Veradale United Church of Christ
An Open & Affirming Congregation
Worshiping God in Christ – Welcoming All – Working for Justice & Peace
“No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”
July 3, 2022 • 10:30 a.m.
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10:20 Gathering and Prelude
Lois Robertson, Guest Musician
Wayne Shull, Music Director
Cherall Anne St. James, Acolyte
Diane Smith, Guestbook
Jerry Brines, Usher
Charlie Salt, AV
Henry and Hana Reinhardt, Photography
Don Young, Reader
Mavin Wilson, Soloist
Jan Young, Soloist
Kaye Hult, Flutist
Naomi Hanvey, Reader and Facebook Monitor
Scotty Patton, Zoom Monitor
Rev. Gen Heywood, Pastor
10:30am Worship begins
God loves us. . . all the time! All the time . . . God loves us!
Passing of Peace and Welcoming the Light of Christ:
Invocation Prayer
Pastor: Gracious and Loving God, we thank you for being love, and for creating each one of us with the capacity to give love and to receive love. We see your joyous creative activity throughout the universe, and we know that we are part of your creation. We gather in your presence now to celebrate the special love that lives in the hearts of Charlie and Wayne. Let you Spirit be known among us, that the promises made here may bind their hearts and be a sign of your love in this place and in our world. Amen
Hymn: Blessed Assurance
1 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his Spirit, washed in his love.
Refrain: This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.
2 Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending bring from above echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]
3 Perfect submission, all is at rest. I in my Savior am happy and bless’d, watching and waiting, looking above, filled with God’s goodness, lost in Christ’s love. [Refrain]
Community Prayer
CCLI license #11038266
ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Prayers of Gratitude
ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Prayers of Concern
ALL: My peace I give unto you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
Silent Prayer
ALL: My peace I give to you. It’s a peace that the world cannot give. It’s a peace that the world cannot understand. Peace to know. Peace to live. My peace I give unto you.
The Lord’s Prayer: Marvin Wilson, a cappella soloist
Response 812 (NCH)
Amen, amen, amen.
A Time of Offering
Announcements and An Invitation to Share
Dedication Hymn:
CCLI license #11038266
Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because God’s given Jesus Christ, the son. (Repeat) And now let the weak say, “I am strong!” Let the poor say, “I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us!” (repeat)
Give thanks. Give thanks.
Dedication Prayer
Creator of all, we celebrate this day with gratitude and love. Pour out your blessings on our time, talents, and treasure. May our bond with you be one of deep love that causes all that we are and all that we do to be given unto you. Amen
Listening for God
Slides
Wedding Celebration
Charles Salt and Wayne Shull
Processional
Entry Kaye: Pachelbel’s Canon
Lighting of Individual Candles
Gathering Words
Family/Community Affirmation
Pastor Who stands with these two men in acceptance of who they are, what they mean to each other, and their marriage?
(Friends and Family) We do.
Pastor And who will stand with Charlie and Wayne to support them as they continue to grow in their relationship?
(Family and Friends) We will.
First Reading: 1 Corinthians 13
Love is patient and kind: love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful’ it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things. Now abide these three: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love.
Homily
Vows
Ring Exchange
Ring Vows
Candle Ceremony Reading: Ruth 1: 16-18
And Ruth said, “Entreat me not to leave you, or to return from following after you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
Unity Candle Lighting
“A Time for Us” Jan Young
Announced
KISS
Sharing Holy Communion
Pastor: Friends in Christ, as we celebrate the Wedding of Charlie Salt and Wayne Shull, we remember the Wedding in Cana and the first miracle of Jesus. So, it is good and right that the first meal that Charlie and Wayne share is our Lord’s Supper.
Charlie and Wayne: We gather at our many tables mindful of the presence of God’s Spirit that is here with us. We seek to honor the request of Jesus given in the scripture. Of all the teachings Jesus gave to our ancestors, this he asked them and us to remember him.
When Jesus and his friends sat together at a Passover meal, Jesus took bread; giving God thanks and praise, he broke the bread. He gave it to his friends saying, “Take this all of you and eat of it. This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
After the meal had ended, Jesus poured out the cup and again he gave God thanks and praise. He gave the cup to his friends and said, “Take this all of you and drink from it. This is the cup of the new covenant. Do this as often as you drink of it in remembrance of me.”
Let us pray.
All: Come, Holy Spirit come. Bless this bread and this cup and all who have gathered in your Spirit. Help us to remember that you have dwelt among us. Help us to dwell in the world today as living temples of your presence. Bless us to remember your teachings, commandments, and example. May we be renewed in this sharing. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
All: We thank you, God, for your presence as we remember the Living Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you are among us still, in each of us, and in all of your creation. Bless us to more fully live as your people. Amen.
(Charlie and Wayne) Join us at our little Patch of Heaven following this time of worship…
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Recessional: Recorded Alabama “Here We Are”
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