Round Hill Community Church

ORDER OF SERVICEFebruary 1, 2015

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

PRELUDE I’m Goin’ to Sing A. Parker Lily of the Valley Whalen

WORDS OF WELCOME

INTROIT I’ve Just Come from the Fountain Spiritual Marie-Michele Ivey Sorel, Soprano

CALL TO WORSHIPLeader: We come to worship with our sense of inadequate resources and fear for the future.All: And God blesses our possibilities into amazing bounty.Leader: We come to worship with sadness, grief, and worry about those dear to us.All: God welcomes our intercession and strengthens those for whom we pray.Leader: We come to worship with ourselves – imperfect, awkward and unsure.All: And we discover that God is waiting for us, longing for us, loving us and willing us to love ourselves.

*HYMN No. 53 Morning Has Broken

* = The congregation is invited to stand

*OPENING PRAYERHoly God, whose name is not honored where the needy are not served, and the powerless are treated with contempt: may we embrace our neighbor with the same tenderness that we ourselves require; so your justice may be fulfilled in love through Jesus Christ. Amen.

*THE LORD’S PRAYER (using “trespasses”)

*GLORIA PATRIGlory be to the Father, and to the Son,and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning,is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Pamela Chatterton-Purdy Children may now leave for Church School.

ANTHEM I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray Spiritual

SCRIPTURE LESSON 1st Corinthians 8:1-13Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us pos-sess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” In-deed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one

God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. “Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

SERMON The Power of Love to Transform The Rev. David Purdy

*HYMN No. 517 Love Divine, All Loves Excelling OFFERING Invitation Offertory Prayer Anthem We Shall Overcome Spiritual *Doxology Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host: Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. *Hymn No. 721 My Country, ‘Tis of Thee (verse 4)

PASTORAL PRAYER

*HYMN No. 3 The Sun is On the Sea and Shore

CHURCH PRAYEROur Heavenly Father, shed forth thy blessed spirit upon all our lives. Make each one of us an instrument in thy hands for good. Purify out hearts, strengthen our minds and bodies, fill us with Christian love. Let no pride, no self-conceit, no rivalry, no ill-will ever spring up among us. Make us earnest and true, wise and prudent, giving no just cause for offense and may thy holy peace rest upon us this day and every day throughout the coming week, sweetening our trials, cheering us in our work, and keeping us faithful to the end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE Ride the Chariot Spiritual

ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH MISSION STATEMENTWe, the members of the Round Hill Community Church, a self-governing, non-denominational body, seek to foster a community of faith where people of all ages and backgrounds pursue spiritual growth; where God is worshipped in Word and praised in music; where friends are made and hurts are healed. We seek to be a community where in-dividuals commit their time are resources to education, fellowship, and to helping those in need among our Church family and in the broader world. We are a church where faith, hope, justice and love are valued, and above all, Jesus is Lord.

ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH CREEDI believe in God, the one universal Father of all mankind, revealed su-premely in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and present with us to guide, com-fort and inspire in the Holy Spirit. I believe in the Kingdom of God; and in the mission of the Christian Church to proclaim the Gospel to all the world, exalting the worship of the Lord our God, and labor-ing for the progress of knowledge, the promotion of righteousness, the reign of peace, and the realization of human brotherhood. United in Christian love, we pray and labor for the coming of the Kingdom, the triumph of righteousness and the life everlasting. Amen.

CHURCH NEWS

Thank you to Harold Kuplesky and Fred Mason for ushering today.

We thank Erica and Dennis D’Antonio for hosting Coffee Hour today. Please join them in the Parlor following worship.

Welcome, Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and The Rev. David Purdy! We’d like to thank Pamela Chatterton-Purdy for offering this morning’s Children’s Message. We welcome her and her inspiring exhibit Icons of the Civil Rights Movement to Les Beaux Arts Gallery. The exhibit will run through March 31, 2015. Ms. Chatterton-Purdy is a highly accomplished artist and author. After graduating high school in 1959, she went on to receive an A.A. from Green Mountain College in 1961 and her B.A. from the University of New Hamp-shire in 1963. She received her M.F.A from the University of Massachusetts in 1966. Post-graduation work was completed at Massachusetts College of Art, Cape Cod Community College, Radcliffe College, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. From 1963-1964, she was an Art Editor at Johnson Publications where she worked on Ebony and Jet magazines as well as two Johnson Publication books: The Kennedy Years and The Negro and The Day They Marched. In 1987, Pamela’s book, Beyond the Babylift: A Story of an Adoption, was published by Abingdon Press, Nashville TN. The Purdy’s have four children and the book focuses on the adoption of their Amer-Asian child and their struggle to be-come a family. Her story “Sister Sally, Loved to Death” has been included in an anthology of Cape Cod women writers entitled A Sense of Place, published by Shank Painter Press, Eastham, MA (2002). Ms. Chatterton-Purdy has been an art teacher for over 30 years, offer-ing classes at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, MA, Springfield College in Springfield, MA, and at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She also taught in the public schools of Middleboro, MA and Brookline MA.

In retirement, Pamela has created a series of paintings entitled Icons of the Civil Rights Movement. This exhibit has traveled to over 30 colleges and universities. In January 2009, the show went to Washington, DC for the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Later that spring, it was on exhibit at the State House (Capitol Building) in Boston and in 2012, she and her husband published a book Icons of the Civil Rights Movement, which included 26 of the icons. When 1600 copies sold in less than a year, a 2nd edition was published in 2013 which included 30 icons and additional text by her hus-band, Rev. Purdy. Pamela and her husband received a Human Rights award on February 10, 2009 from the United Nations Office of Church Women United for her exhibition Icons of the Civil Rights Movement.

Icons of the Civil Rights Movement: Artist’s Statement “As an artist, I was educated to believe that any piece of artwork should be created to “speak” to the viewer in every visual sense of the word! The people, places and events of the Civil Rights Movement, the non-violent nature of the 1950’s and 1960’s, all led me to believe that there was a “holy spirit”, a sacred dimension to this movement. In a period of horrific racism in this country, the people demonstrating for their constitutional rights remained non-violent. Their faith and courage in the face of terrorism, lynchings, assassina-tions and humiliation was extraordinary. Somehow these ordinary people knew that they were the beloved and precious children of God despite a seg-regated world that was telling them otherwise!”

About The Reverend David Purdy….David Purdy was raised in Ardsley, NY. He received his B.A. from Amherst College and his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. He earned a D. Min. from Andover-Newton Theological School where he later served 25 years on the Adjunct Faculty. David and Pamela Chatterton were married in 1963 in New Canaan, CT where Pam grew up and where he was doing Field Education at the Methodist Church. He is an ordained United Methodist Church minister, was in campus ministry at the University of Massachusetts, and served churches in several Massachusetts communities before being appointed as a Superintendent of the Rhode Island-Southeastern District of the United Methodist Church. After 40 years of active ministry, he retired in 2002. In retirement, Rev. Purdy continues to mentor candidates for the ministry and chairs the Afford-able Housing Committee for the town of Harwich, MA. Since 2007, he and Pamela have worked together on the Icons of the Civil Rights Movement exhibi-tion and book of the same name. They have four children and six grandchil-dren, and live in Harwich Port on Cape Cod.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe, named a CNN Hero and honored by Time magazine in 2014 as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, has given hope to more than 2,000 young women who had been brutalized by the bloody and violent civil wars in Uganda. She will share her story in our Sanctuary next Friday, February 6 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10/adult, students – free. Visit our website to purchase online.

On February 8, we will welcome Brianna Tam, principal cellist of the Greenwich High School Orchestra who will play works by Haydn and J.S. Bach as part of our ”Youth Music Series.”

Next Sunday, please join us at 4pm in the Sanctuary for a presentation by John Bell on the “The Power of Congregational Singing.” John Bell is a native of Kilmarnock, who lives in Glasgow, where he studied Arts and Theology. After spells of volunteer work in London and Amsterdam, and engagements in student politics, he was ordained by the Church of Scotland. For ten years he worked in youth ministry before transferring to concentrate on music and worship. He lectures, preaches, and conducts seminars across the denominations in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and in Southern Africa. He is a hymn writer, author, and occasional broadcaster on national radio and televi-sion, but retains a primary passion for congregational song. This event is designed to help our congregation explore, and re-dis-cover, the power of congregational singing. We hope to learn new hymns and tunes that we can incorporate into our current experience of worship. We will explore some new ways of approaching and singing the hymns that are most familiar to us (e.g. by adding a variety of instrumental music, or discovering the influence of the unaccompanied human voice). This should prove to be a fascinating examination of the power of music and song.

The Meditation Group will be on hiatus until February 12, 2015.

REFLECTIONS

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The end (of non-violence) is reconciliation; the end is redemp-tion; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of understanding that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men...

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Senior Minister: The Rev. Dr. Edward G. HorstmannPastoral Associate: The Rev. Lynne S. Kramer

Minister Emeritus: The Rev. Dr. Ralph AhlbergMinister of Music: Christopher Kabala

Church School Coordinator: Connie Blunden

Round Hill Community Church395 Round Hill Road, Greenwich, CT 06831203.869.1091 roundhillcommunitychurch.org