you identify with a personal experience of the Holy Spirit
Wa Wa Wa Emimimo (Come, O Holy Spirit Come)
All sing repeatedly, alternating in Yoruba and English:
Wa wa wa emimimo!
Wa wa wa alagbara!
Wa-o, wa-o, wa-o!
Come, O Holy Spirit, come!
Come, Almighty Spirit, come!
Come! Come! Come!
Words of Gathering (poem below by William Loader)
Joanna: Wind, wind, you come from nothingness and go to nothingness, and when you are still, there is nothing we see, nothing we hear, and you surround us in our not seeing and not knowing.
Forrests (as many Forrests as I can get in front of the camera reading simultaneously): Wild, wild wind,you whip the seas, whirling great water spouts and fountains,crashing on the foamed edges of the shore, sweeping the unsuspecting fisherman from the slippery rocks, terrifying force, uncontrollable, beyond our power.
O wind, piercing wind, driving the blizzard, the sleet, the rain, trampling earth with wild tempests and tantrums that uproot trees, unroof houses and wreak devastation in your path.
Jillian: Wind, wind, wondrous wind, hovering at the birth of creation, whisking secretly among the wonders of new life, bearing the seed, lifting high the heads of mighty trees, swirling among the grasses, celebrating life.
Bobbie: Wind, wind, we know your ways, we trace your web on the map of highs and lows, today’s weather, tomorrow’s predictions, depressions and sea breezes, we harness your power, our weather cocks point to you, a cross shows where you have been and we do not know.
Joanna: O wind, O silent wind, where do you go? Do you go away and play, in outback gorges or bare mountains of the desert, stirring small clouds of red dust among the bushes,kissing the rippled smile of the billabong, running down the slopes, exulting at the rock face,passing by the mountain with none to see and none to know your trail.
Bobbie: Wind, gentle wind, wind of our breathing, our life, our hope, renewing, refreshing, sighing in our stress, moaning in our pain, still in our dying.
Jillian: O wind, wind, you breathed upon the clay and there was life, you danced down to the forehead of a Galilean and there was hope, you shook the foundations of community and there was Pentecost.
All: (I will invite everyone to say together, muted, what’s on the screen):
Wind of nothingness and awe,
wind of knowing and unknowing,
wind of bearing and begetting,
wind of secrets and mystery,
O wise, wise wind,
whisper to us your grace.
Confession — Emily Paull (adapted from Laughing Bird Liturgical Community)
One: O, God, you search us and know us, and all that we are open to you. We confess that we have sinned…
A second voice (with all on mute) In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
(and on like that, Emily prays and the second voice / person responds…)
When we use our power to dominate or accept our weakness as a fact…
In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
When we live within our limits, touching the bounds only for reassurance…
In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
When we mistrust visions and dreams, or seek to destroy the visionary…
In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
When we welcome your gifts only to entertain, but not to change us…
In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
When we fail to integrate spirit and flesh and forfeit our wholeness and dignity…
In your mercy, Lord. Forgive us and heal us.
We turn to you, O God, of infinite mercy.
Silence for personal confession — Emily Paull
Assurance — Emily Paull
The Peace — do you have a sentence / promise about God’s peace to share?
A Time with the Children Blown Into to Be What We Are
The Scripture — Richard Kalwaic Act 2:1-13
The Sermon This Season’s Choreography:
A lot of movement to get everyone in the right places,
And doing the right step for what God means to be a long dance
Sermon 1: We See God when we Look at Jesus
Sermon 2: God in Us
Sermon 3: Missing All That’s Around Us Because We’re Waiting on Heaven
Sermon 4: The Power to Reconceive
Affirmation of Faith — Tony Merlo adapted from the New Zealand Prayerbook
We believe in a loving God, who is life’s breath for all of earth’s creatures, who is the ground on which our lives flourish, who is the mystery toward which we are drawn.
We believe in the risen Christ, whose life is the way we see God made real, whose death and resurrection bear witness to the power of love, whose presence nourishes our spirits each day.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who flows as a refreshing spring of life, who comes as divine fire to energize the faithful, who creates communities of joy and justice.
The Offering
Offertory Breathe On Me, Breath of God
Arr. Phillip Keveren
Dedication
The Prayers
Please write your specific prayer requests in the chat
Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer – video
Pastoral Prayer – MC)
God, your Spirit fell like tongues of fire, the seal of your ownership is on us, You have breathed your Holy Spirit into our hearts. (Pause)
God, your spirit fell like tongues of fire. It filled those who were empty, It empowered those who were weary.(Pause)
God, your spirit fell like tongues of fire. It brought together those who were divided, It reassured those who were afraid. (Pause)
God, your spirit fell like tongues of fire. By its power we can walk together as one,By its power we can find strength to share. (Pause)
God, your spirit fell like tongues of fire. By its power we can find freedom in loving each other, By its power we can find life in you. Amen.
We Are the Church
(used with permission from Hope Publishing)
Vocal leaders: Suzanne Cole, Richard Kalwaic, Holly Phares & Marjorie Wilhite
Refrain: (Choir & Congregation)
I am the church! You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus, all around the world!
Yes, we’re the church together!
(Choir only): The church is not a building; the church is not a steeple. The church is not a resting place; the church is the people.
(Choir only): We’re many kinds of people with many kinds of faces; All colors and all ages, too, from all times and places.
(Choir only): At Pentecost some people received the Holy Spirit and told the Good News through the world to all who would hear it.
Community Life
- Alexa and Meg
- Children’s Bible Storytime
- Adult Bible Study
- Prayer Group
- Shawl Ministry Team
- Margaret R. — Election Guru
- Blanket Sunday
Benediction — adapted from Christine Sine at Godspace
Spirit of God, may we breathe in and hold your love within us…
May we breathe out and share it with the world.
Spirit of God, may we breathe in and hold your peace within us
May we breathe out and share it with the world.
Spirit of God, may we breathe in and hold your life within us
May we breathe out and share it with the world.
Postlude Every Time I Feel the Spirit arr. Jim Lucas