Advent Candles 2026 -- Sing Toward Christmas

 

Advent 1 November 29, 2026 – Hope

Advent is here! A time of lights and songs, of preparing and waiting.

We sing songs to brighten our spirits, we light candles to brighten our rooms

After all these years we still listen for angel song

Ringing out like it once did on a midnight clear

Bringing a promise of a transformed world

With that hope we light a candle [Light one blue candle] and sing together... Sung Response

Advent 2 December 6, 2026 – Peace -- Communion Sunday

Advent is here! A time of lights and songs, of preparing and waiting.

We sing songs to brighten our spirits, we light candles to brighten our rooms

We have sung of hope, and lit one candle [Light one blue candle]

Now we listen for bells ringing over the snow

Sleigh bells, church bells, bells at the Salvation Army kettle

Ringing with the promise of Peace on Earth, ringing above the sounds of hatred and violence.

Seeking that peace we light a candle [Light a second Blue candle] and sing together... Sung Response

Advent 3 December 13, 2026 – Joy

Advent is here! A time of lights and songs, of preparing and waiting.

We sing songs to brighten our spirits, we light candles to brighten our rooms

We have sung of hope and of peace, and lit candles [Light two blue candles]

The songs of Christmas lift our hearts, they brighten our souls

In church, at home, singing along with the radio in the car

we hear the promise of God’s comforting presence, we get caught up in tidings of great joy which shall be for all people.

With joy-filled hearts we light a candle [Light third blue candle] and sing together... Sung Response

Advent 4 December 20, 2026 – Love

Advent is here! A time of lights and songs, of preparing and waiting.

We sing songs to brighten our spirits, we light candles to brighten our rooms

We have sung of hope, of peace, and of joy, and lit candles [Light three blue candles]

The story of Christmas is a story of love, the songs include lullabies for a newborn baby.

Taking us back to silent streets, inviting us to share our dreams and hopes and fears

Helping us to see love and hope shining in the darkness

Resting in God’s love we light a candle [Light fourth blue candle] and sing together... Sung Response

For September 20, 2026 -- Creation 2

CALL TO WORSHIP
The One who has been with us from the beginning calls us to gather.
We come to sing, to pray, to listen, to be refreshed.
Let us offer our praises to the One who gives us great gifts
We join with the rest of God’s Creation sharing praise and thanksgiving.
Let us worship together...

OPENING PRAYER
God of abundance, once again we gather in worship.
Open, we ask, our hearts and souls in this hour.
Move in and around us, Holy Spirit of love,
embolden us to live as people of the Kingdom of God.
Help us see the world anew,
giving us clarity about what we need
and the wisdom to take only what we need.
We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who calls us into the Beloved Community, who encourages us to pray together saying...

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God of abundance, you have placed us in a world of plenty and told us to take what we need.
So we take what we need, and maybe a bit more.
God of justice and community, you challenge us to ensure that our neighbours have what they
need
So maybe we should only take what we need, and not hold on to our extra.
God of promise, God who leads us into Kingdom living,
Through your grace help us find new paths,
help us remember that what we need and what we want aren’t always the same,
help us share your abundance with all our relations.
...Time of silent prayer...
God, who has created and is creating, who formed and re-forms us, acts through Grace, Mercy, and Wisdom. Where we miss the mark God guides us back to the path. We are forgiven, we are allowed and encouraged to try again.
Thanks be to God. Amen

Offering Dedication Prayer
God of abundance, you give us more than we need.
So here we offer out of that abundance, sharing it with the world around us.
Take our gifts of time, talent and treasure, gifts of love,
and use them to help repair a hurting world.
We offer them in Jesus’ name. Amen

Commissioning for Creation Time 2026

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning” (Romans 8:22)

In this Creation Time we share in Creation’s groaning.

As children of God we leave this time of prayer and song and listening

going out to continue to care for creation, to work to mend the world.

LINE TO GO WITH THE THEME OF THE WEEK

And as you go to live and serve and care, remember that God, who has created and is constantly creating,

is with you each step of the journey.

Thanks be to the Creator, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, Three-in-One and One-in-Three.

Christ Candle for Creation Time

In our faith story the first gift is light, light that brings life and hope and love.

We light this candle to remind us of the light of the beginning, the light that can never be put out.

As its light fills the room and our hearts we quiet our hearts to worship.

Season of Creation Communion Liturgy

Source

Invitation
God, who has created and is creating, has invited us to gather here.
Jesus, the Word-Made-Flesh, calls us to eat and drink together.
The Holy Spirit emboldens us as community to share this meal with all who come to the table of faith where all are welcome.
Here we meet each other and the Divine in the simplest of meals.
Come and taste the grace eternal
Come and see that God is good.

Great Thanksgiving
The God who spoke and sang Creation into being is present here.
We are not alone.
As part of God’s wondrous Creation we lift our voices,
sharing prayers and songs of thanksgiving and praise.

Creator, Source of all, we remember the beginning of the story when you spoke into the chaos
Let there be light!
Then you began the song of the ages, bringing order to the chaos, form to the world.
Sharing the foundational notes of light and dark, day and night, dry land and gathered waters.
But also the undertones that link them together: twilight and shadow, dawn and dusk; fen and marsh, estuary and shoreline.
And still the song continued,
calling forth tree and grass, bush and shrub,
bringing life to the creatures of land and sea and air.
And the song grew as more voices joined in.
The babbling brook, the rustling leaves, the lion’s roar and the chickadee’s chirp. All of Creation sang together.

As the song reached it’s crescendo you sang us, humanity, made in your image, into being.
The great notes of male and female, along with the harmonics of non-binary, and trans, and intersex
Inviting us to join in the song, to care for and guide it as both singers and conductors.
And after all these generations the song continues.
We have not always been good conductors of the song.
Too often we have chosen our own melody, overpowering others. And the great harmonies dissolve into dissonance and discord.
In response you have raised up people of wisdom who call us back to the song. Prophets and priests and protesters who sing the old melody with new words, new variations.
And we are thankful that the song continues, as we attempt to sing it together.

Remembering the Story
Then there came the time you introduced a new movement into the symphony of life.
You sang to Mary of Nazareth, and in return she sang a song of the world being renewed.
Through Mary’s child, Jesus, the song took physical form, walking on earth.
He sang the old song of love in word and action, drawing others to come near and soak in the music of hope.
His song of a world renewed sometimes fell on hardened ears, and some took up a different song in opposition to his vision.
Their song seemed to win as he was arrested, tried, convicted and executed. The old song fell silent.
But only for a moment. You brought the song of Creation back with resurrection, new life, new hope.
And still the song echoes through the Cosmos.

Invoking the Holy Spirit
God whose Holy Spirit blew through the chaos of the beginning, stirring the waters of life into motion,
send, we pray, that Spirit upon and among us here and now.
As the notes of Creation’s great song resound in our ears and hearts, as the Spirit sings to us of love and hope and possibility,
may we be recommitted to sing our parts with full voice and passion.
As the Spirit moves in this meal, transforming the simplicity of bread and juice into a great banquet,
may we be emboldened to care for the song, and for the world which sings it with us.
We pray in the name of Jesus, the Risen Christ, who sings in our souls and encourages us to pray saying...
Our Father...

Sharing The Meal
The bread we share is the Staff of Life.
The cup we share is the Cup of Love.
Gifts from God for the Beloved Children of God
Thanks be to God.

Prayer After Communion
Gift-giver, Creator, Source of all that was and is and yet will be,
we have gathered at the table you set, we have shared the gifts of grain and vine.
May this meal today strengthen us in body and soul, heart and mind,
as we go out to continue to sing, to continue to care for the world as you have called us to do from the beginning.
AMEN.

For Bookending a Sabbatical

 

LAUNCHING INTO SABBATICAL

(M&P Rep, Gord, Congregation)

The commandment to keep Sabbath is deep in our faith story.
Sometimes for a day, or for a fallow season, or for a Jubilee year.
In the Gospels we see Jesus regularly going off by himself to pray.
Sabbath Time is a time for rest, a time for study, a time to be re-energized for life.
Ministry personnel in the United Church are encouraged to take Sabbath Time through regular days off, vacation time, and a Sabbatical Leave every few years. Today we wish Gord well as he embarks on a Sabbatical Leave starting Friday, May 8.
We hope it will be a time of rest, a time to explore other ideas about the church, a time to not worry about the church.

The Sabbath Time is not just for me though, it is a time for you as well.
During these next 4 months we will have a chance to remember the gifts that exist in our midst.
We will lift up the leadership of members of our community in worship, we will hear different voices reflect on what God is doing among us.
We will continue to support each other as we live out our faith.

It is with gratitude for the gift of Sabbath that I enter this time of Sabbatical. I go confident in the leadership that has been arranged over the next 4 months.
As we enter this new season we offer this blessing:
May your time be restful and invigorating.
May you learn new things, or re-learn old things.
May you find time to restore your soul and renew your strength.
May God be with you in the expected and the unexpected.

Gord will return to the office on September 8 and to worship leadership on September 13 when we will celebrate this season of our lives.
As the hymn says:
God be with you till we meet again
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
...daily manna still provide you...
keep love’s banner floating o’er you...
God be with you till we meet again. AMEN

LANDING FROM SABBATICAL

(M&P Rep, Gord, Congregation)

4 months ago we entered a new season as we launched Gord into his Sabbatical Leave. Today we enter a new season as we welcome him as he lands back among us.
While you were gone we had inspired worship leadership.
We continued to live out our faith.
We continued to respond to God’s call to us.
Now we come back together to continue the ministry that we share.
Sabbatical Leave is more than a line on the call form, more than a required part of ministry. Thank you for offering me this time of rest, of learning, of recreation. It has been a blessing.

As we move from one season to another I invite those who took on extra responsibility during this time of Sabbatical, particularly those who led us in worship, to stand so we can thank you appropriately.

And as the Sabbatical season draws to a close we pray...
God who calls us to rest and learn and grow,
we give thanks for the learning and sharing offered these last 4 months.
Together we step forward into a new season seeking to grow together as disciples of Christ, whatever the future may bring.
May you lead us and help us to follow. Amen.

April 12, 2026 -- EAster 2

CALL TO WORSHIP
Beloved Children of God, come as you are!
We come with our hopes and dreams, our fears and doubts.
Beloved Children of God, come as you are!
We come with wounds that are fresh, wounds that are healing, wounds that have left scars
Beloved Children of God, come as you are!
We come to share words of faith and love with each other as we celebrate God’s Presence
Beloved Children of God, let us greet each other in the name of the Risen Christ!

OPENING PRAYER
God, into a world of fear and death,
you bring hope, and love, and life.
Into a world of brokenness,
you bring healing, helping us live with the scars that are left behind
As we sing, pray, and listen this morning
move in our hearts, heal our aching souls, give us peace,
We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, sharing words he once taught his friends....

PRAYER FOR & ASSURANCE OF GRACE
God, we come before you as people who have been shaped and formed by many things.
Some positive and healing, some which have left us wounded and scarred.
Help us, we pray, learn from the shaping,
help us to grow wiser, stronger, and more loving as we try to follow your way.
God of grace, in our woundedness, in our healing, living with scars both inside and outside,
you are there, always, guiding, comforting, leading us forward.
And so we are thankful. Amen

COMMISSIONING
Beloved Children of God, go and live as you are!
Made in God’s image, wounded yet whole, scarred yet healed.
Beloved Children of God, go to share the Good News
that life wins, that hope is stronger than despair, that love heals a broken world.
Beloved Children of God, as you go to live and love and share,
may God who is known in Creation,
who is revealed in Jesus the Risen Christ,
who works in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit
be with you wherever and whoever you are.
Alleluia!