Order of Service: Feb. 5, 2017 "Where is the Good in Goodbye?"

Date of Service: 
February 5, 2017
 
      February 5, 2017
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*Gathering Hymn                                 #1010 We Give Thanks                                                   Wendy Luella Perkins
                                                               Oh, we give thanks for this precious day,
                                                               For all gathered here, and those far away;
                                                               For this time we share with love and care,
                                                               Oh, we give thanks for this precious day.
 
Prelude                                                 Prelude in C Major                                                                                   J. S. Bach
 
Welcome
 
Chalice Lighting                                    Margot Page
 
*Opening Hymn                                  #149 Lift Every Voice and Sing
 
*Covenant                                           Love is the doctrine of this church.
                                                              The quest for truth is its sacrament,
                                                              And service is its prayer.
                                                              To dwell together in peace,
                                                              To seek knowledge in freedom,
                                                              To serve humankind in fellowship,
                                                              Thus do we covenant with each other.
 
*Hymn of Praise                                 From all that dwell below the skies
                                                              Let songs of hope and faith arise
                                                              Let peace, goodwill on earth be sung
                                                             Through every land, by every tongue.
 
Offering for the Westside Food Bank
 
Time for All Ages
 
Song of Blessing                                 #414 As We Leave This Friendly Place
                                                               As we leave this friendly place, love give light to every face;
                                                              May the kindness which we learn, light our hearts till we return.
 
Life Together
 
Pulpit Message                                  Right Relations Task Force
 
Offering                                               Make Them Hear You from Ragtime                                       Stephen Flaherty
                                                              Thomas Ahern, bass-baritone
 
Devotional Time
 
Silence
 
Sung Response                               #1002 Comfort Me
                                                           Comfort me, comfort me, comfort me, oh my soul.
                                                           Comfort me, comfort me, comfort me, oh my soul.
                                                           Sing with me...
                                                           Speak for me...
                                                           Dance with me...
                                                           Comfort me...
 
Responsive Reading                     #521 May I Be No One’s Enemy
 
Music for the Morning                    Goodbye, My Love from Ragtime                                                 Stephen Flaherty
 
Sermon                                            Where is the Good in Goodbye?                                  Rev. Rebecca Benefiel Bijur
 
*Closing Hymn                               #168 One More Step
 
*Benediction
 
Musical Response                          Amen in Bb
 
*Please stand in body or in spirit
 
❦ ❦ ❦ ❦
 
Greeters:                                      Barbara & Kim Andres, Tom Foretich, Barbara Gibbs & Denise Helton
Ushers:                                         Peggy Kharraz, Jila Tayefehnowrooz, Linda van Ligten & Greg Wood
Coffee:                                          Deirdre Dietel, Jimmy Hogue, Kit Shaw & ALicia van Ooyen
Welcome Table:                          Barbara Gibbs
Bookstore:                                   Sarah Harper
 
Service Notes
 
Today, 40% of our non-pledge offering will go to Turning Point, a program of OPCC. Turning Point
Transitional Housing was established in 1983 as a 55-bed shelter for homeless men and women in
Santa Monica. In addition to an individual sleeping area, three meals a day and clothing, Turning
Point provides intensive case management, counseling and support groups, specialized programs
such as job counseling, money management, health education, computer classes and independent
living skills. If you or someone you know is homeless and would like to be considered for residency at
Turning Point, please contact OPCC at (310) 450-4050.
 
To honor African American Heritage Month, in February our opening hymn will be Lift Every Voice and
Sing. Often called the Black National Anthem, this hymn is a setting of a poem that was originally
written to honor President Lincoln in 1899. There is something profound about reciting this text
anytime topics such as oppression, justice, or activism enter the conversation. It is a text that calls us
toward the pursuit of liberty for all, while rejoicing in the progress we have made and honoring those
lives that have been and will be lost to the struggle.