Sixth Sunday After Easter - May 14, 2023

 The Liturgy of the Word 

Opening Statement & Collect of the Day

Priest: Alleluia! Christ is risen!

People: The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Priest: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Priest: Let us pray.

Prayers for an Inclusive Church

Trinity of Love, inviting us to abide in you: may we follow the spirit of truth through the desert wild and city street, rutted field and snowbound height, battleground and market square, that your demanding love might speak to the heart of the manifold world; through Jesus Christ, our Brother. Amen.

The FIRST READING (Please be seated) Acts 17:22-31

Reader: A reading from the Book of Acts.

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Reader: The Word of the Lord. People: Thanks be to God.

THE PSALM Psalm 66:7-18 Psalms for Praying

Please join in singing the Refrain each time it is repeated; the verses will be offered by the choir.

REFRAIN

REFRAIN

Bless the Beloved, Heart of our hearts, let the sound of our praises be heard. You keep us attuned to life and guide our feet on solid ground. For You, O Love, have tested us; You have tried us as silver is tried.

You have allowed us to fall into the net; You have watched us reap all that we have sown; we went through fire and through water, Yet You have brought us through out pain and into your indwelling place.

I enter your Heart surrendered to Love; I commend my soul into your keeping; all that my lips uttered, all that my mouth promised when I was in trouble and pain, I offer up to You; I abandon myself into your hands.

REFRAIN

Come and hear, all you who reverence the Most High, and I shall tell what the Beloved has done for me. I cried aloud to the Silent Watcher of my life; from my tongue came forth words of praise.

Had I cherished greed and power, I would have separated myself from Love; the voice of my prayer was heard. Blessed be the holy Name of the Beloved, Loving Companion Presence, who embraced me, and renewed my life.

REFRAIN

Reader: A reading from First Peter.

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Reader: The Word of the Lord.

People: Thanks be to God.

Gradual Over My Head arr. Matt and Adam Podd

Over my head I hear music in the air (x3)

There must be a joy somewhere

Over my head I hear singing everywhere (x3)

There must be a joy somewhere

Over my head I hear music in the air

Over my head I hear singing everywhere

Over my head I hear music in the air

There must be a joy, there must be a joy, there must be a joy somewhere

The Gospel John 14:15-21

Priest: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to John.

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Priest: The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon

The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray

The congregation is invited to join. We believe in God, the creator of all life and beauty, who blesses our journey.

We believe in Jesus Christ, who lived as a friend and savior to all he met as he traveled, and who ate and laughed, wept and celebrated with them in love.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who rides on the gentle breeze, who strengthens our bindings, and who offers hope eternal.

We believe in the church, which stands open to all travelers, and bears witness to the everlasting love of God. Amen.

Prayers of the People

Version by Elizabeth Hagan

Intercessor: Mothers come in many different forms, and today we remember them all.

People: Thank God for all mothers.

Intercessor: For those women who have left earth too soon and in whom we miss dearly.

People: Thank God for these mothers!

Intercessor: For every woman who is raising children now making sacrifices for her children’s becoming.

People: Thank God for these mothers.

Intercessor: For those women who have taken in others’ children through adoption and foster care, showing us that the love of God far extends beyond biological ties.

People: Thank God for these mothers.

Intercessor: For those women with grieving hearts for children that could have been with futures so different from they planned.

People: Thank God for these mothers.

Intercessor: For the special neighbors, teachers, and friends who’ve nurtured us, supported us and helped us to become the people we are today.

People: Thank God for these mothers.

Intercessor: For mothers in which our relationships are complicated, difficult or strained, but who have forced us to choose healthier paths for our lives.

People: Thank God for these mothers.

Intercessor: Mothering God, help us all to reflect more of your compassion, kindness and strength to those around us today.

People: Thank God for mothers. Amen.

THE PEACE

Priest: The peace of the Lord be always with you.

People: And also with you.

Announcements

Offertory Invitation

To give online, visit www.trinitytoledo.org/online-giving, choose GIVE NOW, and today’s date.

 The Liturgy of the Table 

The Great Thanksgiving A Wee Worship Book, Iona Community

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.

All: And also with you.

Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.

All: We lift them to the Lord.

Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

All: It is right to give God thanks and praise.

We praise you, O God, whom eternity cannot contain, for coming to earth and entering time in Jesus. We praise you for his life which informs our living, for his compassion which changes our hearts, for his clear speaking which contradicts our harmless generalities, for his disturbing presence, his innocent suffering, his fearless dying, his rising to life breathing forgiveness and restoring us forever to you. For these gifts we praise and worship you.

All that is spectacular, all that is plain have their origin in you. All that is lovely, all who are loving, point to you as their fulfillment. Therefore we gladly join our voices to the song of the Church on earth and in heaven:

Sanctus Grayson Warren Brown

Offertory Hold On Yola and the Highwomen

Jesus was always the guest. In the homes of Peter and Jairus, Martha and Mary, Joanna and Susanna, he was always the guest. At the meal tables of the wealthy where he pled the case of the poor, he was always the guest. Upsetting polite company, befriending isolated people, welcoming the stranger, he was always the guest.

But here, at this table, he is the host. Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him. Those who want to follow him must first be fed by him. For this is the table where God intends us to be nourished.

This is the time when Christ can make us new. So come, you who hunger and thirst for a deeper faith, for a better life, for a fairer world. Jesus Christ, who has sat at our tables, now invites us to be his guests.

On their last night together, and as they were sitting at a meal, Jesus gave thanks, took a piece of bread and broke it. He gave it to the disciples saying, “This is my body. It is broken for you. Do this to remember me.”

Later, after they had eaten, he took a cup of wine, gave thanks and said, “This cup is the new relationship with God made possible because of my death. Drink this all of you, to remember me.”

So now we do as Jesus did. We offer this bread and this wine to each other, and proclaim the mystery of faith:

Celebrant and People

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

We ask that these signs of your love be filled with the fullness of Jesus. Let that same love rest on us, converting us from the patterns of this passing world, until we conform to the shape of him whose food we now share. Amen.

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now New Zealand Prayerbook pray this version of the Lord’s Prayer:

Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver, Source of all that is and that shall be, Father and Mother of us all, Loving God, in whom is heaven: The hallowing of your name echo through the universe! The way of your justice be followed by the peoples 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.

The Fraction: Breaking of the Bread

Enriching Our Worship

Celebrant: We break this bread to share in the Body of Christ. People: We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread.

Celebrant: The Gifts of God for the people of God; holy food for holy people.

Invitation to Communion

Please be seated until you are invited to come forward to receive communion. Please let us know if you would like the bread brought to you or if you would like a gluten free option

Communion Song

Let Praises Rise arr. Trey Mclaughlin

Let praises rise from the inside

From the inside of me

May you delight in the inside

In the inside of me

Come fill my life from the inside

From the inside of me

Set me on fire from the inside

From the inside of me

Cuz all I want Is for you

For you to be glorified

For you to be lifted high All I want Is for you

For you to be glorified

For you to be lifted high

Communion Song

Better is One Day arr. Trey Mclaughlin

Better is a one day in your courts

Better is one day in your house

Better is one day in your courts

Than thousands elsewhere

The Post Communion Prayer (Please stand as you are able )

Celebrant: Let us pray.

Jesus, we have feasted on the bread of life. Together we have tasted the love of your kin-dom here on earth. In your risen power you have united us with all of those who have come before, with those gathered today, and with those yet to find their way to this table of love set and ready to welcome all. May the sense of a new heaven and a new earth strengthen and renew us today and in the days to come. Now, send us out into the world to do the work you have given us to do offering your fearless love and priceless peace to all we meet in the name of our loving, liberating life-giving God. Amen.

Blessing

May the rain fall off your shoulders when you’re caught in a storm. When the frost comes a callin’ may it find you safe and warm. May your place be set, and may your promises be kept. And may you never forget that you are loved.

Sending Hymn

Dismissal

God Of the Women

Priest: Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let us go forth in the power of the Risen Christ!

People: Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!

See next page.

God of the women who answered your call, Trusting your promises, giving their all, Women like Sarah and Hannah and Ruth — Give us their courage to live in your truth.

God of the women who walked Jesus' Way, Giving their resources, learning to pray, Mary, Joanna, Susanna, and more — May we give freely as they did before.

God of the women long put to the test, Left out of stories, forgotten, oppressed, Quietly asking: "Who smiled at my birth?" — In Jesus' dying you show us our worth.

God of the women who ran from the tomb, Prayed with the others in that upper room, Then felt your Spirit on Pentecost Day — May we so gladly proclaim you today.

O God of Phoebe and ministers all, May we be joyful in answering your call. Give us the strength of your Spirit so near That we may share in your ministry here.

Trinity Episcopal Church

Vestry Leadership

Donna Steppe, Sr. Warden, Jeffrey Albright, Jr. Warden

Karen Keune, Clerk, Dennis Degnan, Becky Koskinen, Fritz Hany, Leah Reed & Jamie Paul

Margaret Baehern, Treasurer

Parish Staff

The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray, Rector

The Rev. Dcn. Meribah Mansfield, Deacon

The Rev. Robert Gahler, Assisting Priest, Retired

Heather Meyer, Director of Operations and Community Development

George M. Benson, Director of Community Engagement

Chelsie Cree, Director of Music and the Arts

Grace Mauk, Assistant Director of Music and the Arts

Brian Buckner, Trinity@Home Accompanist

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & COPYRIGHT INFO:

Collect of the Day: Prayers for an Inclusive Church, Steven Shakespeare.

Readings and Gospel from: Revised Common Lectionary

Psalm: From Psalms for Praying © 2007 Nan C. Merrill, Reprinted with permission of the publisher

The Great Thanksgiving: A Wee Worship Book, Iona Community.

Lord’s Prayer: New Zealand Prayerbook.

Bulletin Images: Photos shared by The Rev. Dr. Lisa Tucker-Gray.

Fraction, Breaking of the Bread: Enriching Our Worship.

All printed music from The Hymnal 1982, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, My Heart Sings Out, Wonder, Love, and Praise was used by permission through purchase of riteseries.org.

All other printed music permission through purchase of CCLI Copyright license #20577215 Size B

Streaming License #20577284 Size B

Secular music permission through purchase of CCS WORSHIPcast Copyright license #13190

All printed music from Gather permission through purchase of onelicense.net License # A-700000