“The time is always ripe to do what is right.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Reconciliation Special Offering will be taken on September 29, 2024, and October 6, 2024. Expect to receive offering materials the week of September 12th. Your advocacy and financial support are much appreciated.
For more than 40 years, Disciples have had a visible ministry to address racism in society. Gifts to Reconciliation Ministry, through its Offering or throughout the year, support programs and initiatives aimed at dismantling racism. Reconciliation Ministry is not supported by Disciples Mission Fund.
Reconciliation Offering Graphic and Print Resources
Reconciliation Offering Worship Resources
Reconciliation Offering celebrates our work toward wholeness and imagining a world where racism is dismantled and all of God’s children can flourish. The offering is suggested for September 29th and October 6th. Here are some worship resources that could be helpful in your planning.
Call to Worship
(from Prayers and Psalms by Joan Stott)
59C*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 20C [Ordinary 27C] or [Proper 22C]
Psalm 137
Holy God, we come to worship you,
as flawed and even failed human beings.
We come, aware that God knows us for
who and what we are, and yet God loves us.
Eternal God, we come to worship you,
and despite life’s experiences, we never learn!
We come, clinging to old habits and ideas,
yet we also want to open ourselves to God.
Creative Love, we come to worship you,
believing that you love and accept us as we are,
with our personal values and experiences,
our hang-ups, our fears and our concerns.
We come, conscious that sometimes it is hard
to sing God’s praises and even pray for forgiveness
for ourselves and for others.
Bless us today, Tender God. Amen.
Alternate Call to Worship
“Gracious God, you show us the meaning of reconciliation in the life of Jesus Christ.
In His touch, His words, His actions, Jesus reconciled people to God and to the community.
We gather to renew ourselves that we, too, might reconcile others with a touch, a word, or an act.” Chalice Worship (177)
Prayer:
God’s Love for All People
Chalice Hymnal 682
World Council of Churches Vancouver Assembly 1983
Eternal God, whose image lies in the hearts of all people,
We live among peoples whose ways are different from ours,
Whose faiths are foreign to us,
Whose tongues are unintelligible to us.
Help us to remember that you love all people with your great love,
That all religion is an attempt to respond to you,
That the yearnings of other hearts are much like
our own and are known to you.
Help us to recognize you in the words of truth, the things of beauty,
The actions of love about us.
We pray through Christ, who is a stranger to no one land more than another,
And to every land no less than to another.
— World Council of Churches, Vancouver Assembly, 1983 in God Has No Religion by Frances Sheridan Goulart
Hymns/Praise Songs
Hear Our Praises by Reuben Morgan
Chalice Praise #41
For Everyone Born, A Place At The Table
by Shirley Erena Murray 685 Church of Scotland
Partial Lyrics:
For everyone born, a place at the table.
For everyone born, clean water and bread
a new shelter, space, a safe place for growing,
for everyone born, a star overhead,
[Chorus]
And God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, compassion and peace:
yes, God will delight when we are creators
of justice and joy, justice and joy!
I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me
Arranged by Bill Thomas
Chalice Hymnal #614
Woke Up This Morning
African American Spiritual Chalice Hymnal #623
Alternate Verse: Woke up this morning with my mind Stayed on justice
God of Freedom, God of Justice
By Shirley Erena Murray, Guthrie Foote
Chalice Hymnal #656
Special Music Piece Video – “A Place at the table”
Communion Prayer
Benediction
Let us depart in peace, and in love and grace toward our neighbors. May we be joined together in the common goal of service to our God and God’s beloved. May God’s blessing of peace and freedom be with us all. Amen.
