Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
May 11, 2008
Worship 10:00 am, Sunday School 11:10 am

Pentecost ... Mother's Day

  Morning Praise (9:45 am)
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Hymn                                "Spirit of the living God"                                   349

  Call to Worship

*Hymn                            "O Holy Spirit, making whole"                              300

*Unison Prayer                                                                  (see back of bulletin)

*Scripture                                      Acts 2:1-4

  "Radical Mothers' Day"

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God’s listening presence)

  Hymn                        "The care the eagle gives her young"                         590

  Pastoral Prayer

  Responsive Reading                                                                        (see insert)

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                             1 Corinthians 12:3-13

  Message              "Damaged goods or unclaimed goods" (mp3 audio)

*Hymn                                  "There are many gifts"                                    304

*Benediction

to be posted

  Responsive Reading     "Radical Mothers' Day"

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Call to Worship

1 - On that day long ago when the church of Jesus Christ was born, Peter began his explanation of what was happening with these words from the prophet Joel:

2 - “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy…” (Acts 2:17-18)

1 - Through a song, we have just prayed that the Spirit of the living God would fall afresh upon us now.

2 - Did you mean what you prayed?

1 - “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)

2 - Melt me.

1 - Are we willing to change?

2 - Mold me.

1 - Are we available to become what God might make of us?

2 - Fill me.

1 - Not just halfway, but all the way?

2 - Use me.

1 - Do you really mean that?

Unison Prayer
Poured out Together

Holy Spirit and Comforter,
Blessed Guide and Supportive Presence -
       poured out and taken in.

What are we to do?
How are we to live?

May we receive you anew, our God -
       poured out, available, and accessible.

Thank you, Lord,
       for your Holy Spirit with us, and
       for mothers who demonstrate faith for us.

Shower us again with your Spirit;
Bless us again with gratitude
       for the parenting we receive
       from your servants.

Pentecost and Mother's Day-
       a unique and cheerful coming together.

Amen.

by Marie Willoughby, District executive/minister
Michigan District, Church of the Brethren
Church of the Brethren Living Word Bulletin
Anchor/Wallace, Sleepy Eye MN 56085, "The Living Word Series"
 

Scripture
Acts 2:1-4

         Remain standing and hold on to the pew in front of you as I read the beginning of the story of the church. Listen.
  

         Okay, you can let go of the bench and sit down now. But don't get too comfortable. When the Bible calls the Holy Spirit our "Comforter," it's not because God's Spirit only covers us up and keeps us warm at night. There’s "wind," and "fire," and "ability."
 

Radical Mothers’ Day

The Year 2008 is the 150th anniversary of Mothers' Day in the United States. Coinciding this year with Pentecost, it is a moment to remind ourselves of the radical roots of Mothers' Day, which began in rural West Virginia as a social change movement . Anna Reeves Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day." She continued organizing throughout the years of the Civil War, working with women on both sides of the conflict to encourage more adequate care for all the wounded, and later working for reconciliation between Union and Confederate neighbors.

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," wrote the "Mother’s Day Proclamation" calling for a "Mothers' Day for Peace," to work for peace and disarmament.

Later in this morning's worship, we will join in a responsive reading that honors both Mothers' Day and Pentecost. If you would turn to it just now on your bulletin insert you will notice there are two places where you will be invited to speak out loud someone's name. In the first instance, you are asked to name some woman "of history who has been moved by the Spirit to proclaim and live out God’s vision of peace with justice." Our quilting group on Wednesday thought of the following women:

Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi (Nobel Peace Prize winner), Rosa Park, Harriet Tubman, Anna Mow, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, Lady Baden-Powell, Lois Nafzinger, Bea Curren, Esther Krause (who help start Camp Mardela), Belita Mitchell (2007 Annual Conference Moderator).

You are not limited to one of those names. Come up with one of your own. At that point in the responsive reading, you are invited to say it out loud, everyone doing so at the same time. The cacophony of voices speaking together but different will be similar to the sound of that the first Pentecost.

The first 2 paragraphs were written by Rev. Ann L. Hanson,
Minister for Children, Families and Human Sexuality Advocacy
UCC Justice and Witness Ministries
Copyright 2008 Local Church Ministries, Worship and Education Ministry Team,
United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100.
Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.
All publishing rights reserved.
  

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

Responsive Reading

One: On the day of Pentecost, followers of Jesus gathered,
                        including many women:

  All: Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene,
            Mary and Martha, Salome, Susanna, Joanna,
            the Canaanite woman and her daughter,
            the Samaritan woman, Philip's four daughters,
            Peter's mother-in law, women who had been healed
                        or touched by Jesus and many, many more.

One: As the Spirit fell upon them,
            all hearts were opened and they began to prophesy:

  All: Some used the utterance of wisdom,
            another the gift of knowledge,
            others became healers and interpreters of tongues.
            All used their gifts for the common good.
            In the presence of the Spirit, in the power of Pentecost love,
            they proclaimed a vision of God's shalom.

One: Today, we remember the women of history
            who have been moved by the Spirit
            to proclaim and live out God's vision of peace with justice:

                                 (Let us lift up the names of women who have worked for justice
                                                and peace to honor on this Mother’s Day)

  All: May your daughters prophesy justice and your sons dream peace!

One: On this Mother's Day, let us lift up the names of women
           in our own lives who have mothered us and
           witnessed to us the power of love and the Spirit:

                                (you are invited to lift up the names of women who have
                                                nurtured your life and educated you in faith)

  All: May your daughters prophesy justice and your sons dream peace!

One: As it happened on the day of Pentecost, let the Spirit come upon us
            as we go about our ministry together, today and always.

written by Rev. Ann L. Hanson,
Minister for Children, Families and Human Sexuality Advocacy
UCC Justice and Witness Ministries
Copyright 2008 Local Church Ministries, Worship and Education Ministry Team,
United Church of Christ, 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100.
Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this material for use in services of worship or church education.
All publishing rights reserved.
  

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

         Does the apostrophe on "Mothers' Day" come before or after the "s"?  In other words, is this a day to honor all mothers, or one mother in particular? Along with your regular offering this morning, you have the opportunity to give a special gift in honor of or in memory of someone who has nurtured you. These special offerings will go to the Family Crisis Center, a place where families in trouble, especially mothers and their children, can turn for help.
         Moms are powerful people. Pentecost and Mother's Day falling on the same Sunday reminds us where that power comes from. Let's be thankful.
  

Benediction

As you move out from this moment, remember these words attributed to the poet, William Blake:

supposedly from a poem about Pentecost,
though I could not find the primary source