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Bulletin Information:
Transgender Remembrance Day Service
[Enter Date Here]
Gathering
Opening Music
Welcome & Call to Worship
Welcome to Metropolitan Community Church. If this is the
first time you have visited us then you are especially welcome.
Today is a special day.
Thanks be to God for this day!
Today, we join our global church to observe Transgender Remembrance
Day.
The church engaged and united in Spirit-breathed prayer will see
the powerful, healing effects of God’s loving will for us.
Today, we remember our siblings [in Christ] lost at the hands
of hatred, evil and violence because of their gender identity and
expression.
God joins us in our grief and pain.
Today, we restore anew our commitment to protect, support and remember
our transgender [and genderqueer] siblings [in Christ].
God bears witness to our restoration.
Let our worship today honor our memories and reflect our renewal!
Amen!
Opening prayer
...We ask that your presence will be manifest in our words and
actions and we ask this all in your many names. Amen.
Song: All are
Welcome
Copyright © 1999 Dakota Road Music. Words and Music by Hans
Peterson and Larry Olson. CCLI # ______. Used by
Permission.
Readings for Today
Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 8
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under
heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a
time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to
heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and
a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast
away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to
lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a
time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to
love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Song: Do not be Afraid
Copyright © 2006 David M. Bailey. ASCAP #
______. Used by Permission.
Isaiah 56:1 – 8
God says, "Preserve justice and do righteousness, for liberation is
about to come and justice will be revealed. "How blessed is the
one who does this, and the one who takes hold of it; who is respectful
of the sabbath, and keeps from doing injustice." Let not the
stranger who has joined to God say, "God will surely separate me from
God’s people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry
tree." For God says, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbath, and
choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My promise, to them I will give in
My house and within My walls a memorial, and a name better than that of
children, sons or daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which
will not be cut off. "Also the strangers who join themselves to
God, to minister to God, and to love God’s name, to be God’s
servants, every one who is respectful of the sabbath and holds fast My
promise; even those I will bring to My holy mountain and make them
joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; for My house will be called a
house of prayer for all people."
Sermon/Homily
Song of Response: Jesus, take me as I am
Copyright © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire). All rights
reserved. International copyright secured. By Suzette
Thorndycraft. CCLI# _______. Used by Permission.
Community Prayer
Blesser of all things, You created us in your likeness, in your
image, and then pronounced us good. We give you thanks for the
gift of life itself and for our uniqueness. God of
transformations, set us free to change and grow, hold us close in love
and grace. We rejoice in the lives of our transgender siblings,
different, strong, dynamic and loved. In the silence now let us
think about those transgender people who share our lives. Let us
remember their struggles and celebrate their strengths.
[Silence.]
God we thank you that you have given us all a place to call home and
that you have been with us on our journeys. Bring us even closer
to you. Amen.
Passing of the Peace – An Act of Welcome
Affirmation of Faith
As children of God, we celebrate the beauty and individual worth of all
creation. We believe in God: who created each of us, who breathed
into us our uniqueness, who delights in who we are, and what we can
still become. We believe in the love of God: who laughs with us in
our joy, who cries with us in our pain, who wants all creation to seek
peace, reconciliation and love for each other. We believe in the
justice of God as revealed in the living Word, and through the lives of
the prophets of yesterday and today. God alone created us.
We are not alone; God loves us. Nothing will separate us from the
love of God.
Offertory: There is a Redeemer
Copyright© 1982 Birdwing Music BMG Music. By
Melody Green and Keith Green. CCLI# ______. Used by
Permission.
Communion
The Thanksgiving
May God be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the living God.
Let us give thanks and praise to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Yes it is indeed right to give thanks to you, Almighty Creator, giver of
live. You created us in your image, diverse, beautiful and
good. You deliver us from the captivity of sin, empowering us to
oppose the evils of this world by your peace and compassionate
fervor. When we turn away from Your glorious gaze in our human
frailty and fatigue, You call us back into communion at this, Your
table, and remind us of your everlasting presence. Therefore, let
us join together in saying:
Holy, Holy, Holy O God of power and might. Heaven and
earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of God. Hosanna in the
highest!
Words of Institution
Mystery of Faith
All: Christ has died! Christ is risen! Christ will come
again!
Breaking of Bread and Blessing of Cup
Invitation
Communion Music
The Prayer
Copyright © 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp.
by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster
(Italian Lyrics by Alberto Testa and Tony Renisa).
Sung by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church.
ASCAP# ______. Used by Permission
You Laid Aside Your Majesty
Copyright ©1985 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
(Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing).
All rights reserved. International copyright secured. By Noel
Richards.
CCLI# ________. Used by Permission.
Sending Out
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