Worship Guide - Pentecost, Year A

Worship With 1 Click

(The above is a screenshot, not a video)

NOTE: If you'd like to try watching all of this Sunday's worship service in a series of linked videos, one after the other (with text included), you can begin by clicking this link. Just press the button that says "PLAY ALL" and sit back and relax. Otherwise, proceed as normal through the sections.
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It's important to note that the text video sections are each approximately 30 seconds long, which may or may not be enough time to read, so please be ready to pause the video at these times until you're finished reading (the space bar in most cases will pause and restart your video). 

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We enter into Pentecost this Sunday apart but together.  Find a space and gather the things that will help you remember your connection to the sacred: a candle perhaps, or some water; bread and some juice.  Beloved, we practice our unity every time we join together in worship, no matter where we are.  ​We practice and we remember our unity with God, with each other, with the world; unity forged in tongues of fire.

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Connections with Andrea

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Prelude

As we gather, we remember that in our Sunday worship this is a time to also gather our joys and concerns. If you have a prayers you would like to share, please do so here. These will be shared by email to our St Andrew prayer list so that we pray for what you hold by name. This information is not shared online in a searchable form

Gathering Song

Let us pray:
Holy God,
like a rushing wind your Spirit moved upon the first disciples on the day of Pentecost,
and like a purifying fire your Spirit seared their hearts and minds with the message of salvation.
Send your Spirit upon your church in this time and place,
stir up our courage, and rouse us for prophetic witness,
that we may join with them to proclaim to the world your mighty deeds of power
​in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Opening Hymn

"...he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”  John 20: 23

What are you holding on to that you need to forgive in yourself? In others? Know that God holds you and blesses you as you move towards forgiveness. God walks with you as you move towards the peace that passes understanding?

And what do you know about injustice that needs to be spoken, that needs action?  Know that God holds you and walks with you as you work out what is yours to do? 

Remember that you are God's own claimed, forgiven, empowered to love. 

Now, bless someone else. Send a text to a couple of people. Make a call. Who comes to mind for you? Wish them well. More than that, wish them peace. Then click below.

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The Word

Almighty God,
by the power of your Holy Spirit,
speak to us in the language of our hearts,
that we may hear your Word with understanding
and answer your call with confidence.
​Amen.

Psalm Response

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Meditation

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
America's Original Sin by Jim Wallis
​The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Why I'm No Longer Talking by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
Blindspot by Mahzarin Banaji, Anthony Greenwald
Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou
How To Be Antirascist by Ibram Kendi
Between the World and Me by Ta-Neshisi Coates
How Does it Feel to be a Problem by Moustafa Bayoumi
The Fire This Time by Jesmyn Ward
White Fragility by Robin DiANgelo
I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
​When They Call You a Terrorist by P Khan-Cullors
An African American and Latinx History of the US by Paul Oriz
The Warmth of Other Sons by Isabel Wilkerson
The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? by Mumia Abu-Jamal
Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram Kendi

Citizen by Claudia Rankine
An indigenous Peoples' History of the US by Roxanne Dundar-Ortiz
Mindful of Race by Ruth King
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Tears We Cannot Stop by Michael Eric Dyson
Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in The Cafeteria by Beverly Tatum
Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi
This Book is Anti-racist by Tiffany Jewell

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Hymn of Response

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Give Thanks

If you haven’t already, set out some bread, some juice or wine—in the living room or kitchen or yard wherever you experience worship electronically in these days with our faith community. Join with your siblings of faith giving thanks for God’s provision, for the life that grows in and around us this Spring. Light a candle or place a flower or the photograph of someone you wish to bring into the circle of faith beside the bread and the cup. Thank you for taking yourself as seriously as God takes us! Do not underestimate the power of objects to sharpen and strengthen our memories and renew our faith.

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Sending Song

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Blessing and Charge

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