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ST. JAMES CHURCH CELTIC EUCHARIST

OCTOBER 17, 2020

5:00 p.m.

Officiating Clergy:

The Rev. Christiana Olsen

Service Musicians: Brad Gee, organist

Lisa Whitfield, cantor

Lelia Latimore, harpist

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CELTIC EUCHARIST

Welcome. In order to prepare for worship and allow for private prayer, we ask that silence be observed upon entering and that you turn off your cell phones. We invite you to light a candle before the opening hymn symbolizing the lifting up in prayer of a loved one, and the desire to let the light of God shine through you.

Meditative Music Lelia Latimore, harpist

* Please stand at the sound of the bell.

Hymn 711 (sung by cantor only; congregants may hum) “Seek ye first” Seek Ye First

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Opening Responses

Celebrant: The world belongs to God, All: the earth and all its people.

Celebrant: How good it is, how wonderful, All: to live together in unity.

Celebrant: Love and faith come together, All: justice and peace join hands.

Celebrant: If Christ’s disciples keep silent All: the stones would shout aloud.

Celebrant: Open our lips, O God, All: and our mouths shall proclaim your praise.

Song of Praise Let Me Hear What You Will Speak (cantor only, congregants may hum) Phillip Newell

Prayer of Confession

Celebrant: Before God with the people of God, I confess to my brokenness: to the ways I wound my life, the lives of others, and the life of the world.

People: May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.

Celebrant: Amen.

People: Before God, with the people of God, we confess to our brokenness: to the ways we wound our lives, the lives of others, and the life of the world.

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Celebrant: May God forgive you, Christ renew you, and the Spirit enable you to grow in love.

All: Amen.

The Gospel Matthew 22:15-22

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people. People: Thanks be to God.

Reflection The Rev. Christiana Olsen

Music for Meditation Lelia Latimore, harpist

Affirmation of Faith (said by all)

We believe in God above us, maker and sustainer of all life, of sun and moon, of water and earth, of male and female. We believe in God beside us, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, born of a woman, servant of the poor, tortured and nailed to a tree. A man of sorrows, he died forsaken. He descended into the earth to the place of death. On the third day he rose from the tomb. He ascended into heaven to be everywhere present, and his kingdom will come on earth. We believe in God within us, The Holy Spirit of Pentecostal fire, life-giving breath of the church, Spirit of healing and forgiveness, source of resurrection and of eternal life. Amen.

Prayers for Ourselves and Others (Please stand.)

Celebrant: Let us pray for ourselves and others.

Leader: Loving God, enliven the Church for its mission. People: That we may be salt of the earth and light to the world. Leader: Breathe fresh life into your people. People: Give us power to reveal Christ in word and action.

Leader: Creator of all, lead us and every people into the ways of justice and peace. People: That we may respect one another in freedom and truth.

Leader: Awaken in us a sense of wonder for the earth and all that is in it. People: Teach us to care creatively for its resources.

Leader: God of truth, inspire with your wisdom those whose decisions affect the lives of others. People: That all may act with integrity and courage.

Leader: Give grace to all those whose lives are linked with ours. People: May we serve Christ in one another, and love as he loves us.

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Leader: Let us now name before God those for whom we offer our personal prayers, either silently or aloud. Celebrant: Lord, you have called us to serve you. People: Grant that we may walk in your presence: your love in our hearts, your truth in our minds, your strength in our wills, until, at the end of our journey, we know the joy of our homecoming and the welcome of your embrace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Response Ubi Caritas (sung by cantor only; congregants may hum) Taizé chant

The Peace

THE HOLY COMMUNION

Offertory Music Lelia Latimore, harpist

Eucharistic Prayer (Please stand or kneel.) Celebrant: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. Celebrant: Lift up your hearts. People: We lift them to the Lord. Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

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The Celebrant Continues:

O God of mystery and promise, you invite us to discover you in the intimate places of ourselves and our lives. You invite us to discover you within the complexities of our humanity, in passionate and tender loving, in struggle and pain, in confusion and unknowing, in flashes of insight and wisdom. You also call us beyond ourselves to places of imagination, beyond the silent stars, in the deep rhythms of the ocean, in the unending cycles of day and night, seasons of life and death.

And therefore we praise you joining with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven who forever sing this hymn to the glory of your name:

Sanctus Ye Banks and Braes (sung by cantor only; congregants may hum) Larkin Bryant/Robert Feol The Celebrant continues: We praise you that in Jesus you make known to us the wonder and richness of our humanity. We give thanks for his life-giving love, for his healing touch, for his vulnerability, and for his gentleness.

Before he gave up his life, he shared his humanity, his flesh and blood with his friends. He took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it and gave it to them saying:

People: “This is my own body given for you. Do this to remember me.”

Celebrant: So too after they had eaten, he took wine, gave thanks for it and gave it to them saying:

People: “This is my blood, poured out in love for you. Do this to remember me.”

Celebrant: So we proclaim the mystery of faith:

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People: Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

The Celebrant continues:

Come now, Spirit of God, and as we eat and drink these bodily things, make us one body, food for the world, one blood to be poured out for the life of all. Touch us with your gentle creativity and fire us with longing for the new age of justice and peace. We ask this through Jesus who gave his body that we might be one and his blood that we might find new life. With him, and through him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, be to you, O God, all honor and glory forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer (said by all) Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and for ever. Amen.

The Breaking of the Bread A period of silence is kept.

Celebrant: This is the table, not of the Church, but of the Lord. It is made ready for those who love him and for those who want to love him more. So, come, you who have much faith and you have little, you who have been here often and you who have not been here long, you who have tried to follow and you who have failed. Come, because it is the Lord who invites you. It is his will that those who want him should meet him here.

A Prayer of Spiritual Reception

Celebrant: Be present, Lord Jesus, as you were present with your disciples; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope.

All: In union with your faithful people gathered at every altar where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated, I desire to offer to you praise and thanksgiving. I remember your death; I proclaim your resurrection; I await your coming in glory. Since I cannot receive you today in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, I beseech you to come spiritually into my heart. Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let me never be separated from you. May I live in you, and you in me, in this life and in the life to come. Amen. (from The Prayer Book for the Armed Services, 2008 Edition)

Music during Communion Lelia Latimore, harpist

Post Communion Prayer (Please stand or kneel.)

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Celebrant: Let us pray.

All: Lord Jesus Christ, you have put your life into our hands; now we put our lives into yours. Take us, renew us and remake us. What we have been is past; what we shall be, through you, still awaits us. Lead us on; take us with you. Amen.

Post Communion Chant Nears the Ending of the Day (sung by cantor only; congregants may hum) John Bell

The Benediction and Dismissal

Please depart in silence.

Music reproduced under CCLI 11103957 and One License A-732770. Permission to stream the music in this service

obtained from One License A-732770. All rights reserved.