ORDER OF SERVICE JUNE 18TH 2017-ABORIGINAL SUNDAY

Congregations of St. Mark’s and St. David’s

United Church of Canada

Port Hawkesbury/Port Hastings, NS

Office: 625-2229, Fax 625-3597, e-mail: stmarksuc@gmail.com

Blog: http://ourcontactonline.blogspot.com/

Presbytery Website: inverguyunited.ca

Ministers: The Whole People of God   Minister: Nan Corrigan D.M.

Minister of Music: Al Fougere

June 18th, 2017—Aboriginal Sunday

Worship for 150 years since 

the Confederation of Canada

Announcements         The Work of Church and Community

WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD

Greeting 
Raise your hand if your ancestors were Indigenous.
Raise your hand if your great-grandparents were born in Canada.
Raise your hand if your grandparents were born in Canada.
Raise your hand if your parents were born in Nova Scotia.
Raise your hand if you live in Nova Scotia.
Pass the peace and ask, “Where are your ancestors from?”
Pam Milton, Irricana U.C., Irricana, Alta, from Gathering Summer-Autumn 2008 (adapted)

One: The peace of Christ be with you. All: And with your spirit. “Where are your ancestors from?”

*Introit   Come, O Holy Spirit, come.(O wise Spirit, come.)VU 383  Come, almighty Spirit come. (Almighty Trinity) Come, come, come. (O Spirit, come.)

Call to Worship  

We gather today for worship marking the 150th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.
As we gather, we recognize that a history of a people is not all glory.
The history of Canada has both joy and sorrow, both triumph and tragedy.
We have much to celebrate, much to lament, 
and much to dream.
Come, let us gather in the presence of God, our Creator.
Come, let us worship the Creator in whom we, 
and all of creation, are one.
Come, let us open our hearts in thanksgiving.
Come, let us be filled with the Spirit’s vision as we worship today.

Acknowledgement of the Territory

Opening Prayer

O God of shepherd, warrior, and prophet; 
Creator of  First Peoples, pioneer, and 
saddlebag preacher; 
Light of immigrant, loyalist, and seeker:
we live with history and we love your presence in it.
We trace our roots to your creative powers.
We embrace one another as children of your Spirit.
As we celebrate our history today, help us remember all of it:
that which makes us proud
and that which makes us ashamed;
that which reveals our closeness to your Word 
and that which reveals our distance.
Remind us of your constant presence: 
forgiving, restoring, recreating, and making all things new.
Hear us, Redeemer God, as we dwell for a moment in your goodness. Amen.

 Written by Robin Wardlaw, Glen Rhodes U.C., Toronto, Ont. 

Gathering LE 2017, p. 82

*Hymn Let Us Build a House MV 1

WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD

Prayer of Illumination

We have heard the words of scripture so often
that we assume we know what they mean.
We fail to notice the cultural lenses 
through which we view the stories,
the assumptions we make based on what we have been taught.
Today, may we receive these words afresh, Loving God.
May we notice what we have not noticed before,
by the power of your Spirit working through these words. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21  The ministry of reconciliation

One: This is the witness of the early church. All: Thanks be to God

Luke 1:47–55 Justice turns the world upside down Ref. 1, VU 898

*Hymn The care the eagle gives her young VU 269

A Story from the Indigenous Peoples 

*Hymn This Path We Walk Printed

The Lord’s Prayer 

John 8:31–34   Knowing freedom through truth

One: This is Good News. All: Praise be to Jesus Christ. 

A Story from Our Local History

WE RESPOND IN FAITH

* Hymn   O Canada VU 524 

Minute for Mission & Offering Our Gifts to God

*Offering Song We Give You But Your Own VU 542

Marking 150 Years of Confederation—                          Prayers of Gratitude, Lament, and Hope

Responses: 
1.  We offer our gratitude to you, Creator of Life.
2.  This we lament, God-who-enters-into-suffering. 
3. To this we commit ourselves as your faithful people, Loving    God. 

WE GO TO SERVE GOD

* Hymn For the Healing of the Nations VU 678

*Commissioning

Let us go forth from this time of worship,
recommitted as followers of the Way of Jesus
to working for reconciliation and right relations,
open to the wisdom of God’s Spirit guiding us day by day.

*Sung Blessing   When You Walk from Here   VU 298

*Choral Amen

Written by Susan Lukey (unless otherwise credited). Gathering, Lent Easter 2017, pages 82–5. Used with permission.