Sunday, February 18, 2007

Ash Wednesday 2007

Ash Wednesday is here again. Here is the second draft of the liturgy for TPUMC.
TRAVIS PARK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
ASH WEDNESDAY, February 21st, 2007 at 7:00 PM

GREETING
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Bless the Lord who forgives all our sins.
God’s mercy endures forever.

*HYMN 2138 Sunday’s Palms are Wednesday’s Ashes

*OPENING PRAYER IN UNISON:
For the mystery of your Presence in and beyond all that can be see thanks be to you. Guide me further this night into the inner universe of my soul ever opening inwards light upon light new depth after new depth. Guide me through strange and fearful spaces towards the place of your eternal dwelling. Amen.

LESSON FROM HEBREW SCRIPTURE Joel 2:1-2. 12-13

ANTHEM Create in Me a Clean Heart Carl F. Mueller
Sanctuary Choir; Lana Cartlidge Potts, accompanist
LESSON FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT II Corinthians 6:2b-10

HOMILY Beyond the Ashes Rev. Deanna Kirby

BURNING OF THE PALMS

THANKSGIVING OVER THE ASHES
The Lord be with you
And also with you
Let us pray:
Almighty God, you have created us out of the dust of the earth; these ashes may be to us a sign of our mortality and penitence, so we may remember that only by your gracious gift are we given to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

IMPOSITION OF ASHES

*HYMN 77 How Great Thou Art

BENEDICTION

*Please stand if you are able.

February 18 9:00 Liturgy

Well, our pastor wasn't preaching about the Transfiguration but I got it in as best I could! :)

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, February 18th, 2007
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Camerata San Antonio

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news,
People: Who publish peace, who bring good tidings, who publish salvation, and
proclaim, “Your God reigns!”
Leader: God will judge between many peoples,
People: And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and nation shall not lift
up sword against nation: neither shall they learn war any more.
All: Let us lift up our voices and praise the God of peace and justice. Amen.
--Ruth C. Duck

OPENING HYMN* No. 2103 We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Eternal God, we confess that we do not expect and long for the transforming power of your love to work miracles in these hard hearts of ours. Yet we secretly long for a rescue, an escape, a miracle, to relieve us of the responsibilities and the challenges you set before us. Healing Spirit, renew our confidence in your power and in the power of love to change our lives, and give us courage to be the fully responsible persons Christ calls us to be. Amen.
--Ruth C. Duck

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Matthew 12:31-32 Rev. John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Waitin’ for the Light to Shine from Big River
Words and Music by Roger Miller
Sanctuary Choir; Lana Cartlidge Potts, accompanist

I have lived in the darkness for so long, I’m waitin’ for the light to shine.
Far beyond horizons I have seen, beyond the things I’ve been,
Beyond the dreams I’ve dreamed are the things I’ve done,
In fact, each and everyone are the way that I was taught to run.

I am waitin’ for the light to shine, I am waitin’ for the light to shine.
I have lived in the darkness for so long, I’m waitin’ for the light to shine.
Yes, I’m waitin’ for the light to shine, I’m waitin’ for the light to shine.
I have lived for the darkness for so long, I’m waitin’ for the light to shine.
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Camerata San Antonio

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 378 Amazing Grace ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Camerata San Antonio

February 11 9:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, February 11th, 2007
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Lana Cartlidge Potts

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: Sing praises to God, O you saints, and give thanks to God’s holy name!People: We exalt you, O God, for you have restored us to life!
Leader: We may cry through the night, but your joy comes with the morning.
People: You hear us, O God, and you are gracious in our distress.
Leader: You turn our mourning into dancing!
People: Our souls cannot be silent! O God, our Savior, we give thanks to you for
ever!
--Jane C. Weaver

OPENING HYMN* No. 102 Now Thank We All Our God ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Leader: God, we confess our day to day failure to be truly human.
People: God, we confess to you.
Leader: God, we confess that we often fail to love with all we have and are, often because we don
not fully understand what loving means, often because we are afraid of risking ourselves.
People: God, we confess to you.
Leader: God, we cut ourselves off from each other and we erect barriers of division.
People: God, we confess to you.
Leader: God, we confess that by silence and ill-considered word
People: we have built up walls of prejudice.
Leader: God, we confess that by selfishness and lack of sympathy
People: we have stifled generosity and left little time for others.
Leader: Holy Spirit, speak to us. Help us listen to your word of forgiveness, for we are very deaf.
Come, fill this moment and free us from sin.

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Blest Are They
Text: Matthew 5:3-16; Music: David Haas
Sanctuary Choir; Lana Cartlidge Potts, accompanist

For the text please see No. 2155 in The Faith We Sing
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Emily Watkins, viola

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 2076 O Blessed Spring ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Emily Watkins, viola

I promise I'm not dead! (And other random thoughts.)

Wow, it's been yet another long sojourn from blogging. Life is full!!!! I just returned from a wonderful few days of skiing with great friends in New Mexico. We drove in during a blizzard (which, unfortunately, seemed to keep us from seeing any aliens in Roswell) so the skiing was great.

Recently, I have been preparing for my final ordination interview. The moment of truth, so to speak, occurs February 27th, at 2:00. I'm a bit nervous but I am looking forward to getting started on the interview.

I just finished reading Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity. Borg is truly a gift to the church. While the ending wasn't as strong, at least in my humble opinion, as the rest of the book, I believe it should be required reading for any progressive Christian.

Also, I finished reading Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak during my vacation. Palmer is a gift as well! I would recommend this book for anyone who is struggling to discern what their true vocation might be.

More random thoughts...the Sanctuary Choir here at TPUMC is working on the Rutter Requiem which is coming along better some days than others...I'm struggling not to panic! :)

I just found out that I will be preaching March 4th and I am quite excited about it! I will be preaching the early service and our district superintendent the second. The lectionary texts for the day are Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; and Luke 13:31-35. Lot's of difficult and interesting options!

Well, I've got a few more minutes until my wife gets out from her work with our youth group, so I better wrap things up!

God bless you and do not be afraid!!!

Monday, January 22, 2007

9:00 Liturgy for February 4th, 2007

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, February 4th, 2007
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Ken Freudigman, cello

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: I will sing of mercy and justice.People: For mercy and justice are praises befitting God.
Leader: I will follow the way of mercy and justice, for it is the way to peace.
Congregation: And on the seventh day peace was created; this is our Sabbath, the
day of peace, the aim of creation.
All: Thanks be to God!
--Keith A. Schuette

OPENING HYMN* No. 557 God of Grace and God of Glory ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
O God, whose heart weeps at the disobedience and the suffering of any of your creatures, look with justice and mercy on the prominent trouble spots of your globe. You be the champion of those who suffer poverty, dislocation, hunger, and disease. You be the chastisement of those who abuse innocent victims. Unerring judge of us all, forgive us our involvement in the sins of your people, whether it be by action direct or indirect. Renew in us the will to make peace and do justice that we may bring you delight, not tears. Amen
--Ruth C. Duck

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Blest Are They
Text: Matthew 5:3-16; Music: David Haas
Sanctuary Choir; Lana Cartlidge Potts, accompanist

For the text please see No. 2155 in The Faith We Sing
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 2241 The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Ken Freudigman, cello

1/28/07 11:00 Service

This service will be fun. Our youth choir is going to serve as one of the choirs and will sing with the band, which is going to be really cool!

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, January 28th, 2007

OPENING MUSIC:
You are Good
C-Band Medley

WELCOME (Registration Pads, Questions)

Sanctuary

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying

CALL FOR THE OFFERING

OFFERTORY: Clarence or Ernie

MESSAGE Rev. John Flowers

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Soon and Very Soon

POSTLUDE: Sent Out In Jesus Name

1/28/07 9:00 Liturgy

Whew! I can't believe...the Monday before the service!

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, January 28th, 2007
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Allemande BWV 1007 J.S. Bach
Rebekah Ward, viola

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: The God of New Beginnings has called us to this place.People: We come celebrating the new life that is ours as God’s faithful people.Leader: Let your joy ring through the universe, and let your vision see to the depths of every soul.
Congregation: We will be shouters of joy and seekers of God’s light wherever we go. Praise God for this day!
--Sandra E. Graham

OPENING HYMN* No. 2236 Gather Us In ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Eternal God,. You love us steadfastly, but we have trouble loving in return’ you call us, but we have wax-filled ears; you reveal yourself, but our eyelids are heavy; you lead us toward our neighbor, but we build walls around ourselves; you hate evil, injustice, and alienation, but we get used to it. O God, we pray, help us to see ourselves both as we are and as we might be before you, and draw us by your Spirit’s tether into your forgiving, renewing, and serviceable grace, through the mercies of Christ. Amen.
--David D. Bowman

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Jeremiah 1:4-10 & I Corinthians 13:1-13 Rev. John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: The Gift of Love
Text I Corinthians 13, Music Hal H. Hopson
Sanctuary Choir; Mark Rubinstein, accompanist

Though I mad speak with bravest fire,
And have the gift to all inspire,
and have not love;
My words are vain, as sounding brass, and hopeless gain.

Though I may give all I possess,
And striving so my love profess,
But not be giv’n by love within,
The profit soon turns strangely thin.

Come, Spirit, come, our hearts control,
Our spirits long to be made whole.
Let inward love guide ev’ry deed.
By this we worship and are freed.
Amen.
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Emily Watkins, viola

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 2228 Sacred the Body ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Courante BWV 1007 J.S. Bach
Rebekah Ward, viola

Thursday, January 18, 2007

1/21/07 11:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, January 21st, 2007

OPENING MUSIC:
Woke Up This Morning
Victory Chant

WELCOME (Registration Pads, Questions)

More Like You

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying

CALL FOR THE OFFERING

OFFERTORY: Thy Word Emmaus Youth Choir

MESSAGE Luke 4:14-21 Rev. Karen Vannoy

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Can You Believe?

POSTLUDE: Can You Believe? (reprise)

1/21/07 9:00 Worship

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, January 21st, 2007
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Camerata San Antonio

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: God said: let there be light; and there was light. Congregation: And God saw that the light was good.Leader: This very day our God has acted! Let us rejoice!
Congregation: Alleluia! God’s name be praised!
--from The Worship Book: Services and Hymns

OPENING HYMN* No. 89 Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Jesus, revealer of all that we can know of the Divine, your words in the Scripture we are about to hear so plainly reveal your life’s work and thereby our own work as well. We are to follow your example and by God’s grace and sustaining power, we are to bring good news to the poor. We are to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Help us God! In our brokenness we have often not done what you have asked of us. Forgive us, Creator, and transform us into all that you would have us to be. We ask this in your worthy Son’s name, Jesus. Amen.
--Rev. Joe Stobaugh

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

ANTHEM Thy Word Emmaus Youth Choir
Words: Amy Grant (Ps. 119:105) Music by Michael W. Smith, arr. Jack Schrader
Patty Riggle Bonner, accompanist

MESSAGE Luke 4:14-21 Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: The Journey is Our Home
Sanctuary Choir; Mark Rubinstein, accompanist
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Camerata San Antonio

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 2182 When God Restored Our Common Life ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Camerata San Antonio

Monday, January 15, 2007

Books!

I'm reading some good books at the moment! (Life's too short to read bad ones, I suppose.)
I'm finally nearing the end of The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg, which has been very informative.
I have also begun Borg's Jesus and am finishing Diana Butler Bass' Christianity for the Rest of Us. I'm re-reading Walter Wink's The Powers that Be and am about to start Parker Palmer's Let Your Life Speak.
My first encounter with Palmer came from the wonderful, life change, absolutly amazing The Musician's Soul by James Jordan. If you are a musician or a teacher, you must read this book! I cannot begin to tell you how much it has changed my life and work. Check it out, today!!!! It should be required reading for all musicians!

A cold, cold night in SA

Finally, it's gotten cold in San Antonio. (At least by San Antonio standards.) In our neck of the woods it's 29 degrees and the wind is blowing hard and constantly! They are expecting 1/4 inch of ice by the morning. We'll see...should be interesting.
I marched this morning along with 70 of my closest friends from Traivs Park UMC in the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March this morning. Normally, San Antonio's march is the largest march of its kind in the country. Last year there were over 100,000 participants. This year, it was more like 4,000. The weather drove many people away, which, while understandable, is also sad to me. Certainly King would have marched for us!

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

9:00 12/31/06

Wow...I've totally lost the liturgy to our 9:00 12/31/06 service, where we did a full liturgy of the Wesley Covenant Renewal Service...the saddest part is, I preached it! And I can't find my text either! Unbelievable! I'll look for it at home.

Catching up! 12/31/06 11:00 Liturgy

We did a contemporary "Wesley Covenant Renewal Service" on this Sunday.
Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, December 31st, 2006

OPENING MUSIC:
C-Band Medley
Can You Believe

WELCOME (Registration Pads, Questions) Rev. Joe Stobaugh

More Like You

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS Rev. Willie Glaster

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying

MESSAGE Rev. Taylor Boone

COVENANT SERVICE (Covenant Prayer on Screen—Use Last Years)

CALL FOR THE OFFERING Rev. Dena Kirby

OFFERTORY God’s Got a Blessing

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: Guide My Feet

POSTLUDE: God’s Got a Blessing (Reprise)

11:00 MLK Service

This one is going to be sweet too! U2, James Taylor, and a host of other excellent pieces. During MLK we are going to have the video of Dr. King's I Have a Dream speech playing on two screens in the church. Powerful!

Travis Park UMC
Celebration Worship Service
Sunday, January 14th, 2007

OPENING MUSIC:
In the Sanctuary
Shed a Little Light
Lift Every Voice and Sing

WELCOME (Registration Pads, Questions)

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

PRAYER OVER THE PRAYER CARDS

Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying

CALL FOR THE OFFERING

OFFERTORY: MLK

MESSAGE Amos 5:24 Rev. John Flowers

BAPTISM

INVITATION TO DISCPLESHIP: We Shall Overcome

POSTLUDE: Victory Chant

Martin Luther King Sunday 9:00 Liturgy

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a huge hero of mine and I always look forward to Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday. This service is going to be amazing! If you haven't heard U2's MLK you are missing out! It's worth the download on iTunes. Also, if you're a choral nut, check out Imaginings by the UNT A Cappella Choir for the arrangment we are doing by Bob Chilcott: beautiful!


Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, January 14th, 2007
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Sunday
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

CALL TO WORSHIP*
Leader: Let us speak of mercy and justice.Congregation: For these are the things suitable for our God.Leader: Let us follow the ways of mercy and justice, for they are the ways of peace and community.Congregation: Let us lift up our hearts in conviction and our voices in commitment and praise to the Lord of peace and the God of justice; the hope and healing of humanity.
--Rev. Brett Strobel, pastor of the Newman United Methodist Church

OPENING HYMN* No. 519 Lift Every Voice and Sing ALL

PRAYER of CONFESSION
Just as our brother in Christ, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream for God’s children, so you God have a dream for your creation. Forgive us, God, where we have stood in opposition to your dreams. Help us to search our souls, to examine our lives, to see where we have blocked your way, where we have trampled upon your Spirit, and where we have been neglectful of your will. Help us to bring our dreams and our stories inline with yours. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
--Rev. Joe Stobaugh

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE

MESSAGE Amos 5:24 Rev. John Flowers

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: MLK
Words & Music by U2, arr. Bob Chilcott
Sanctuary Choir; Jeff Aitken, soloist

Sleep, sleep tonight,
and may your dreams be realized.
If the thunder cloud passes rain
so let it rain, rain down on him.
So let it be. So let it be.
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: where Christ in glory reigns.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyous prayer, always and everywhere to give you thanks. For
in the beginning, Creator God, You made the earth; round, rich, and fertile, the mother of all life, the seedbed of all growth.
People: You bent low and gently gathered up a handful of clay and shaped and
wonderfully and intricately made man and woman.
Leader: You breathed wind and spirit into flesh and bone.
People: We became like you, formed in your image carrying the stars in our eyes,
the moon in our hearts and the cosmos in every breath.
Leader: And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the
faithful touched by the Spirit, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:
--from Water Words by Larry Peacock

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 474 Precious Lord, Take My Hand ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

Happy New Year!

2007!!!! Amazing! What a blessing it is to start over with a new year, a fresh start! (It should be this easy to feel a fresh start everyday, shouldn't it?)
Christmas Eve went well, though I had contaced a terrible virus that caused me to lose 6 pounds in twelve hours! Not much fun. The virus has been running through San Antonio like wildfire. I got it from my amazing daughter (who is now 1!!!!!!) and then my poor wife got if from me on Christmas Day! What a beating!
In spite of all that, 2006 finished well and I'm really stoked about 2007!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Christmas Eve 2006

I cannot wait for Christmas Eve! This year we are going to have a wonderful service with lots of great music, great preaching a bit of drama, etc. It's going to be nice!

Travis Park UMC-Christmas Eve Worship
Sunday, December 24th, 2006
Christmas Eve
7:00 p.m.


CHORAL CALL TO WORSHIP: Lost in the Night
Text: Finnish Song, tr. Olav Lee; Music: arr. Kyle Haugen
Emmaus Youth Choir; Sanctuary Choir
Sarah Homer, soprano soloist

Lost in the night do the people yet languish,
Longing for morning the darkness to vanquish,
Plaintively heaving a sigh full of anguish.
Will not day come soon?
Will not day come soon?

Must we be vainly awaiting the morrow?
Shall those who have light no light let us borrow,
Giving no heed to our burden of sorrow?
Will you help us soon?
Will you help us soon?

Sorrowing wand’ers, in darkness yet dwelling,
Dawned has the day of a radiance excelling,
Death’s dreaded darkness forever dispelling.
Christ is coming soon, Christ is coming soon!

Will not day come soon?
Come and save us soon!
Christ is coming soon!

*OPENING PRAYER
God of starlight and holy nights, surprise us again with the miracle of birth, the glorious birth of Jesus. Help us see the wonder and delight of it all as the children enact the story.
Soften our hearts, touch our souls and fill us with love, for the birth of Jesus changed our world, changed our lives. Open us to receiving once again your love so that we may share your love with those in need. Amen
--Larry J. Peacock

*OPENING HYMN No. 234 O Come, All Ye Faithful st.1-4 All




CHILDREDN’S CHRISTMAS PAGENT Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:9-11
Scripture Passages read by Rev. Karen Vannoy and Rev. John Flowers

What Child is This? vs. 1
The First Noel, vs. 1
We Three Kings, vs. 1
Away in a Manger, vs. 1
Joy to the World, vs. 1
ANTHEM: Fum, Fum, Fum arr. S. Childs
Sacred Melodies; Jackie Shepherd, conductor; Mark Rubinstein, accompanist

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT AND CHRIST CANDLES
Rev. Joe Stobaugh and Mrs. Sarah Stobaugh and Eleanor Grace Stobaugh

Leader: Now we are all collected in the stable, where all people are gathered, each in their own dress of habits and flaws.
People: Here, we find the pain of Mary; the endurance of Joseph; the economics of the innkeeper; the not knowing of the shepherds.
Leader: Around our lonely hours and the crush of crowds, there still shines the manger presence.
People: What can we do, but kneel? And when we rise, straw dust on our knees, cobwebs in our hair, stars in our eyes, you have invaded our hearts, armed with love.
--Rev. Karen Vannoy

MESSAGE Christmas at the Manger Rev. John Flowers

MUSICAL RESPONSE: I Pray on Christmas
Text and Music by Harry Connick, Jr.
Celebration Singers; Clark Stevens, soloist; Mark Rubinstein, pianist

I pray on Christmas that the Lord will see my through.
I pray on Christmas He’ll show me what to do.
I pray on Christmas He’ll help me understand.
And I pray on Christmas He’ll take me by the hand.

I pray on Christmas that the sick will soon be strong.
I pray on Christmas the Lord will hear my song.
I pray on Christmas that God will lead the way.
And I pray on Christmas He’ll get me through another day.

I pray on Christmas all our problems gonna be worked out.
I pray on Christmas God’ll show us what love’s about.
I pray on Christmas to do your will each day.
And I pray on Christmas that I’ll be with you in heaven some day.

A WITNESS TO TRANSFORMATION ?????

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Maria Wiegenlied Max Reger
Camerata San Antonio
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)

THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY COMMUNION
Leader: God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts.
People: We lift them up to God.
Leader: Thank you, God, for giving yourself to the world, not in the powerful and
extraordinary,
People: but in weakness and the familiar: in a baby; in bread and
wine.
Leader: Than you for offering, at journey’s end, a new beginning;
People: for setting, in the poverty of a stable, the richest jewel of your
love;
Leader: for revealing, in a particular place, your light for all nations.
People: Thank you for bringing us to Bethlehem, House of Bread,
where the empty are filled, and the filled are emptied; and all join their voices together singing:
--Kate Compston, England, 1990; Matthew 2:1-12


SANCTUS No. 238 Angels We Have Heard on High All
(please ring your bells during the Gloria)

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
Leader: Holy God, we praise you for this holy season of hints and whispers, when
you sent your best gift to us. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine. Make them become for us the presence of Christ, so that we may be signs of new life for our searching world. By your Spirit make us one with Christ, one with all creation and one in service to all the world until Christ comes in radiant glory and seats all at the heavenly table.
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book


COMMUNION MUSIC: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
Music by Johannes Brahms; Performed by Camerata San Antonio

ANTHEM Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
Text: Wzlobie Lezy, trans. Edith M.G. Reed (1885-1933)
Music: Polish Carol, arr. Mack Wilberg
Sanctuary Choir;
Lana Cartlidge Potts, organist; Camerata San Antonio

Infant Holy, Infant lowly, For his bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Swifly winging angels singing, Nowells ringing,
Tidings bringing: Christ the Babe is Lord of all.
Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping Vigil till the morning new
Saw the glory, heard the story, Tidings of a gospel true.
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow, Praises voicing, greet the morrow:
Christ the Babe was born for you.
Christ the Babe was born, for you.
Christ was born for you.

*LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS CANDLES No. 239 Silent Night ALL

BENEDICTION—text from Brian Wren

Advent 4 Liturgy

Tis' the season for pastoral musician chaos!!!!!!! Here's what we've got for this week, good stuff!

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, December 24th, 2006
9:00 a.m.

PRELUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

CALL TO WORSHIP*
We are waiting
We are searching
Looking for the way home
Staying alert to signs
Listening carefully for directions
On our journey home to God
--Alison Boone

OPENING HYMN* No. 211 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel ALL

OPENING PRAYER
Mysterious God, you are both journey and destination, our companion and our goal. We thank you that you are as close as our very breath, always ready to guide, to nudge, to encourage. We thank you that you go before us, always leading, calling us onward. We thank you that you await us, standing with open arms, running to greet us as we make our way to you.
O God, may we remember that you do not call us only as individuals, but also as members of your family. Empower us to love and serve all members of your family – of our family – so that the hungry are filled and the lowly are lifted up and all are welcome. We pray in the name of the One who comes to show us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

CANDLE LIGHTING
Leader: God is light!
People: In whom there is no darkness at all.
Leader: Each of us shares in the divine light shining forth. We are called to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to release the captive, to bring about the dream of God.
People: For nothing will be impossible with God.
Candle Lighters: The Laborde/Steubing Family

CAROL MEDLEY No. 240 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
No. 230 O Little Town of Bethlehem
No. 221 In the Bleak Midwinter
No. 220 Angels from the Realms of Glory

MESSAGE Luke 1:39-45 Rev. Karen Vannoy

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Gabriel’s Message
Words by S. Baring-Gould; Music: Basque Carol, arr. Sir David Willcocks

The angel Gabriel from heaven came,
His wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame;
‘All hail,’ said he, ‘thou lowly maiden Mary,
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

‘For known a blessed Mother thou shalt be,
All generations laud and honour thee,
Thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers fore-told,’
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

Then gentle Mary meekly bowed her head,
‘To me be as it pleaseth God,’ she said,
‘My soul shall laud and magnify his holy name.’
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

Of her, Emmanuel, the Christ, was born
In Bethlehem, all on a Christmas morn,
And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say:
Most highly favour’d lady, Gloria!

(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)


*DOXOLOGY
(This morning’s doxology is found in the back of The Faith We Sing found in your pew rack.)

SERVICE OF HOLY COMMUNION

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION
All: Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,
Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, living God, in whom is heaven:
The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of your justice be followed by the people of the world!
Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
From the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you reign in the glory of the power that is love, now and forever.
Amen.
--from A New Zealand Prayer Book

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

PRAYER AFTER RECEIVING
O God, we thank you for this homecoming feast, prepared for all to share. Send us out to proclaim the good news of our home with you, a home filled with mercy and justice and love. We pray in the name of Jesus, who came to show us the way. Amen.
--Alison Boone

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 246 Joy to the World ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Angela Caporale, violin

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Been a while....

Whew...tis' the season for lots of work! I know it's been a while since I last posted. Advent this year has been surprisingly full. Once I got done with my ordination paperwork and World AIDS Day I thought I'd have more time but, as usual, it was less than I wanted. I think that's a trick of the mind, we're always looking forward to breaks, vacations, etc. so that we can hold on and finish the work we have in front of us. (If one is lucky enough to have those luxuries.)
Right now I'm reading several interesting books...
I'm working through Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity, Diana Butler Bass's Christianity for the Rest of Us, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. Golf by Design, and a devotional collection on Advent and Christmas music by an Anglican Priest. The Borg and Butler Bass books are proving to be the most interesting of the four. I'll post more if anything incredibly revelatory occurs in these works!

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Now What? A Homily for World AIDS Day

Here's the homily that I preached last Friday. I used the manuscript as a jumping off place and riffed a bit more in the actual spoken homily.

Now What?
A Homily for World AIDS Day 2006

Tonight, friends, we are here together. That is important! Tonight, even if only for an hour or two, we are in community. Tonight we have sung songs, prayed prayers, and we’ve listened to beautiful music. We have raised our voices against injustice. And all day long we’ve been exposed to horrible, mind-numbing statistics. Statistics that remind us that there are 39.5 million people living with AIDS and that 2.9 million people have died of AIDS related illnesses this year. We have heard that there have been 4.3 million new infections this year. But beyond that, we remember the faces that those statistics represent. Those numbers, and the faces we remember, can cause us to feel the heaviness that all too often engulfs the world. Tonight, we might be caught in the darkness that shrouds our planet.
But the good in this is, for tonight, at least, we are together! And our togetherness should give us hope. Because it is in our togetherness that we remember our dead, we mourn our friends, and we miss our family. But we don’t grieve alone, because tonight we are together. This is a good thing because God never wants us to be alone.
I want to get local with you for just a moment. This church has not always been a place that was about compassion, and dignity and respect for all. This church had a bit of a reputation for exuding jugement when it should have been exuding love, compassion, and working for justice. But now, it is doing those good things, as are many churches across the world.
In churches and in religious communities across the world where just ten to fifteen years ago HIV/AIDS was a horrible stigma for anyone to have, many of those same communities are now working to be in solidarity with those who have AIDS and to be in community with them. The church is working on treating everyone with dignity and respect.
As the sun rose in Washington D.C. this morning there was a live feed on CNN from Foundry UMC in Washington D.C. where their prayer vigil for World AIDS Day was beginning. As the sun passes from the east to the middle of our country, we have had events, prayers, and remembrance here at this church. As the sun continues its journey to the west, churches and religious communities from Texas to New Mexico, to Arizona, to Nevada, to California, and to Hawaii are having services to mark World AIDS Day and to remember those who have left us. Truly, the church and religious traditions of all kinds from all over the world are raising their voices to the heavens this day: this should give us hope as well!
But, if you are at all like me, you find yourself asking the question, now what? Some of you have been in this struggle since the beginning, over twenty-five years ago, and some of us are here for the first time.
All I can tell you is this: what we are doing tonight makes a difference and we need to continue this work. We must continue to lift our voices with our friends from around the world. Certainly we do this in remembrance of those who we have lost, but we also raise our voices to say that HIV/AIDS is the greatest pandemic humanity has ever faced. We raise our voices to remind the world that it is not o.k. to compartmentalize AIDS as just a “health” issue for “those people” because it is truly a “human” issue! We raise our voices to say that AIDS, along with global poverty, are the defining issues of our generation. We must remind the world that the global AIDS pandemic will not and cannot be solved without solving global poverty. It is a tragedy of the first order that thousands of children, women and men will die today because the world refuses to give them medicine! Together we have to remind the world that it cannot ignore these issues!
Let us remind the world, not only with our voices, but with our hearts, with our minds, with our hands and our feet as we leave this place. Let us show the world what it means to love unconditionally and to work for justice. Let us shine light into a world that is all too often filled with darkness.
We need to continue to open people’s eyes, so that they may truly see the cost of this horrible disease. The world needs to be reminded constantly that we are about to lose a generation of people in Africa, that AIDS is a very real pandemic in the United States and around the world. Not only do we need to educate, to teach, and to prevent this terrible disease but we must also remind the world of the intrinsic goodness of God’s creation.
We must remember that, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, that God, who is good, created us, all of us, that God has formed us, and that God loves us and redeems us. When we pass through the waters, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with us. God has made you, and you are precious in God’s sight. Let us take this word into the world to love our friends and those who would oppose us. Let us shine light into the world, because God is with us!
Let all of God’s children say: Amen!